By: Seth Johnson

The Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation is excited to welcome internationally acclaimed blind painter John Bramblitt for a week-long artist-in-residence at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and a series of hands-on community painting workshops for individuals of all abilities in Indianapolis and West Lafayette on March 24 and March 25. 

A native of Texas, Bramblitt’s work has been sold in over 120 countries, and he’s appeared internationally in print, TV, and radio, including segments from CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, ABC, NBC, FOX, Discovery Channel, and BBC Radio. He's been featured in The New York Times and Psychology Today as well as designed the artwork for numerous magazine covers and even the artwork for major film productions. He's the subject of the award-winning documentary shorts Line of Sight and Bramblitt, and his work has received much recognition, including the “Most Inspirational Video of 2008” from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative art workshops.

For as long as he can remember, John Bramblitt has been drawn to art. “I think I could draw before I could walk,” he says with a laugh. Despite dealing with medical challenges from a young age, Bramblitt says he was able to stay upbeat thanks to his family and his love for art.

“As a child, I was sick a lot, but I would draw every day — every day I was practicing something,” he says. “Art was just this great release where I didn’t have to think about anything else. So I always had this thing that I could work on, and it was something that was really important to me. From a really young age, I learned to rely on art to get through tough times.”

Bramblitt eventually lost some of his hearing and all of his usable vision due to complications with epilepsy while attending college at North Texas University. Despite dealing with this new set of circumstances, he was encouraged to stay enrolled in school, which wound up being a blessing in the end.

“My apartment was really close to the university — I only had to cross one street,” he says. “So after about a year, I could use my white cane and get across that street. I was sweating bullets, but I wouldn’t get hit by a car or knock over too many people.”

As he became more accustomed to using his white cane to navigate life, Bramblitt eventually realized he could explore a canvas like he did the sidewalks.

“I thought, ‘Man, if you can get across the city using these techniques, surely you can cross something much smaller like a canvas,’” he says. “So I started working on ways to draw using my sense of touch.”

Over time, Bramblitt went from drawing simple geometric shapes to drawing more complicated images.

“I would touch a baseball that my grandfather gave me, which I had ever since I was a little kid,” he says. “I would touch it and imagine what it was I was feeling. I could see it as clear as day in my mind, and I would touch other things that I knew and visualize them. We think about our eyes being the way to see, but it’s really our brain that puts the images together. I started becoming aware that there are other ways to get that information. I was really slow, and it took a long time, but what else was I going to do?”

From here, Bramblitt began to paint using a similar tactile technique, and the rest is history. “I started on oil paints because they’re made from different substances. So they feel a little bit different, and you can buy different brands. A titanium white in one brand might feel a little bit different than another,” he says. Over the years, he’s grown into the world-renowned painter he is today, even being asked to paint large-scale murals from time to time.

“Right now, I think I’m still the only blind muralist, even though I keep telling visually impaired people to do murals because we need more out there,” he says.

Having honed his craft as a painter, Bramblitt has led workshops all across the country over the past two decades, much like the ones he will lead in Indianapolis and West Lafayette on March 24 and March 25. “I’ll go to a school and show some children who are blind how to paint, and in a couple of weeks, they’re making maps of their school that include where their friends are sitting,” he says. With his upcoming visit to Indiana, Bramblitt’s hope is that he can teach workshop attendees the value of persistence.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with some celebrities, athletes, and musicians, and I always ask them, ‘What’s the secret to your success? I admire you so much.’ Weirdly, they almost always say the same thing, which is that you need to be okay with failing and making mistakes,” he says. “So if the kids can take away anything, it would be that it’s okay to have a setback. It’s okay to not be your best all the time — just don’t give up. With the workshops, I want people to expect to laugh while we’re there and expect to be surprised by what they can do.”

For those aspiring artists who plan to attend the workshops, Bramblitt has some words of wisdom, too.

“Art is deeper than sight or any one sense,” he says. “Sight is a sense, but vision is what you believe is possible.”

Join award-winning artist John Bramblitt for his signature Blindfold Painting and Sensory Workshop, featured in leading museums nationwide. Participants paint without sight and explore art through touch, sound, and the senses.To RSVP for John Bramblitt’s art workshops in Indianapolis and West Lafayette, follow the links below. The workshops are open to adults of all skill levels and children ages 10 and up (must be accompanied by a parent).

RSVP TO THE INDIANAPOLIS WORKSHOP WITH JOHN BRAMBLITT

RSVP TO THE WEST LAFAYETTE WORKSHOP WITH JOHN BRAMBLITT

Thanks to the generous support of the Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation, our students and attendees will receive take-home art kits, empowering them to continue practicing tactile painting techniques and building their artistic confidence at home.