I grew up in a small town in Northern NY wearing hearing aids from age 5; after school testing showed severe hearing loss. I was an LPN for many years before being diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at age 30 and later Usher’s Syndrome. At age 43 I decided to return to my first love, art.
I graduated from MVCC with an associate degree and Empire State College with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art where I studied painting, photography and pottery.
Having cataract surgery 5 years ago opened my cloudy central vision to brightness and color, but not my peripheral vision which was getting smaller. I have found these restrictions allowed me to take a different and interesting path with my art-work; which I call a keyhole approach.
My latest body of work is in reaction to experimenting with acrylic ink, expressive painting and images inspired by memories of stained glass creations by my youngest brother who also was an artist and struggled with RP/Usher’s.
I have won awards from Rome Art Community Center, Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Chicago’s Passionate Focus art show, and have shown in group and solo shows from NY to Chicago to Oregon. I now live Utica, NY and am pursuing my art career and starting my own business out of my gallery/home and online at AveryFineArts.com.
