Skip to main content
Second Sense - Beyond Vision Loss

Passionate Focus 2023

To see all of each artist’s work and to read their bio, simply click on their name.

Most of the work shown here is available for sale during our Passionate Focus 2022 event. Visit our event website and go to Browse Items and Art Exhibit to see the prices.

Carol Sue Henry

Carol Sue Henry

Carol grew up on a farm in Toulon, Illinois but now lives in Ft. Myers, Florida. She paints at the Lighthouse of Southwest Florida in their arts program.

  1. Imagination
Camille Jassny

Camille Jassny

"Sharing my art allows me to show how I visualize the world, how even blindness can be full of color and beauty; each piece a window into how I see without sight."

  1. Salute to Ukraine
  2. Stormy Night
Linn Sorge

Linn Sorge

"I tend to think of them [colors] as music--one color might be like a cheerful little melody in a major key, another might sound bold and strong. Add them together and you have a new piece of hand-woven artwork."

  1. Marilynn's Silken Dreams Raku Scarf (Not for Sale)
  2. Snow Covers the Iridescent Prairie (Not for Sale)
Amber Miller

Amber Miller

“Now, with the unfailing encouragement of family and friends, I am happily allowing dreams, imaginings and stories to spill from the brush. My reduced physical vision has become a gateway to a richer, inner sight.”

  1. Resilience
Annie Hesse

Annie Hesse

Hesse’s intention is to show the viewer not only what she sees, but how she sees it.

  1. Carnaval de Cadiz
  2. Seville Rising
Barbara Oswald

Barbara Oswald

"Due to my vision loss, my view of the world is puzzle perfect. A tiny piece, a band of color, how does it fit in to the bigger picture? Through my imagination the swirls become joined, and my art is whole."

  1. Mi Casa es su Casa
  2. Reaching for the Light
Charles Blackwell

Charles Blackwell

“I create pieces in order to provoke inspiration and thus giving life to the human spirit.”

  1. Headed to the New Home: The Great Migration
  2. Luther, Wow! Luther, is that You?
  3. Waiting Inside Brooklyn Subway Station
Constance Avery

Constance Avery

"Painting, for me, is about the exploration of lines, colors, and composition to discover/see what can be created visually."

  1. Adirondack Morning (Judi Jasek Jurors' Choice Award: First Place)
  2. The Guardian
  3. Window to My World
Frank Valliere

Frank Valliere

"Order, placement and detail are necessary components of my work as well as in my everyday life.  Art should extend beyond the frame and into the three-dimensional environment."

  1. First Gathering
  2. Upstate New York
Hamilton Eugene Byrd

Hamilton Eugene Byrd

"I have been painting and drawing since I was 8 years old. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer this year."

  1. Fermont Falls
  2. Green Head
Julie Bruno

Julie Bruno

"My style is like me, still evolving and a little quirky."

  1. Chester County Barn 1
  2. Ginko Leaves
Kurt Weston

Kurt Weston

"Stylistically, my new images embrace technology-based art with new and intriguing methods. They are digitally enhanced photographic configurations which recontextualize for both the sighted and the blind the very nature of seeing."

  1. Cyber Optic
  2. Eye Pressure
Passle Helminski

Passle Helminski

  1. BPR Dog
  2. Red Dog (Judi Jasek Jurors' Choice Award: Second Place)
Rose Kamma Morrison

Rose Kamma Morrison

"My goal as an artist is to break down the stigma of blindness, one brushstroke at a time - we as artists can bring in a different perspective by expanding your vision of style and design."

  1. Light Perception
  2. Small but Mighty
Russell Schermer

Russell Schermer

"I have had an interest in making things since childhood. I have always had a fascination with cars and have enjoyed forming things from clay. I have combined my interests in these two things to create my work."

  1. 1938 Cadillac (Judi Jasek Jurors' Choice Award: Third Place)
  2. 1956 Ford
  3. 1959 Jaguar
Sam Smith

Sam Smith

Much of Sam’s work is inspired by the humor that can be found in ordinary language and symbols.

  1. C for Yourself
  2. Take Two: The Sky
  3. The Way of the File
Sheila Koenig

Sheila Koenig

"Making time to take pictures not only connects me with nature and the present moment, but also with nature’s rhythms across the span of time."

  1. Clouds
  2. Fruit Loops
Stella De Genova

Stella De Genova

"For me, creating art is not a choice but more of a sanctuary.  I am never alone when I am alone with my art."

  1. California Desert
  2. Desert Tree
  3. View from the Danube
Susan Joy Gustafson

Susan Joy Gustafson

  1. Happy Hawaii
  2. Hug a Tree