In 1998 my youngest brother, Kelton, was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that affects communication and social interaction. Autism currently affects 1/88 people in the United States. Kelton is a talented individual who runs cross-country and track, wrestles, plays the drums, loves history, and collects bobble heads and keychains.

This year Kelton decided to enroll in his first art class where he discovered his skill for drawing. His unorthodox style made me reconsider my artwork and examine the differences and similarities that exist between our perspectives. According to Paul Collins’ Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism, artists are four times more likely to have autism in their families. Considering the number of artists in my family, this statistic made me question the similarities that exist between Kelton and me. For this reason, we have decided to draw one of his 6,481 keychains a day for one year. These drawings will be as simple and uninhibited as possible. This project will explore our individual perspectives and examine the similarities that exist between us as artists.

Day 257


Tonight was the end of the year high school art show.
Kelt had his own display and won the Juror's Choice award!





Rubber Band Keychain
Block Print

4 comments:

  1. Tell us more of the story of the Do-si-do keychain, please.

    Love the senior show and display!

    The bigger version seems to have the components of everything, from the website, to the artists statement, to the most important thing: the KEYCHAINS in bright and glorious (and often multi-) colour.

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  2. Thanks Adelaide! We're so proud of him and excited that he wants to keep making art. After showing his work in Seattle and the high school he's even more determined. He loves the social part, but more importantly wants to become a famous artist like Andy Warhol. :)

    Thanks for following our blog. We always enjoy your comments.

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  3. Also, the Do-Si-Do keychain is a Girl Scouts' cookie. If you click on the "food/instruments" label to the right, you'll also see the Tagalong and Samoas cookies that we've drawn. :)

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  4. And the students think he'll be Most Likely to be Remembered.

    Glad to see that your tag arrangement is fairly logical, in the most frequent, rather than alphabetical or categorical.

    Probably my favourite of the food keychains is the Dairy Queen soft-serve icecream.

    I did see the Tagalong cookies. The others are still yet to be found.

    As well as collecting, it's the stories which intrigue me. Sure Kelt and Andy Warhol share(d) that characteristic.

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