Dealing with Visual Impairment as an Artist

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2015... it actually was my routine eye exam (which was running later than annual due to life circumstances) which caught it. My vision had been tanking over time without me realizing it.

I was sitting at a traffic light one night and noticed that the walk signal was counting down "33, 22, 11" - My god, I thought, I've got double vision. I booked in for an eye exam right away.

As soon as the doctor looked into the first eye she basically freaked out... referred me to an ophthalmologist and told me to get to my own doctor immediately for tests. My doctor saw me that afternoon - this was Thursday. He sent me for tests which I had done Friday morning. 

I saw the ophthalmologist on Monday (obviously the referral was labelled an emergency as waiting to see a specialist usually takes months.) They scheduled me for a "procedure"... I had to really press the staff to tell me what the "procedure" was... it was injections into my eyeballs. Holy shit!

Then on Tuesday I saw my doctor for the results of the tests - confirmed it was Type 2 Diabetes. That was December 22, 2015. A few days before Christmas. Great timing. 

I was left to my own devices to deal with it - no referrals, etc. Not even any brochures... I was given a prescription for the equipment, test strips and one drug (low dose as I was worried about a reaction) and that was it. 

So I got onto researching how to control it, I knew carbs/sugar were bad, Within a month I had switched to an extreme low carb diet which involved NO sugar, removed all fruit from my diet, etc. I tested my blood sugars constantly to determine what foods I might be able to keep - but I had no tolerance to carbs so bye-bye.

It only took me four months (until April) to get my blood sugar down to what is considered "good management" for diabetics. But, I was going for "normal" non-diabetic levels. I am very strict with my diet.

Meanwhile, I was getting monthly injections in my eyes... often both at the same time, sometimes only one. I asked if this was going to be forever or would it get better. The doctor told me that in 80% of patients the eyes stabilize and injections are no longer needed. Said controlling blood sugar and blood pressure were key.

I had both under control very quickly. Within a year I was in remission - my blood sugars were extremely normal, all signs of diabetic symptoms disappeared, I was off medication, and healthier than I'd been in my life.  Except for my eyes.

Unfortunately, my eyes are NOT stabilizing. I've been getting monthly injections for seven years now and even laser surgery - but my eyes have actually deteriorated even more.

My vision has been steadily worsening over that time. As a lifelong artist it is quite stressful and worrying. As this condition is in a constant state of flux, there is no way to "correct" my vision - I don't know hour-to-hour if I will be able to see or focus clearly. My prescription glasses are only good for correcting the normal age related vision issues... they are useless to help with the retinopathy. I recently had my vision tested again and was told the prescription is as good as it will get. They only work for me if the "leaking" in the eyes is controlled - which occasionally happens immediately after a treatment, for a day or two.

I hadn't realized that I had stopped reading for pleasure. It was gradual, and as I didn't know I had an issue it never really occurred to me it was because of not being able to focus.

Once I knew this condition wasn't going to stabilize I dove into my artistic bucket list, so to speak. 

I had chosen not do an arts education after high school - there was no career path there, so I went into administration, volunteer management and business. I never stopped making art, took classes in everything from airbrush to fused glass to watercolours. In the 1990s I decided to go to make-up school and worked as a make-up artist for 25 years which satisfied my artistic cravings in a big way, while still working part-time in administration and volunteer management.

In 2017 I retired from my day-job, and applied to college to study Fine Art. I graduated in 2021. I applied for various programs in the UK and Ireland and received multiple offers. I moved to Plymouth from Canada in the Summer of 2021, and applied to the MA Fine Art at the University in September 2022, which is where I am now.

I want to get the post grad degree as a life goal, before my vision deteriorates to the point of making creating visual art impossible. I know there will still be ways I can stay creative, but I am extremely visually oriented in all aspects of my life.

Dealing with vision loss that is stable is hard, but at least you know what you can get done. With my vision in a constant state of flux (some days I can't even see the television - and we have a big screen) it it another level of stress.

Some mornings I can't focus at all - everything seems to have a fog over it. Other days I am able to focus on text (with magnification) but that usually fades back into blurriness within a couple of hours. I have dozens of pairs of glasses - two are prescriptions, the rest are an assortment of magnifying/reading glasses of different strengths. I try them all each time I want to read or focus to find which one will work today. Once the focus goes though, nothing will get it back that day.

When I started the MA program it took the University a couple of weeks to get me processed and into the system. Once I was "live" I submitted a request for accommodation for my visual impairment at the very beginning of October. I was eventually given an appointment mid-November. Then I had to follow-up in December as I'd had no more contact. I didn't get an outside assessment until early January. Last week I finally was able to be shown what I could access through the Library. I am getting a demo of some equipment in February... 

I've spent the last week finding research and articles that I can convert to audio files using a program from the library. I still have to re-read the abstracts and skim the PDF files though, but once I narrow down my list I will just listen to the pertinent ones. I've got around 48 hours of audio files downloaded already... and that doesn't include the books!

Good thing this MA program is part-time as if it was a full-time one I would really be in a quandary! Only this week am I beginning to feel that I may be able to get the research done that I've planned - it is still going to be a struggle, but I WILL do it.

I still can make art, it might take longer to finish detailed drawings and paintings, but a lot of what I make (which I admit to being surprized about) seems to come together without me actually seeing it completely clearly. Watercolour paintings that are blurry still are cool. I'm learning to accept the results of what I attempt, rather than get agitated that it didn't turn out as expected. It is still a bit of a struggle as I was always able to draw/paint what I saw in extreme detail, and when designing could visualize exactly what I wanted and then execute it. Now, I have to be happy with what results I end up with, whether they were my intention or not.

It is a bit strange to have to wait a day or two for my vision to clear up so I can actually see what I made. 

One issue that has had an impact is that I can't see straight lines - as in, if I want to cut a square or edge my vision won't allow me to see that I've gone off the straight. Even when using a set square, I go off. Frustrating - there goes my career as a surveyor.