In 2000 Allan caught meningitis, and went totally blind overnight.
The diagnosis by 5 eye doctors was that Allan probably would be totally blind for life.
When Allan had a little vision starting to return, they said he would just see some light, no more.
When Allan had a little more vision return, they said he wouldn't be able to distinguish anything.
When Allan told a doctor he could see the pattern of the doctor's tie, they said he would be totally color blind.
Then Allan started seeing colors, different colors at a time.
Now, years later, with the return of a little sliver of vision in one eye and some color distinction, Allan has returned to his passion of painting. He feels the quality of his art is better than ever.
Allan Eddy is an award winning 1988 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of the Atlanta College of Art. He was the winner of the prestigious 1987 Forward Arts Foundation Scholarship. This award is a full scholarship for the senior year that the faculty of the college votes on to award the most promising junior. They voted for Allan. Allan won many other awards.
Allan is an abstract painter. His work is compared to Kandinsky, Matta, and Miro. Purchasers of his paintings included Elton John and many private and corporate collectors. He showed his art through several galleries, had many shows and a bright career to look forward to.
But then Allan got sick with meningitis in May 2000. He spent six long weeks at Emory University Hospital fighting this disease. He suffered through numerous tests including over ten spinal taps and two blood transfusions.
After 2 days in the hospital Allan went totally blind from Meningitis. Meningitis normally causes hearing loss when it causes complications. How ironic that with an artist it steals his vision.
The consensus of 5 Emory Eye Doctors was that he would be totally blind for life or at the most have very slight light and dark distinction. They said he would definitely be totally colorblind. They said he had optic nerve atrophy from meningitis. They said optic nerves do not regenerate. They told this to Allan’s family, who insisted that the Doctors did not tell Allan the diagnosis of total blindness. Allan was so sick with meningitis that his family didn’t want him to hear this horrible news. They wanted it to wait until Allan was stronger.
While severely ill lying in the hospital bed Allan said if he stayed blind he’d have to give up painting and become a sculptor. He kept an upbeat attitude, and never cried once while in the hospital.
His family brought about 15 of Allan’s paintings to the hospital. They took down the paintings on the wall and put up Allan’s art. They put Allan’s paintings on every shelf and windowsill filling up the room with Allan’s art, surrounding Allan with his art. They wanted the Doctors and Nurses to see Allan’s art, to constantly remind them he was an artist. One of the eye doctors was a world-class specialist and had a Masters degree in Fine Art. His family hoped that everyone would make a deeper connection with Allan. Maybe the art would inspire them just a little harder to help him. Maybe there would be some magic and healing power from surrounding Allan with his art. And if Allan could possibly see again, they wanted Allan’s art to be the first thing that Allan saw.
After a few weeks while still in the hospital Allan’s vision returned just a little bit. The doctors said this was probably all he was going to improve because optic nerves do not regenerate. They said that many times. But Allan’s vision improved just a little more and a little more.
After 6 weeks the meningitis was under control. Allan left the hospital extremely weak and severely vision impaired.
Allan's vision kept improving a little bit at a time over the following three years to the surprise of his doctors. He even started to see color again.
During those three years every few months he had episodes of slightly returning vision. All of a sudden he saw sparkles, become nauseous and got a headache. Shortly after each episode Allan realized that his vision had improved in some way.
By Christmas 2001 Allan had regained his strength. He and a friend decided to take a trip to Europe for the first time for both of them. They were going to spend time in London and Paris. Allan got a quick crash course in using a white cane from an instructor at The Center For The Visually Impaired. Allan hadn’t wanted to use a cane up until this time. He felt embarrassed and self-conscious. Neither of them knew what to expect of traveling with a vision impairment. One part of what inspired them was 9-11. Americans were cautioned not to travel overseas. They felt the opposite. They felt that they wanted to show the world they were Americans and not scared. Allan had just overcome so much hardship that the terrorists weren’t going to deter him. And they both just wanted to have some fun after this horrible experience with Allan’s sickness.
While in Paris Allan was walking on a sidewalk and saw sparkles. A few blocks later he looked at a big green garbage can and realized he could see the color green again. Most of his vision improvements have been similarly dramatic.
The trip was wonderful. They left the U.S. being fearful of what it would be like traveling with Allan being vision impaired and using a white cane. What they found instead was the goodness in people. On airplanes, on sidewalks, in museums and just everywhere, people were wonderful to Allan. Many people went out of their way to help the blind young man.
Walking towards Westminster Abbey a security guard saw them from a long way off. He came walking out at a very fast pace and asked if Allan was coming inside. Allan said yes and the guard insisted on escorting the two of them in. There was a long line and the guard made everyone get out of the way and escorted them right in like they were visiting royalty. Inside Allan had people over and over coming over to him to explain things and wanting to guide Allan’s hands on things of importance for Allan to feel and for them to explain.
In Paris visiting the Louvre, museum guides came over to Allan several times and told him that he could touch the priceless world famous sculptures. They acted like they wanted him to. Some things Allan wasn’t interested in, but he touched them and listened to descriptions because the people were so very nice.
