Episode Transcript
Speaker 2 00:00:58 And welcome and thank you for joining Disability and Progress, where we bring you insights into ideas about, and discussions on disability topics. My name is Sam. I'm the host of this show. Thanks for tuning in. If you'd like to catch our podcasts, we are there. You may look us up and or ask your smart speaker to play the latest version of Disability and Progress, and it will happen. Check us out. We've got lots of them up there. Also, we are on the your Smartphone app. You may hear us and or go to k a i.org/disability and progress to listen to the archives. Did you notice Charlene? And I didn't say good evening or anything. I said, Welcome, Charlene Dolls, my research woman.
Speaker 3 00:01:40 Good evening
Speaker 2 00:01:41 Everyone. I'm trying to be more global <laugh> so people don't know what time we're doing it, even though it's probably obvious somewhere along the way. This week we are speaking with artists, Annie Young, who will be talking about her, well, about what she's been doing with her last four years. She will be talking about her exhibit, which is titled Journey to Rock Bottom, and we will hopefully hear all about her running the marathon in Antarctic, um, Ice Mar the the Antarctic Ice Marathon. And we're also going to be talking with her fellow artist who helped her, Sherry, Sherry pronounce your last name for me. Groovy. Groovy. All right. Groovy. Groovy. All right. Excellent. <laugh>. Exactly,
Speaker 3 00:02:32 Exactly.
Speaker 2 00:02:33 And Annie Young. All right. Thank you guys for joining me. And we're gonna be talking about, as we said, her exhibit journey to rock bottom and her marathon. Annie, it's been a long time,
Speaker 3 00:02:46 <laugh>. I know. How are you doing, Sam?
Speaker 2 00:02:48 I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 3 00:02:50 Gosh, I think it's been close to 20 years.
Speaker 2 00:02:54 Don't say that. Okay.
Speaker 3 00:02:56 We won't say that. We're
Speaker 2 00:02:57 Both still 29. What's wrong with you?
Speaker 3 00:03:00 Oh, that's right. We were babies.
Speaker 2 00:03:02 I know. Well, you know, <laugh>, we were very mature children.
Speaker 3 00:03:07 I'm stand still.
Speaker 2 00:03:08 Yeah. Yeah. Um, anyway, well, it's really good to to talk with you again, and I'm glad to still see you are just out there and doing wild things. And so I wanna talk a little bit about, because I'm not sure how much you wanna go into that time, but I, I do wanna give a little bit of history on you as far as what you're willing to share and talk about your history. Um, cuz you have a visual disability and I don't know if you've always had that. I, I'm guessing you haven't.
Speaker 3 00:03:39 That's correct. Okay. Yes. I, um, so I started losing my eyesight, uh, in my late thirties mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and yeah, you're right. We can, we can share how we know each other. Okay. Um, I attended vision loss resources when I was in my early forties. Um, and it was because I, um, started losing my eyesight due to Rod Cone Dystrophy.
Speaker 2 00:04:02 And if I recall you had teenagers then
Speaker 3 00:04:06 I did. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:04:07 <laugh> Yes. Driving you insane <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:04:10 Yeah. That that's true.
Speaker 2 00:04:12 Don't worry, I've got one. They all do it. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:04:14 Oh yeah. Well, now they're grown and have families of their own and they've made me a grandmother, so, Oh,
Speaker 2 00:04:21 Congratulations. And then they complain and you just laugh. Right. You're like, Ha, what comes around goes around
Speaker 3 00:04:29 <laugh>. That's, that's exactly right. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 00:04:32 And so,
Speaker 3 00:04:34 So life is, life is quite different, but you're right. I, um, if anything, what vision loss, uh, resources taught me, um, through my long and arduous time there, no, they were really good. Um, is to, you know, life goes on something, you know, something happens, you know, you, you go through a transition in life. Mm. And, um, certainly is you gotta keep moving. You gotta keep moving forward. Yeah. And that's exactly what I've tried to do, is, uh, keep moving forward. So when opportunities present themselves, um, you can either say no, maybe, or Yes. And what do you think, Sherry? I think I'm more of, I've become more of a, more of a, Yes. I've become more of a yes gal. So
Speaker 2 00:05:18 I don't know. I I always found you trying to push through to the Yes part though. So, um, it took a little bit of adjustment, but I think, uh, it, if you didn't have an adjustment time, I would've been worried about you <laugh> or you've been, would've been just like amazingly, you know, exceptional and over and above and beyond, which you are anyway. But, So I wanna talk a little bit about, you're a painter.
Speaker 3 00:05:48 Yes.
Speaker 2 00:05:49 So, Yes.
Speaker 3 00:05:50 So
Speaker 2 00:05:50 Can you talk about how that plays into, like, do you have adaptions? What do you do? Cause I, I I can't imagine how that was when you were losing vision, like still painting.
Speaker 3 00:06:03 Well, I, um, I wasn't a painter before. Um, primarily what, um, transpired is I had a really good friend who, um, knew I always had this creative side of me. And I gave a lot of that up after I lost my sight. And, um, she just thought that that was something I didn't have to give up. Um, and one day she, she came over to my home with a blink piece of canvas or blink canvas and some paints. And she said, You know, I think that you should, you should, uh, try painting. And it was funny because the, the canvas that she brought to my house, I could feel it. And it was a used canvas. And I remember saying to her, Well, if you think that I should be, um, that I could do this art, and you thought, think that I'm, so, you know, that I should be so good at it.
