Wings.

Wings.

Wings and Silence. I was asked recently by an American Student who has Autism to explain some of my work to her for a school project she did on Autism and Art. Once I begun to explain my thinking in my work in relation to the world of Autism we live in, I realised just how many of my works relate to Mikey and I and Autism. Some pieces on a subconscious level at the point of creation.

      This picture I did in a photo editing software program not long after Mikey was diagnosed as having Autism. I was deeply sad at the time and trying to understand what we were facing. I had no idea what was to come in the years that followed. Everyone I talked to, every book I read was all about inability, disability, difficulty. It made me feel horrible beyond description. My precious child was taken away from me by one word, Autism. So alone in his world of inability..so I gave him wings.

      Everything I learned about Autism spoke of isloation, and can't do's. Mikey is the free spirit we all long to be, somewhere deep inside! When everything around him was dark he glowed, when the other children around him played with toys, Mikey played with shafts of light through his fingers, subtle shadows and textures around him that no one else noticed. Autism took the child I thought I had away and replaced him with a child so unique and magical. Creating this image brought me out of a dark time of acceptance and grief. Like a beam of light changing from cold to warmth.

Samantha, I was knocked for six when I saw this image. It is so very tender and loving yet so powerful at the same time. Only a loving mum could have done that. Phew! makes me well up inside.