Allan experienced mankind in a new light.
Allan’s vision is almost totally gone in one eye, and he can see out of just a very small sliver in the other.
When he tried to draw or paint he could not see his own fingers. He didn’t think that he could ever draw with a pen or paint with a brush again. So he used his fingers to paint with at first. Allan couldn't paint with a brush because he couldn't see the brush touch the surface.
In 2003 Allan decided he wanted a tattoo of a dragon on his arm. He wanted to design his own tattoo so he struggled to draw a dragon. He became very compulsive about it. He grabbed pens and spent over a month 12 hours a day and more, drawing page after page, filling up notebook after notebook, hundreds and hundreds of pages of dragon drawings. He used up many pens. He did nothing else other than drawing dragons. While doing this he re-trained his hand-eye coordination and got better and better with his drawing.
He learned to draw again, he retrained his hand-eye coordination. He got his tattoo.
He still couldn’t see his fingers while drawing, but drawing dragon tattoos helped him regain his coordination enough where he can paint with a brush again.
Allan had been taking classes at The Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta. His friend nudged him into volunteering to help teaching art to kids there. So, during the summer of 2004 Allan taught a short term-art project to summer camp for visually impaired kids at the Center. Someone from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta saw the finished art pieces, loved them and put together a show that's still up at the Federal Reserve Bank lobby that is based around his project.
In 2005, five years after losing his vision, Allan was still severely vision impaired and there had been no more improvements in his vision for the previous two years. But he got enough vision and color distinction back to passionately paint.
It’s taken several years for Allan to get comfortable with his impairment to where he has now become prolific with his art. Allan is now looking for representation at galleries in NY and elsewhere.
Allan feels like he’s a real artist again. He’s more inspired and painting with more inspiration and determination than ever. His impairment has forced him to take the next logical step in his artistic development. His palette is much brighter and his work has even more sculptural elements, reflecting the changes in his vision. Allan now feels that his work is even better than before his vision impairment. He just paints slower.
“I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t continue my artistic work,” he says. “I’m a lot slower now, which is frustrating, but otherwise, my style hasn’t changed. My impairment made me jump to the next stage in my life. I feel like this is exactly where I should be.”
Since early 2008 Allan is painting mostly abstract surreal through pointillism. He also always dabbles in other styles and sculpture and the blending of painting and sculpture.
"A big thank you to the Center For The Visually Impaired Atlanta!" www.cviga.org "Everyone is so wonderful there and their programs are so valuable."
When Allan had a little vision starting to return, they said he would just see some light, no more.
When Allan had a little more vision return, they said he wouldn't be able to distinguish anything.
When Allan told a doctor he could see the pattern of the doctor's tie, they said he would be totally color blind.
Then Allan started seeing colors, different colors at a time.
Now, years later, with the return of a little sliver of vision in one eye and some color distinction, Allan has returned to his passion of painting. He feels the quality of his art is better than ever.
Allan Eddy is an award winning 1988 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of the Atlanta College of Art. He was the winner of the prestigious 1987 Forward Arts Foundation Scholarship. This award is a full scholarship for the senior year that the faculty of the college votes on to award the most promising junior. They voted for Allan. Allan won many other awards.
Allan is an abstract painter. His work is compared to Kandinsky, Matta, and Miro. Purchasers of his paintings included Elton John and many private and corporate collectors. He showed his art through several galleries, had many shows and a bright career to look forward to.
But then Allan got sick with meningitis in May 2000. He spent six long weeks at Emory University Hospital fighting this disease. He suffered through numerous tests including over ten spinal taps and two blood transfusions.
After 2 days in the hospital Allan went totally blind from Meningitis. Meningitis normally causes hearing loss when it causes complications. How ironic that with an artist it steals his vision.
The consensus of 5 Emory Eye Doctors was that he would be totally blind for life or at the most have very slight light and dark distinction. They said he would definitely be totally colorblind. They said he had optic nerve atrophy from meningitis. They said optic nerves do not regenerate. They told this to Allan’s family, who insisted that the Doctors did not tell Allan the diagnosis of total blindness. Allan was so sick with meningitis that his family didn’t want him to hear this horrible news. They wanted it to wait until Allan was stronger.
While severely ill lying in the hospital bed Allan said if he stayed blind he’d have to give up painting and become a sculptor. He kept an upbeat attitude, and never cried once while in the hospital.
His family brought about 15 of Allan’s paintings to the hospital. They took down the paintings on the wall and put up Allan’s art. They put Allan’s paintings on every shelf and windowsill filling up the room with Allan’s art, surrounding Allan with his art. They wanted the Doctors and Nurses to see Allan’s art, to constantly remind them he was an artist. One of the eye doctors was a world-class specialist and had a Masters degree in Fine Art. His family hoped that everyone would make a deeper connection with Allan. Maybe the art would inspire them just a little harder to help him. Maybe there would be some magic and healing power from surrounding Allan with his art. And if Allan could possibly see again, they wanted Allan’s art to be the first thing that Allan saw.