Speaker 3 00:07:01 Why are you giving me a used canvas? <laugh> <laugh>? And she said, A lot of people paint over canvases. And I remember being frustrated with her and I, I sent her out of, out of my house. Oh. And she came back the next day to check on me. And she said, Oh, what did you do? And I said, I didn't do anything with it. And I said, You need to go cuz I'm still mad at you. Aww. And she came back the next day and she said, I'm just curious if you've done anything with those paint supplies I gave you. And I said, No, I haven't. And so, uh, she left again that day and I was actually really quite upset. And so she, she left the house. And, um, I just remember being so upset that I, I kind of tossed the, the canvases and the, um, the paints on the floor that made such a mess cuz the paint tubes splattered all over the floor.
Speaker 3 00:07:53 Oh. Oh. And, um, my kids came home from school and they, they, uh, they looked at me and they're like, Uh, mom, do we have to clean that up? And their dad said, um, No, you know, you're not gonna have to clean that up. She's gonna clean that up. And I'm like, I'm not cleaning it up. And I remember going to, going, going to my room, going to bed, and the next day I thought to myself, Oh, I'm gonna have to clean that stuff up, <laugh>. So I remember basically being on my hands and knees, going to the close to the front door and feeling the floor to feel that for the, the paint that had, um, you know, scattered all over thinking that, Oh, it's gonna be a, a slimy mess. And, you know, the paint had dried kind of, at the best way I could describe it is like, you know, when you have, um, uh, dried toothpaste mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 00:08:44 <affirmative> on your surface of your bathroom vanity. Oh yeah. That's exactly how it felt. And that was my aha moment. And I thought, Oh, I know how I can paint. I can just squeeze the paint out of the, out of the paint tubes. And that was how I initially started painting, was just squeezing the paint directly out of the tube <laugh>. Um, and yeah, my friend here is laughing because that's, that is initially how I started painting is just squeezing the paint out of the tube. Wait, wait for it to dry so I could feel where it was at on the campus, and then, uh, I would wait and apply the next layer of color. Um, and that's how it all began.
Speaker 2 00:09:21 Now, I am curious because having vision, you know, before this you, you would have a pretty good idea of probably memory of how things looked and images and things like that. So the idea of images and colors probably were fairly clear. Yes,
Speaker 3 00:09:43 Yes. Yeah. And
Speaker 2 00:09:44 So that must have given you at least a little bit of a, a, a leeway, so to speak, if you wanna use that, that you were able to do that. Um, did you feel like, what was the comments you got when you were not too far down the road with that? Like, with your painting, what were people saying? Like, were you close to the mark of what you were trying to do? Or were you,
Speaker 3 00:10:08 Um, no. Yeah, people are always, I think people's first impressions of my work are they wanna know if I know what color is mm-hmm. <affirmative>, if I can recognize color. Um, initially I think they, they don't realize that I previously had sight. So once they realize that, then it, then they have the, uh, reassurance that, Oh, okay, she understands color. And, um, my paintings are quite simple, Sam, um, I don't do, you know, really elaborate. Right. Um, subject matter, um, my, I did have a teacher, Eric Men's Huber, who was instrumental in helping me to understand composition and, um, shape. He was the one who helped me to, uh, calculate how to bend satter wire so I could shape, um, you know, design shape on the canvas. And, um,
Speaker 2 00:11:10 Oh,
Speaker 3 00:11:10 Cool. He's the one who, who thought, Hey, why don't we use painters tape so you could, um, or, you know, he's the one who initiated painter tape, so I would know where I was at on the canvas. Yeah. And he taught me like, the rule of thirds, so I would know how to compositionally make something pleasing to the eye for a visual viewer of my paintings. Um, when I first came to Eric, I, he reminded me of this the other day. I brought to him, uh, tubes of paint. I was basically only using like, um, six or seven colors. Right. And I wasn't mixing any colors, and I was basically just painting with my fingertips or squeezing the paint out of the tubes. But he taught me how to use my body parts. Like I would squeeze dolls that were the size of the, my fingernail on my pinky finger. And he taught me how to make different recipes using my body parts so I could start mixing paints. Ah. And he was also the one that gave me the confidence to start painting with a paint brush <laugh>. So that was, that was very, um, transformative for me because up until that time I was only painting with my fingertips. I was always very apprehensive to, um, be separated from Right. Touching the canvas because I always wanted to know exactly where I was on the canvas. Um, I wanted to have that, uh, tactile
Speaker 2 00:12:34 Right. The, the closest relationship sense of where yes, I wanted the
Speaker 3 00:12:38 Physical touch, I wanted know exactly where it was.
Speaker 2 00:12:40 That totally makes sense. That makes a lot of sense. And just little, it sounds like it's just little adjustments that you had to make. What was the biggest, I mean, what was the biggest thing that you learned early on with doing something like this?
Speaker 3 00:13:00 Um, I would say the biggest, uh, thing I learned was to trust my instinct. That after a while, um, I had to just, um, believe that the images that were coming to me in my mind's eye, which, um, Sam as many people know, that follow me, I get these images that come to me in my dreams mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And also that what comes to me in my dreams is the process of how to create those, uh, paintings. And I just have to trust them. And my friend here, Sherry, she's painted with me before, and she got a, um, she got a taste for what it was like, of how I bring those to fruition. Right. Sherry?
Speaker 4 00:13:44 Yes. Uh, couple years ago when Covid first started and the world was going crazy, we, uh, collaborated on a painting. Um, and she used different templates, which I found interesting. Um, you know, which I wouldn't have thought to do, I guess as a sighted person, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, you know, it was, it was interesting, uh, to see her process, I guess, of how she, you know, added things to a painting.
