About the book:

Side by side blind and sighted children drawing: using a sharp pointed pen upon a sheet of plastic the blind child finishes one tactile picture after another - Spontaneous insights for ‘eye-people' into the world of the child born blind - Images of the world we share, as the blind child has ‘grasped it', has touched, smelt, heard and sensed it. Reflecting on each of the 70 ‘blind' drawings, the author has written three line ‘Haiku' poems, symbiotic echoes of what each child visualises and has to tell in the lines of the pictures. Additional detailed commentary offers the reader insight into the fascinating creative process behind individual drawings, and the chance to share in the wonder and joy of these ‘blinding visions'.

As dark night draws in. How my hands long to hold you. Star in distant skies!

In the book drawings, tactile in the original, have been reproduced. The author retells the story of how each individual picture came about, capturing the essence of each creative process in her own Haiku poetry, written especially for each drawing. These authentic works of art, which recall prehistoric cave paintings, reveal how children born blind and sighted children possess a universal language of images. The development of the blind children’s drawing process is similar to that of sighted children. A holistic perception of the world around him, using all of the child’s senses lies at the core of the drawing process, something blind children experience more intensely via their senses of touch, hearing, taste and smell. The movement the blind child experiences physically flows into the very pen strokes of his picture, as can be seen in the picture of sledging in the snow; movement has been given 'Gestalt' (form). The blind child reads and writes in Braille, yet the richness of his inner world, the images of his mind’s eye are frequently lost or fail to come to light despite blind-friendly drawing materials. This is due to a lack of appreciation, motivation or even accessibility. In the overly visual, image-burdened world of the sighted it is vital to research further the qualities specific to the condition of being blind in blind art. The author encourages visual, non-verbal discourse and expression between the blind and the sighted. Artists, brain researchers, researchers into perception, therapists and teachers continue to be fascinated by the messages within the images created by children born blind.