After a few weeks while still in the hospital Allan’s vision returned just a little bit. The doctors said this was probably all he was going to improve because optic nerves do not regenerate. They said that many times. But Allan’s vision improved just a little more and a little more.
After 6 weeks the meningitis was under control. Allan left the hospital extremely weak and severely vision impaired.
Allan's vision kept improving a little bit at a time over the following three years to the surprise of his doctors. He even started to see color again.
During those three years every few months he had episodes of slightly returning vision. All of a sudden he saw sparkles, become nauseous and got a headache. Shortly after each episode Allan realized that his vision had improved in some way.
By Christmas 2001 Allan had regained his strength. He and a friend decided to take a trip to Europe for the first time for both of them. They were going to spend time in London and Paris. Allan got a quick crash course in using a white cane from an instructor at The Center For The Visually Impaired. Allan hadn’t wanted to use a cane up until this time. He felt embarrassed and self-conscious. Neither of them knew what to expect of traveling with a vision impairment. One part of what inspired them was 9-11. Americans were cautioned not to travel overseas. They felt the opposite. They felt that they wanted to show the world they were Americans and not scared. Allan had just overcome so much hardship that the terrorists weren’t going to deter him. And they both just wanted to have some fun after this horrible experience with Allan’s sickness.
While in Paris Allan was walking on a sidewalk and saw sparkles. A few blocks later he looked at a big green garbage can and realized he could see the color green again. Most of his vision improvements have been similarly dramatic.
The trip was wonderful. They left the U.S. being fearful of what it would be like traveling with Allan being vision impaired and using a white cane. What they found instead was the goodness in people. On airplanes, on sidewalks, in museums and just everywhere, people were wonderful to Allan. Many people went out of their way to help the blind young man.
Walking towards Westminster Abbey a security guard saw them from a long way off. He came walking out at a very fast pace and asked if Allan was coming inside. Allan said yes and the guard insisted on escorting the two of them in. There was a long line and the guard made everyone get out of the way and escorted them right in like they were visiting royalty. Inside Allan had people over and over coming over to him to explain things and wanting to guide Allan’s hands on things of importance for Allan to feel and for them to explain.
In Paris visiting the Louvre, museum guides came over to Allan several times and told him that he could touch the priceless world famous sculptures. They acted like they wanted him to. Some things Allan wasn’t interested in, but he touched them and listened to descriptions because the people were so very nice.
Allan experienced mankind in a new light.
Allan’s vision is almost totally gone in one eye, and he can see out of just a very small sliver in the other.
When he tried to draw or paint he could not see his own fingers. He didn’t think that he could ever draw with a pen or paint with a brush again. So he used his fingers to paint with at first. Allan couldn't paint with a brush because he couldn't see the brush touch the surface.
In 2003 Allan decided he wanted a tattoo of a dragon on his arm. He wanted to design his own tattoo so he struggled to draw a dragon. He became very compulsive about it. He grabbed pens and spent over a month 12 hours a day and more, drawing page after page, filling up notebook after notebook, hundreds and hundreds of pages of dragon drawings. He used up many pens. He did nothing else other than drawing dragons. While doing this he re-trained his hand-eye coordination and got better and better with his drawing.
He learned to draw again, he retrained his hand-eye coordination. He got his tattoo.
He still couldn’t see his fingers while drawing, but drawing dragon tattoos helped him regain his coordination enough where he can paint with a brush again.
Allan had been taking classes at The Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta. His friend nudged him into volunteering to help teaching art to kids there. So, during the summer of 2004 Allan taught a short term-art project to summer camp for visually impaired kids at the Center. Someone from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta saw the finished art pieces, loved them and put together a show that's still up at the Federal Reserve Bank lobby that is based around his project.
In 2005, five years after losing his vision, Allan was still severely vision impaired and there had been no more improvements in his vision for the previous two years. But he got enough vision and color distinction back to passionately paint.
It’s taken several years for Allan to get comfortable with his impairment to where he has now become prolific with his art. Allan is now looking for representation at galleries in NY and elsewhere.
Allan feels like he’s a real artist again. He’s more inspired and painting with more inspiration and determination than ever. His impairment has forced him to take the next logical step in his artistic development. His palette is much brighter and his work has even more sculptural elements, reflecting the changes in his vision. Allan now feels that his work is even better than before his vision impairment. He just paints slower.
“I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t continue my artistic work,” he says. “I’m a lot slower now, which is frustrating, but otherwise, my style hasn’t changed. My impairment made me jump to the next stage in my life. I feel like this is exactly where I should be.”
Since early 2008 Allan is painting mostly abstract surreal through pointillism. He also always dabbles in other styles and sculpture and the blending of painting and sculpture.
"A big thank you to the Center For The Visually Impaired Atlanta!" www.cviga.org "Everyone is so wonderful there and their programs are so valuable."