Speaker 2 00:14:16 Gotcha. Well, I, I'm curious to know, maybe you don't wanna tell it, but, um, did you ever ask your kids, like, kids are brutally honest, especially when they're teenagers,
Speaker 3 00:14:29 <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:14:32 Just curious what their, what their reactions were when you started doing this?
Speaker 3 00:14:38 Um, well, they, you know, they were pretty busy with their own lives. Uh, every once in a while I'd ask my older son, because he was a student of art at the time, and yes, he, he would be very brutally honest, <laugh>. Um, but also art is very subjective, uhhuh. So what happens is when you start asking other people for their opinion, um, it, it would get confusing because the difference I think between when I paint and maybe a sighted person painting my mind's eye had already told me what I needed to do. It had already predetermined the subject matter. Um, it had already predetermined the colors I was using, um, and it had already pre predetermined the composition. So it, um, I don't know how to explain this as much as like, how do I explain this, Sherry, when Sherry's painting a painting, Sherry is looking at it and she's developing her painting as she's looking at it and painting it. Correct.
Speaker 4 00:15:43 For the, for the most part. And I, I too kind sometimes dream about it and, and, uh, think, think about it long and hard, I guess daydream about it and think about, Wow, what can I use to accomplish this, uh, you know, painting and, and, you know, am I gonna add some kind of a texture to it, or am I just gonna make it smooth or, you know, what kind of paint am I gonna use and, and that kind of thing. So, um, you know, there's many techniques that kind of go into a painting in general. So it, it's not like it's cut and dried. Nope. It's one way and that's it. Or the highway, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:16:27 But mine are like that though. But yeah. Yeah. So mine, it sounds kind like that because, so
Speaker 4 00:16:31 Yours are more, more so that way. But for a sighted person it's, you know, you can use many different
Speaker 3 00:16:36 Things because like, you'll come over and say, Well, what's next? And I'll tell you, Yeah. Yep. I'm gonna do this. And, and you'll be like, Oh, okay. Cause I, I know what's next. Cause it's already determined. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:16:47 It, it sounds like yours kind of come to you fully formed
Speaker 3 00:16:51 And then you Exactly. You know, so I know like, this is the first layer, this is the second layer, this is the next layer, and I know what color I'm gonna use. They're all lined up. It was already like my canvas or whatever. If mo I mostly paint. But yeah, the canvas is there and every color that I'm using is already determined. And when I'm going to add it is already decided.
Speaker 2 00:17:12 So I
Speaker 3 00:17:12 Wanna do, So for me to ask somebody's opinion, it would be kind of pointless because, um, it's pretty much already decided. It is very rare. Unless I, unless I, sometimes I, because I paint on the floor, I have bumped a painting and accidentally, um, spill paint on it and messed it up. So then I have to have someone come in and say, uh, okay, you just
Speaker 4 00:17:34 Want to fix
Speaker 3 00:17:35 It with Yep. Yeah, because I have, I got stuff on paintings. I think that happened, right? One time you came and, Yeah. Yeah. One time I did spill paint on, on painting. I'm like, Sherry,
Speaker 4 00:17:44 What did I do?
Speaker 3 00:17:45 Oh, and Sherry and her daughter did help me one time with, I had a painting that I pretty much thought was done. And then her daughter said, You know, <laugh>, you might wanna consider adding the little shadow here. Yep. And I did do that. I did do that. So, and it was a lovely touch. It it did nice. It did nice. Yeah. It turned out well.
Speaker 2 00:18:06 So what was the first most significant piece that you did that you were very proud of
Speaker 3 00:18:15 Besides soul? I know the answer to that. <laugh>. When my first granddaughter was born, uh, or waiting to be born, I painted this piece called confetti Susan.
Speaker 2 00:18:28 Ah,
Speaker 3 00:18:29 And, uh, <laugh>, See, you're already gonna make me cry. And, um, I, um, I, I still remember that dream very explicitly. Um, it's a huge sunflower. It's 36 by 36, and inside of the center of the sunflower has every single color of the paint that was in my studio at the time she was born.
Speaker 2 00:18:58 Aw.
Speaker 3 00:18:59 And the reason it's called Confetti Susan is because, um, it, I'm sorry, it's not a sunflower. Everyone thinks it's a sunflower. It's actually a black eyed Susan, because her mother's, uh, best friend was named Susan. And, um, it's a brilliant, brilliant, bold, you know, yellow flower with the, uh, brown center. But I wanted, um, my granddaughter to know that even though her grandma is blind, that her grandma can do things mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, that there's no limitation. Right. And so every time she sees that, that painting, and she looks at that, she says, Grandma, those are all the colors Right. That were in your studio at the time that I was born. I'm like, Yep, those, That's it. Ala. So,
Speaker 2 00:19:46 Ah, yeah. I want to get into your exhibit, but first I wanna just talk about, you're a runner and I remember this <laugh> about you that you, you exercised all the time. And I remember that being one of your releases when you were at Vlr, you were always exercising. That was, I was like, Oh, there's Andy, she's <laugh>. Um, but that was really cool. And I was wondering, because when you do marathons, like how, what do you use, And this will help other people who are visually impaired and want to do marathons. Maybe they used to be runners and then lost their vision and they don't know what to do. So what, Okay. How do you, what do you do to navigate terrain and how do you do that?
