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7 amazing works of art reveal how kids who are blind ‘see’ flowers
Using paint, cloth, clay and collages, Perkins students bring the beauty of flowers to life in this unforgettable collection.
Art requires so much more than sight. Our students prove that every day.
At Perkins School for the Blind, students create artwork based on all their senses. Without the gift of sight, our students feel their art – in their fingertips, their imaginations and their hearts.
That’s especially true when they portray flowers, which are one of nature’s great artistic triumphs. Some students with low vision have seen flowers, and can offer a unique visual interpretation. Students with no vision rely in texture, aroma and verbal descriptions to capture the joyful spirit of flowers in paintings, collages and quilts.
Here are seven unforgettable works of art featuring flowers created by students, past and present, from our Lower School and Secondary Program. We invite you to step into their flower garden.
This painting beautifully captures a profusion of crimson and red flowers in all their free-spirited glory. Bold, impressionistic daubs of paint bring the blossoms to vivid life. It was created by Secondary Student David, and displayed at a student art show in Boston’s Prudential Center.
This imaginative collage is the work of Secondary Program student Stephen. He incorporated dozens of flower photographs into the collage, and then cleverly unified everything into the shape of a blossom. The result looks strikingly like a stained glass window. It is fittingly entitled “Stephen’s Garden.”
Combining different artistic mediums can create art that is unexpected and memorable. This work, crafted by Lower School student Danzel, placed realistic silk flowers into a flattened (but intricately textured) clay pot. The result allows a richly tactile exploration of a “bouquet” of flowers. It was displayed at the Lower School Art Show in 2013.
Perkins students use a variety of tactile materials to create art. This quilt square was constructed by Lower School students Prasha and Madison using overlapping layers of textured cloth. It shows vibrantly colorful flowers circling a blue pond, with a mountain looming behind and a cheerful yellow sun shining overhead.
A miniature garden comes to life in this three-dimensional work of art created by Lower School student Eric. Textured flowers made from clay “bloom” from the dirt in a flowerpot decorated with tactile elements. It was displayed at the 2015 Lower School Art Show.
Created by Lower School student Madison, this quilt square can be enjoyed visually or tactilely. It’s made of colorful cloth with diverse textures, and uses calm greens and blues to illustrate a pleasant spring day. The square is part of a student-created quilt with a theme of “Seasons.”
Spring flowers burst off the canvas with energetic pink, red, green and yellow colors. It’s the work of Secondary Student Levere, who used acrylic paints on canvas board. This painting was part of an exhibit of artwork by Perkins students at the Arsenal Mall in Watertown, Massachusetts.
