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feature Colour my world For Sunshine Coast artist Nathan Taylor, who is legally blind, painting is an escape. N athan Taylor discovered his love of art by accident but has now held multiple exhibitions and created over 100 artworks. After being diagnosed with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, painting was suggested to Nathan as both a therapy and a way to give his support workers some respite. But now, the talented artist, who is legally blind, said his painting has become so much more. “I’ve been painting for ten years now,” Nathan said. “It is more than a passion - it is an escape, an escape from everyday life and everything that goes on.” Nathan has had to adjust his style and the mediums that he uses because of his diagnosis, but said he still gets immense satisfaction out of working on pieces of art. “When I first starting painting I could use both arms but they both had tremors,” Nathan said. “Now I can only use my left arm. And I am legally blind but I have some sight in my lower right eye. Even the sight that I do have has all of these tiny dots across it. “I like working with acrylic crayons because I can hold on to them more easily. But I also work with just my hands, I put the paint down and just let my hands go and see what happens.” Nathan said it can take anywhere between half an hour or a few hours to create an artwork, depending on what he paints. “And once I have done the actual piece I still have to complete it by shining it and that can take a few more hours for each artwork.” 34 vision and hearing impairment linkonline.com.au