Speaker 3 00:20:31 Okay. Well, first of all, the reason you saw me always exercising is cuz I was, uh, I was still kind of frustrated with losing my sight. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that was my, that was,
Speaker 2 00:20:41 That was your
Speaker 3 00:20:47 A little high strong.
Speaker 2 00:20:48 It, it was a much better outlet than some of the students. Trust me. On this one.
Speaker 3 00:20:53 Yes, yes. Um, and well back then I was doing triathlons, so that was my, that's still my favorite sport. But, um, and I Right. I either have someone who is a sighted guide, which is really hard to find these days. Yeah, I'm sure. So I used to have a membership at the y I don't know. And so, believe it or not, Sam, I use, um, my roller tip.
Speaker 2 00:21:22 Really?
Speaker 3 00:21:24 Yes. It's, it's crazy cuz I do get a lot of, um, belly jabs, <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:21:30 I bet you do.
Speaker 3 00:21:31 <laugh>, it's, Yeah. So what I do is, I'm fortunate because I live, um, where there's really long stretches of bike path mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I use bike path and just trail using my roller tip. And trust me, I go through a lot of roller tips. Wow. Another thing that I use is, um, I have called upon, um, Ira from time
Speaker 2 00:22:01 To time. Yes, yes, yes. I'm well familiar with them. Yep,
Speaker 3 00:22:04 Yep. And I've asked them, Hey, can you guys just, uh, guide me for a little bit <laugh>? And they'll, they'll do that every once in a while. Cool. Um, but mostly, you know, I just use my, my roller tip and, and run. I do a run walk because, you know, that's all I can do. Right. Um, I know my bike path fairly well. Yeah. Um, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:22:24 That's cool.
Speaker 3 00:22:25 Elliptical, you know, elliptical is a good way to train. And so is now, believe it or not, during covid, um, people really think this is insane. But ran in my living room, I made a triangular, my friend is laughing here. Um, I made a triangular touchpoint in my living room, and I ran between my front door, the stairs and the kitchen in a triangular, you know, running path and ran for hours in my, in my townhouse.
Speaker 2 00:23:01 Mm. Wow. Well, yeah, I want to
Speaker 3 00:23:04 Talk. I was desperate <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:23:06 As many people were. We're speaking with Annie Young and Sherry Grubby, and they're talking about many things, but Annie was talking about, her last is going to be talking about her last four years in the ex ex exhibit that she did called Journey to Rock Bottom and her marathon that she, uh, ran in the, the an Arctic Ice Marathon. Um, I think that's right, Right. Annie,
Speaker 3 00:23:38 What, Well, first let's clarify. I personally did not run the entirety of the marathon. How
Speaker 2 00:23:45 Far did you go?
Speaker 3 00:23:46 I only ran 10 miles.
Speaker 2 00:23:48 Okay. Well that's, that's nine miles more than I would've done, but
Speaker 3 00:23:51 Oh, yeah, <laugh> me
Speaker 2 00:23:53 Too. I just wanna ask.
Speaker 3 00:23:55 I got injured. I got injured part of the way, um, so I wasn't able to complete it, but I am proud of what I did. Yeah. But I was able to run and, um, and that's okay. I, I, the, the point is I said yes to going down there, even though I was scared outta my mind. And, um, you know, I went down there. Even though as you, as you know, a lot of us, we use technology mm-hmm. <affirmative> and our technology's, um, uh, reliant on satellite. And there wasn't gonna be my ability to use any of my technology. I had to do kind of everything old school. Um, so I had to rely on my ability to read my, my braille, my my clothes were brailed. And, uh, I had to use sighted guide because obviously there's nothing, there's no surface to navigate. So I had rely on just, uh, the kindness of others to sit guide me throughout the camp and things like that. So,
Speaker 2 00:24:50 And I, I do wanna point out to people who are not familiar with sighted guide, when you're using a guide, especially when if you don't know them, it's a whole new, it's like a dance. Would you describe it that way? Just like a dance and you, you learn each other like how their movements are and how they cue you with things. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, if you are new with a sighted guide, there's gonna be bumps and oopses and Oh, sorry. Right. And whatever else might come <laugh>. Um.
Speaker 3 00:25:22 Right.
Speaker 2 00:25:23 So I can't imagine doing a marathon there with, if it was a new, new guide. I'm curious to know what possessed you to even think about that <laugh>?
Speaker 3 00:25:33 Well, I went, well, my husband was my person that provided sighted guide, so I was
Speaker 2 00:25:38 Fortunate to go down there with my husband.
Speaker 3 00:25:40 Yeah. Yeah. So that was okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:25:42 And he's a marathon or two, or at least
Speaker 3 00:25:45 The Oh, yes. My husband is currently running a marathon in every state. And also he's trying to run a marathon in every, on every continent.
Speaker 2 00:25:56 Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 00:25:57 Yeah. Yeah. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:25:59 Talk about a goal.
Speaker 3 00:26:00 Yeah. He's, yes. He's very driven.
Speaker 2 00:26:04 So, <laugh> so what you, you talk about the marathon, kind of how it gave you this idea of this exhibit.
Speaker 3 00:26:17 Right.
