Jayd Alex | Blind Beauty Issue 32

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

Isn’t true if you can’t see it. Likewise, painting with words, the skill writers and creatives alike use, can fully engage our senses. There is power in both imagery and words. Marrying the two with image descriptions make stories come alive in the imaginations of people who are blind or visually impaired (VI).

Take for example the 3 images within this post created by Digital Artist, Jayd Alex. Each of her pieces challenges us to view blindness from a different perspective. These gorgeous drawings show the vast spectrum of blindness and how people who are blind might appear.

What I love about Jayd’s art is that it demystifies blindness by showing characters with strength, confidence, and their white canes. Ordinary people who cannot see yet are living their lives independently. Each of the images shows people who are well-groomed, poised, and fierce.

Following is what Jayd has to say about blindness:

“Visual impairments and blindness don’t just present difficulties, they present unique perspectives that deserve to be shared. I hope through my art I can help VI people become more confident in themselves and their abilities, and show our able-bodied society that we have so much to give.” ~Jayd Alex

Image #1 Description:

Black & white partial sketch of a woman holding an identification (ID) cane in both hands. A braid can be seen laying on her right shoulder and she is professionally dressed in a jacket with rolled up sleeves and white cami.

Image #2 Description:

Fashionably dressed brown-skinned woman with wavy burgundy colored hair. She has a blue floppy hat on her head with blue oversized shades, white cold shoulder top with lace details around the shoulders and blue jeans. She is holding her white mobility cane in her right hand and she could easily be a runway model.

Image #3 Description:

This image is part of a new iPad painting. The image is a stylish white complexioned young woman with pink hair in a ponytail and loose wisps of hair on both sides of her face. She is wearing a purple three-quarter sleeve length top and matching choker with a full black skirt belted at the waist. In both hands, she is holding a shorter identification cane used to indicate she has low vision.

Featured image is a mock magazine cover titled Blind Beauty. Jayd is looking quite lovely on the cover with her fair porcelain complexion wearing brown-framed eyeglasses. She has light blonde shoulder length hair, blue/grey eyes and is wearing a burgundy crew neck sweater.