Slowly being robbed of clear vision, artist takes work in new direction

In high school, they told her to ditch the brushes and paints.

They told her to prepare for life as a telemarketer. That's all her professional life had in store for her. But Rachel Dora-Ann Fisher had other plans.

The 30-year-old Schaumburg artist, who professionally goes as Rachel Dora-Ann, will unveil nine new paintings at her first solo art show, which opened last week at Black Box Diamond Gallery in Hoffman Estates.

The teachers and college recruiters who advised her that art wasn't in her future weren't basing that on talent.

Fisher suffers from Stargardt's disease, which has taken away her ability to see colors clearly. It has also ruined her depth perception and made her eyes hypersensitive to light. She's supposed to wear sunglasses all the time, even indoors while painting.

"But I'm a stubborn woman," Fisher said with a laugh.

Stargardt's has forced her to focus on contrasts and textures, to work with shadows in blacks and whites. She works with acrylics on canvas. In the past she's even painted Braille works.

"I want them to touch my paintings," she said.

One piece on display in particular merits attention. As Fisher's visual palette diminished, she's stopped using colors in her work, just black and white. Needing to move on, she hopes someone purchases her final work in full color, completed in 2005.

"It's really emotional. It's sad," she said. "I understand the black and white work is evolving. ... I'd be lying if I said it's not really sad when I look at my (older) more complicated work; I just have to find the same fulfillment in the direction I'm going."

Stargardt's is a juvenile macular degenerative condition that takes away central vision. It can leave small blind spots and dulls contrasts and colors.

In some ways, having partial vision is more difficult than being totally blind, Fisher said. People have difficulty understanding those with partial vision loss. Through her art, Fisher hopes she can better express herself.

"It's really hard to explain," she said. "I want them to see the beauty of the features even though they're not detailed."

Fisher's mother was an artist who excelled at painting details. Fisher is thankful for mom and her friends, who often act as guides.

"We're her seeing-eye people," joked friend Rebecca LaFlamme.

The community of artists with impaired vision is small. Through working with the Guild for the Blind, Fisher was inspired by Chicago-area artist Judy Jasek, who recently died from brain cancer. Two months before her death, she gave her easel to Fisher.

"She actually accepted her impairment and embraced it," Fisher said of her friend. "That's what's inspiring. ... I'm there now."

Fisher often sketches nudes, so she advises keeping children at home if that kind of stuff bothers parents.

The show, called "Through the Eyes," runs through Dec. 24 at Black Box, 1756 W. Algonquin Road, Hoffman Estates. Call (847) 705-5006 or check blackboxdiamond.com or myspace.com/artbyracheldoraann for more information.