Speaker 2 00:26:18 Talk a little bit
Speaker 3 00:26:19 About that. Well, when I was, when I was there, um, we had, uh, inclement weather that, um, uh, had us, um, stay there longer than nor we would normally stay normally, um, folks arrive on Union Glacier Camp, they run the marathon, they're there for maybe, um, a day to it the most. And then they returned back to South America. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But because, um, this blizzard like weather came in, we were stuck there close to a week, and we got to know each other, uh, fairly well, <laugh>. And there was a gentleman who collected all of our contact information and created a WhatsApp group. And through the course of us connecting on that WhatsApp group, we got to continue those relationships. And I, um, started talking to each of these individual athletes after the fact and asked them if they would share with me, you know, why they wanted to, uh, travel to Antarctica, to, you know, the bottom of the earth to this desolate continent and what prompted them to want to run this race.
Speaker 3 00:27:33 And they trusted me with these stories. And I think as we started having these conversations, that's what, um, you know, started creating these, uh, images in my mind's eye. I started dreaming these dreams and started getting these really wonderful, um, pictures in my mind's eye that I had to create. I had to, you know, I was getting pictures that I needed to paint mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I was getting, um, images that I wanted to create in clay and wood. And my friend here, um, Sherry helped me to create these, um, uh, sculpture pieces. And, um, Yep. And before I knew it, I was creating a collection, an entire collection, which were very inspirational. And I just knew that the community at large would benefit from these inspirational stories. And especially what Sherry, after Covid or during Covid when we were creating them, there were so many people that were really, what, down in the dumps and Oh yeah. Depressed. Depressed. And we thought, we gotta get these stories told these, you know. And, um, so between Sherry and I, we thought, Oh, there's also other artists that we could invite mm-hmm. <affirmative> to help me with the last few pieces of works that needed to, um, be created. Right. And you know, Sherry, as you know, also as a person who lives with a disability, she has dystonia. She's gonna share a little bit about that. Go ahead, Sherry. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:28:59 I have, uh, cervical dystonia, oral mandibular, uh, dystonia, which, uh, affects my jaws and my neck and, uh, my shoulder and oh my, of course there's no cure. Uh, September is Estonia awareness month. Oh, I did not know that. It's, it's primarily, uh, a muscular thing. You know, I, I say that, you know, I, I equate my, my cervical dystonia. Like, uh, say you have a Charlie horse in your, your leg or something, uhhuh, well say you have a Charlie horse in your neck and it stays there 24 7 until you get your treatment of Botox. Which seems to be like the only, only thing that actually works to relieve that. And it just kinda, you know, takes care of that, uh, abnormal posture and stuff that I get because, you know, I, I do wake up in the middle of the night and, and my neck is literally touching my shoulder and you kinda go, Oh, I can't sleep anymore. Hello <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:30:04 That does sound
Speaker 4 00:30:05 Painful. Um, I deal with that and, uh, I have found that painting, you know, when I'm tremoring bad and, and I look called shaky and crazy. Uh, I was teaching some friends at one time and, and I picked up a paintbrush and they were like, Oh my gosh, you're not tremoring right now. And I'm like, Really? <laugh> thinking to myself, Hey, I gotta paint more <laugh>. So that's, that's how I, I learned that painting, you know, does help with those issues as well. Cuz your brain is just focusing on something else. Um, but you can get your, get the stone on pretty much any part of your body. It, it just doesn't do smooth muscles like your heart, uh, lungs, your stomach, that kind of thing. But it can affect you anywhere and feel like, you know, your, your muscles are contracting odd, oddly. And your have odd movements and, uh, that kind of thing. So, uh, we are, we are having a dystonia zoo walk this Sunday at the Coma Zoo as well. And you can register in person for that if anybody's interested in that as well. Cool.
Speaker 2 00:31:17 All right. So how many people did you invite to do this creative?
Speaker 3 00:31:29 Um, exhibits nine, nine other artists. So there's nine, there's nine pieces that I, um, invited nine artists. And then I also invited Corey Walton, who is a spoken word performer, artist, performer. He's a, he is, uh, I'm not doing him Justice <laugh>. He
Speaker 4 00:31:50 Is,
Speaker 3 00:31:51 He's a playwright and, uh, spoken word, artist, performer. Um, he, uh, told the, he told my story. So all the, all the runners, they all have a piece that, um, tells the story of them and who they are and how their, um, their, their journey was presented in this collection. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then somebody said, Well, what about you Annie? And I thought, Oh yeah, I guess someone should tell my story. So I reached out to Corey, who's a good friend of mine, and, um, he, uh, took some inspiration from my journal and he created a spoken word piece that he's gonna perform at this Saturday during the reception, the artist reception.
Speaker 2 00:32:35 And what time will that be?
Speaker 3 00:32:37 Um, from five 30 to 8:00 PM The Center in Burnsville. Were
Speaker 2 00:32:42 You and Sherry the only people with disabilities on, on this exhibit?
Speaker 3 00:32:48 Um, I would guess that, yeah, I think so. Yes. I
Speaker 2 00:32:52 Mean, you know, cause you, there could be hidden disabilities. One never really knows exactly unless
Speaker 3 00:32:58 Somebody Yes. That's a good point. That's a very good point. Unless
Speaker 2 00:33:01 Somebody tells you
Speaker 3 00:33:02 Exactly. So some of the other artists, um, there, when I say that's inclusive, um, there's artists from all walks of life and I don't know how to politically correct say that so that I
Speaker 2 00:33:14 Go for it and that's okay. You know, Don't worry. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:33:16 Okay. And there's, um, also from all genres of art. So, um, some of the artists are watercolor, pastel, um, oil, um, there's Wood Smith, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I know, I'm gonna forget that. Acrylic. Acrylic. Um, and then also the way that they do art. So we have someone who does real, uh, laying, um, landscape landscapes. Um, yeah. So it's, it's just amazing how Oh, Chalk worked too. Yeah. Chalk. Yeah. Um, and then each of those artists also have a different relationship to me. For example, Eric Mens Huber was my teacher. Um, Bonnie Fe Featherstone was the artist who actually started the Burnsville Visual Art Society way back when. Wow. Um, Christine Tierney, she was, uh, the first person whoever showed, uh, did art with me in, and we did like dual shows together. Um, Richard Middles stat was somebody who had always been like my go-to mentor.
