The second artist that I have chosen to represent the
disability in the arts community is Stephen Wiltshire. Wiltshire was born and
raised in London by his West Indian parents. As a child he did not relate well
to other children, so he drew instead. His favorite pastime was drawing. When
he was around three years of age his family discovered that he had Autistic
Savant.
Something that occurs in children
with Autism is that they cannot talk, but they tend to discover a hidden
talent. Wiltshire was not able to speak
until around age eight. He was only able to talk because his teachers
encouraged him to use his words by using certain methods. One of these methods
was taking his art supplies away, so he would have to ask for them back. This
worked and he eventually was able to speak normally, which has helped him in
his art career.
Wiltshire’s art career took off
when he was only seven years old. At this point, he began commissioning art for
very important people such as the British Prime Minister. He continued drawing
and eventually started painting, which led him to study Fine Arts at City and
Guilds Art College. He graduated with a degree in drawing and printmaking.
His theme is usually detailed
landscapes. He draws lifelike and pretty accurate representations of cities,
which sometimes he has only had a very limited amount of time to view the city
before creating his masterpieces. The drawings are usually pretty large in
scale and done in pen. The largest one measured ten meters long, which only
took him eight day to complete using a pen. In his private sketchbook, he likes
to draw portraits of people. He is a pretty amazing artist.
Stephen Wiltshire continues to make
an impact on the art world. He has successfully shown us what it looks like to
have a disability and also to be a great artist. I particularly like his motto
which is “Do the best you can and never stop”. He certainly follows this as he
continues to produce magnificent pieces of art for others to enjoy.
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