Keychain A Day: donations

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.

Showing posts with label donations. Show all posts

Day 354

Kelt also got this keychain from his bowling teammate that
participated in the Special Olympic Summer Games in Athens!

Mr. Burns: blind contour drawing of 1/163 of Kelt's bobble heads.

These drawings are blind except when I briefly look at the paper to set the pen. This series represents Kelt's uninhibited drawing style and enhanced visual skills. To view more, click the bobble head label to the right.

Day 353

Special Olympics bowling recently started and one of Kelt's teammates, who got

to participate in the World Summer Games in Athens, brought this back for him!

Day 347

He also got this one from my friend Zulfi after visiting Holland.

Day 346

Kelt got this keychain from my friend Tommy from Gonzaga University in Spokane. People are constantly sending him keychains, which is one of the reasons that he likes doing the blog. He's a likable guy with many admirers and not hesitant to tell people that he's popular. Modesty is not one of his strong suits...

Day 329

Today Kelt got this keychain from his friend Gabe after visiting Alaska. His
friends are constantly bringing back keychains from their trips. Now he has 6,197!

Day 314

Today Kelt got this keychain and another one in the
mail from our good friend Shelby. Now he has 6,174!

Day 308

Our grandparents recently went to Lopez Island and
brought this keychain back for Kelt. Now he has 6,171!

Day 294

This morning this keychain was on the windshield of one of our cars. Kelt's band teacher's wife, Dorita Gray, has a jewelry business with similar designs, so we're pretty sure it's from her. Oh small town life. :)

Day 245

Saturday, May 21, 2011

PARTY DRAW!!

Artist & friend Mary Woodall sent us this
keychain and drawings from her art class!

Day 217

Kelt also got this keychain on Friday from a former
teacher from the Czech Republic! Now he has 6,006!

Day 216

Friday, April 22, 2011

Kelt will talk to anyone that he sees with a keychain. Today it was one of his high school girl friends that he saw at a baseball game. He kept touching the keychains on her lanyard and saying how cool they were until she finally gave him this one. He's quite the charmer...

Day 206

1/8 that Kelt got in the mail today.

Thanks Nevin!

Today Kelt got eight keychains in the mail from his friend Nevin who is also the president of Keychain Collectors International! He didn't have any of them, which was surprising based on Kelt's collection. Kelt just joined KCI and is excited to start trading and eventually go to a convention! Now he has 5,980!

Day 186

Today Kelt got this keychain and 2 others from our grandparents' friend.

Now he has 5,901!

Another quote from Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome. I'm glad I'm reading this book because it seems like Kelt and Luke Jackson (author) have a lot in common. In the section, Strings and Things, Jackson describes his love for wrapping, which is also an activity that Kelt's always enjoyed.

"Another thing that I loved to do, still do actually, is to tie string everywhere. I like the idea of chain reactions - one thing happening which triggers off another, which triggers off another and so on... It's a bit hard to explain how rewarding and satisfying it is to tie things together. It is just one of those hypnotic things that distract me from the real world for a while and is so much fun" (52-53).

Our 1st and 6th sculpture pieces.
Out of the eight we've done, these have been his favorites.

Day 185

Today Kelt got this keychain and two others from his wrestling coach from
the NCAA Wrestling Championship in Philadelphia! Now he has 5,898!

Day 165

Kelt got two more keychains in the mail today from my friend Amanda! Here is a drawing of 1/2. Now he has 5,841. We also finished another sculpture piece:

Piece #6, shoe laces

This is the 6th piece for our new project. We haven't written the artist statement yet or figured out the specifics, but want to work with a variety of materials, such as wax, glue, and clay, etc., to see what Kelt likes. I'm curious to observe his process and learn if sculpture is a medium that he enjoys. I'm also interested in his relationship with the different materials. So far he's enjoyed wrapping and tying the most.

The materials are also important because people with autism often have unique responses to sensory stimuli. Examples include high threshold for pain, oversensitivity to sounds or being touched, exaggerated reactions to light or odors, or fascination with certain stimuli, etc. Hypersensitivities and/or hyposensitivities vary depending on the individual; for people with autism the continuum can range from no reaction to responses in all five senses.

This material was inspired by artist Judith Scott.

Photograph by Leon Borensztein for the book One is Adam One is Superman

Borensztein showing Scott her picture in the book

"Judith Scott was a fiber artist who was isolated from outside influences because of the severe impact of deafness and Down syndrome. She was very independent and self-directed. Crafting armatures of bamboo slats or other discarded materials, she wrapped these forms with lengths of knotted cloth or yarn. Her sculptures reflect little cultural input and are highly individualistic, expressing Judith's own personal vision." -Excerpt from One is Adam One is Superman: The Outsider Artists of Creative Growth

Our friend, who's also the principal, recently went to Japan with the high school band. He brought back this keychain for Kelt's birthday. He said it cost "serious yen."

Day 137

Kelt got his 2nd keychain in the mail today from my friend Leah!

Day 63

One of Kelt's first and favorite keychains.

He got this keychain from his elementary teacher Sherry.