Speaker 3 00:34:18 Um, Eric Kellen was the first person who ever gave me an arts and residency for wood. Um, Bob Schmidt is, um, he's the first artist that I dialed up to look for Asian brush stroke artist <laugh>. So everyone has a different story. Um, Margie Grill and I with, there were, we were the first, um, uh, artist that I ever did a, um, collaborative artist, uh, um, opportunity together in St. Paul, uh, years ago. And, um, so we all have a, we all have an interesting story together to, to tell. Um, and that's how each of these artists were, uh, selected too.
Speaker 2 00:34:58 Annie, you said this took four years in the creativity. Uh, what, what made it take so long? Or what made it take the time? It did take,
Speaker 3 00:35:09 Um, well, you can imagine there's, um, there were 57 other runners, so that's quite a bit of art to create.
Speaker 2 00:35:18 Wow. That is
Speaker 3 00:35:21 Another thing is I wanted to tie it into the 40th anniversary of the Twin Cities Medtronic, um, anniversary marathon, which is also this weekend. Oh, cool. So I thought, well, what is one way that I could, um, try to encourage my friends to come see this collection that I painted that was inspired by them <laugh>? Oh, yeah. Let me see if I can tie it into a marathon <laugh>, which they all love to run. So, um, All right,
Speaker 2 00:35:52 Go ahead.
Speaker 3 00:35:54 Yeah. So, um, so actually, uh, it was, it was still quite difficult. I mean, I was really pushing myself this last year to get all these works done.
Speaker 2 00:36:05 So to ask the tricky question, is this accessible <laugh>?
Speaker 3 00:36:10 Oh, yes. In fact, on the 15th of October. So, um,
Speaker 2 00:36:16 Coming
Speaker 3 00:36:17 Next weekend, there's an accessibility tour for, uh, persons, um, there's ASL and audio description tour, which I will be there, um, for those who have a, um, a hearing, um, challenge or who are visually impaired and blind.
Speaker 2 00:36:36 So talk about when this is, where this is and, and how it will work.
Speaker 3 00:36:40 Okay. It's at the AM Center, It's at 10 30 to 1130. Um, and it's a, a tour where, um, so I don't, forgive me, Sam and I, I'll probably say this incorrectly. Um, we have ASL interpreters Yep. Who are going to be there to, as I take and give a personal tour of the exhibit, they will be interpreting for the deaf community. Okay. Uh, you know, persons who come through that are deaf. Yep. Uh, and is, I don't know, is that correct? Is you're, or do say living with you're, you're fine.
Speaker 2 00:37:16 No,
Speaker 3 00:37:17 Go for it. Okay. And, and then, um, persons who are visually impaired or blind, um, we have a audio describer.
Speaker 2 00:37:26 Yes. Okay. Yep. Cool.
Speaker 3 00:37:28 So, Yep. And that's on the Saturday, October 15th from 10 30 to 1130.
Speaker 2 00:37:34 And where again,
Speaker 3 00:37:36 At the Ames Center? Um, it, it's right at where the exhibit Burnsville in Burnsville at Ames Center in Burnsville.
Speaker 2 00:37:44 And do people need to, uh, sign up for it or can they show up? Nope.
Speaker 3 00:37:50 Nope. They just show up. It's free. Um, and also the exhibit goes on through November 5th and they're, the AIM center itself is completely accessible and I have large print and braille booklets available. They can just pick them up at the box office. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:38:11 Cool.
Speaker 3 00:38:12 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:38:12 So it, it sounds like you really worked hard to try to make this accessible. I wonder, um, is there anything like, can people do anything cuz this is really, I try to do global shows and, and so even though I feature people, I do feature some people, obviously, you know, from Minnesota. I do try to because we're, we're all over the place now. Can people go online and see the exhibit or hear anything with them? Um,
Speaker 3 00:38:44 Yeah, Well, on my website, which do you want me to share what that is?
Speaker 2 00:38:49 Yes, I do.
Speaker 3 00:38:50 Okay. It's, um, <laugh>, it's any young arts.com. Um, there is a blog that has all of the artwork and the stories behind the artwork. And for any person who is, um, has accessibility, that's also has the descriptions on it as well.
Speaker 2 00:39:14 You know, I did notice that when I got on your website, it described the picture of you there. I thought that's cool. Okay. She's aware. Of course you are.
Speaker 3 00:39:23 I try to do my best. It it, as you know, it is very difficult to keep up with all that.
Speaker 2 00:39:29 Absolutely. It, it's, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 00:39:32 Yeah. I, I, I have tried to do my very best. Um, and if, if persons, um, find anything that is not described, they can al there's a contact page. They can always write to me and, and let me know if there was a oversight. But for the most part, I think, um, the images are, have descriptions, but of course there's, there's some that get through and get overlooked. But please let me know and I will make sure that I, um, make that correction.
Speaker 2 00:40:01 And are you, is your contact info on the website? I imagine so,
Speaker 3 00:40:07 Yes. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:40:08 <affirmative>, so they can just click on Yeah. Contact information. You, um, annie young arts.com.
Speaker 3 00:40:14 Yes. Annie young arts.com. Correct.
Speaker 2 00:40:18 See, told you you'd always stay young, see?
Speaker 3 00:40:20 Yes, that's right. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:40:23 So what's your next adventure?
Speaker 3 00:40:27 Well, funny that you should ask <laugh>. My husband and I are planning to travel to South America. Uh, he ha he's attempting to run a volcano marathon Oh my gosh. In November. And I'm gonna try to do some distance, whether it be a half or possibly a 10 K.
Speaker 2 00:40:49 Wow. Okay. Then. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:40:51 And so when wish me luck, Good
Speaker 2 00:40:53 Luck. Um, I would say break a leg, but that just sounds wrong when you're running
Speaker 3 00:40:58 A mask. <laugh>. Yes. Yeah, Yeah. Don't do that. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:41:02 Um,
Speaker 3 00:41:03 I, But before we leave, I do wanna say one thing that's really important. Um, my, my goal in all of this, and I know it sounds really corny, but a few years ago I heard this quote from Audrey Hepburn mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and I've kind of adopted it as my mantra, and it's from Audrey Hepburn. I heard that she once said the words I'm possible are found in the word impossible. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:41:29 <affirmative>.
Speaker 3 00:41:30 I just love that quote. And I've been sharing it with everyone. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:41:35 I, I do like that too. I really thought that that was pretty good. Um, yeah.
Speaker 3 00:41:40 I just love it. And just it, this was a aha moment for me. So I, I I hold onto that near and dear to my heart. And I, I share it whenever I can.
Speaker 2 00:41:51 And so I just want, I'm curious to understand, when you're painting, are you actually, is it, is it actually images, like, like people image or is it abstract? Kind of? What do you you
Speaker 3 00:42:10 Do a lot of flowers. I do a lot of flour. Yeah. So this, this, um, it's funny you should ask because this exhibit, um, I have a lot of people that have already seen the exhibit that walk away saying, This doesn't look like anything you've ever done before. <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because most 90% of the things I typically paint are flowers or trees or dragonflies. So this particular exhibit really has none of that <laugh> Yeah. In it. But that's what I normally paint. Sam is a lot of flowers, a lot of dragon flies, and a lot of bird trees. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:42:45 Is this the most difficult, um, exhibit you've done?
Speaker 3 00:42:50 It is, yeah. It has been by far the most challenging. Uh, and I'm really glad that I did it because it, um, it was a challenge. I mean, even, even, uh, you know, she would describe, uh, okay, I wanna make a, a world, you know, a globe kind of thing. And, you know, for me to, you know, as a excited person, I was still like, Uhhuh
Speaker 2 00:43:17 Uhhuh.
Speaker 3 00:43:19 It took, that one took three. That one literally took us three years. Oh my gosh. It took forever. Yeah. That, that took the long, That was so hard. It was so hard. And it took like every thing, every, every, every uh, every step took like months. We'd have to do something. Wait a few months. Yeah. And then we'd have to do another layer. Then it took another few months. Well it was all kind of paper maade and Yeah. And even my husband, which is so much to do, do on it, Even even my husband got involved towards the very end to help out with that. I mean, every, that was all hands on duck tell, but that it was a tough project. We got it done. Three. Yeah. And also the thing with that, like every time, so she would, should say, Well, why don't we, No, I, it has to be this. Cause I knew it, it was such a critical, important piece. I just would not give up on what was in my mind's eye as like, We're gonna find a way, we're gonna find a way to make this work. Cuz I know we can make it work. Yeah. Wasn't it spectacular? It is spectacular. It's, it, it turned out really nice. I love it. It's the most amazing thing in the whole exhibit. It's, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. It's a big globe. And, uh, it looks like it's up on,
Speaker 4 00:44:30 I don't know, I wanna call it a torch, An Olympic torch looks like it's up there,
Speaker 3 00:44:35 You know, It's spectacular.
Speaker 4 00:44:36 It's just so cool to
Speaker 3 00:44:38 See. It's the whole reason, that's the why it's called Journey to Rock Bottom. Cause it looks like a big rock that is emblematic of the globe. Of the globe. Of the
Speaker 4 00:44:46 Globe. The world.
Speaker 3 00:44:47 The world. Yeah. You,
Speaker 2 00:44:49 You talk briefly, you talk about how you feel inclusivity is so important and talk about why you personally feel inclusivity is important.
Speaker 3 00:44:59 Because when you talk about persons with, uh, disabilities, it kind of feels like you're being distant, separated. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But when you talk about inclusivity, then everyone is included. We're all included. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Right. So, um, that's why we think it's important. We want people to feel included. You're in, you're in the group, you're included. And so, you know, we all have, uh,
Speaker 4 00:45:23 We all have something go wrong with us. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3 00:45:27 Not wrong, like different well,
Speaker 4 00:45:29 Different about
Speaker 3 00:45:30 Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:45:31 All different abilities. And that's why we say diff ability instead of disability, because we all have different abilities, whether you're cited or not cited. And I mean, you know, everyone can do something that the other person can't do possibly. And, and we all try to find common ground that way.
Speaker 3 00:45:52 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:45:53 I like the quote that you use. If you dream it, believe it, you can achieve it. You just don't have to do it alone.
Speaker 3 00:46:02 What brought, what brought you to that? You know, that came because my husband, um, I got, like I said, I had, I had like, uh, 75% of this collection done mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I was really frustrated because I was down to those last few pieces. And my husband's like, What's wrong? And I'm, I said, I, I'm, I can't, I literally can't. And I don't use that word. Can't. As you know, Sam, I very rarely use that word. I said, I, I, I just, I I can't do this one particular piece. And he said, Why don't you ask for help? And I said, Cuz I want it to be my exhibit. I wanted to be, you know, <laugh>. And he said, Annie, did you, did you run that race by yourself? And I said, Well, what do you mean? He goes, Yeah, did did you run in Antarctica by yourself?
Speaker 3 00:46:45 And I said, Well, no. He said, That's right. I guide you. So why do you think that you have to do this all by yourself? And I thought, Oh yeah, he's right. So, you know, if you have something that you want to achieve, it's okay to know your limitations, to acknowledge them and then ask for help. Because honestly, none of us get where we're at in life by ourselves. You know? That's true. We all had help. Yeah. And it's okay to ask for help to get there. And you know what, I have to tell you, it's so much better to get to the finish line surrounded by friends. Um, I feel so great to have Sherry here with me today. And I feel fantastic to have these friends that helped me to finish off that collection because it's, it's a celebration at a party with friends. And it, it just feels so much better to be there surrounded by those that love and care for you and, and want to see you succeed than to stand there alone. It's, yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:47:45 This is, uh, this next question is probably something you can dwell on for a while, but has to be quick. Um, how have you found having a visual impairment? Like, have you found your art accepted as well as if you hadn't had one?
Speaker 3 00:48:06 Uh, well, I, since I wasn't an artist when I Well, that's true. Excited, I guess <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:48:11 But do you, do you, I mean, do you feel like people are pretty accepting of
Speaker 4 00:48:15 For me, for me, uh, you know, when I tell people, Oh, I have a friend who paints, and then they're like, you know, and then they read, you know, come and see her exhibit or, or see her work and, and, uh, we've exhibited elsewhere, you know, together and stuff. And they're like, Wait a minute. That sign that she has put up, so she's blind. How in the wor I, how does she paint when she's blind? You know? And I'm, I'm like, I don't know how she does it sometimes. It just amazes me and how beautiful her work is. And so I feel like that it is very accepted and, you know, and people just kinda do a double take. Like, you've gotta be kidding me. She can't see it all and be like, No, she can't see it all. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:49:03 Yeah. But I, I, I feel very blessed and I, you know, I, uh, yeah, I think that, I think the community accepts me just fine. Um, yeah, I feel, I feel very welcomed and accepted. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:49:18 Good. I, um, I just wanna congratulate you for doing such a huge piece and I hope it goes well. And I thank you. I wish you good luck and your next endeavor.
Speaker 3 00:49:31 Thanks,
Speaker 2 00:49:32 <laugh>. I thank
Speaker 3 00:49:33 You for having us, Sam. It means
Speaker 2 00:49:34 So much. You You're welcome. I can't imagine, did you say Africa? You did
Speaker 3 00:49:39 Say Africa. Uh, it's South America.
Speaker 2 00:49:42 South America, Okay. South America.
Speaker 3 00:49:45 And thanks for doing this program too, Sam. I've been listening to your, your program is wonderful. I've learned a lot.
Speaker 2 00:49:50 Well, thank you very much. I I wish you both the best of luck and I, I, I hope that you will, I imagine that you'll be doing another piece in, in South America, so you'll have to come back.
Speaker 3 00:50:03 <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:50:04 We, we, we've got big plans. We, we are, uh, gonna collaborate on a, uh, disabled, the series of, of comic somewhat comical things that have happened to us. And
Speaker 2 00:50:19 You will definitely have to come on and talk about that
Speaker 4 00:50:21 Thing that has happened to us. So I sometimes have to use a cane as well, um, because, you know, I just am not mobile at times and to keep my balance and such, so I, I use a cane, and one day I was driving Annie somewhere and I got out of the car with my white cane <laugh> and Annie got out with hurricane and there was this woman standing on the sidewalk looking at us both like, Wait a minute, <laugh>, are they both flying? You know? And the woman just stared at us and stared at us and stared at
Speaker 2 00:50:58 Us. And I can only imagine
Speaker 4 00:51:00 While we're just about rolling on the ground, laughing, like, wow. So we're, we're gonna try and do a, a, uh, an art p you know, a a art show based on our musings, uh, of disabled life. And, and you know, like a lot of times, you know, somebody will be like, they must be a hearted hearing.
Speaker 2 00:51:25 Oh yeah, there is, is that, Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:51:27 And so they'll talk extra loud and that kind of thing. So it, it's, it's kind of comical.
Speaker 2 00:51:33 All right. Well thank you very much for joining us and uh, again, good luck and we will talk soon.
Speaker 4 00:51:40 All right. Thank you,
Speaker 2 00:51:41 You, bye-bye. This has been disability and progress. If yous expressed on the show, not necessarily those of K F A or it's board of directors, my name is Sam, I'm the host of the show. Thanks for tuning in. Charlene Doll is my research woman. Goodnight Charlene. Um, tonight we were speaking with Annie Young. Annie is an artist who was talking about her exhibit journey to rock bottom. We were also speaking with Sherry Grobe. This is K f 90.3 fm, Minneapolis, and k f i.org. If you wanna join us on our email list, you may email me at disability and progress sam jasmine.com also. Uh, please feel free to hear our podcasts. We have lots of them up now. Thanks for listening. Goodnight.
