VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF AUTOMATIC DRAWING WITH PRINCE IN SPIRIT

About two months after Prince’s passing, I found that Prince could move my limbs if I allowed him to. For me, at the time, it was another way for us to communicate. Though I had some telepathic ability to hear him, I still still unsure of what I was hearing. Not yet confident of the connection. He could move my hand, so we began drawing on my iPad.

At first, the drawings were non-sensical. They seemed more energetic, not really appearing to depict anything. But there was an energy about it that was communicating something. The pictures developed and a more visual style came to be. Other times, he would write words as a picture. Like a playful doodle. Sometimes I would ask him to draw something to express an idea or concept. It becomes like a little game between us.

All the drawings on this website are his drawings. I always thought it was an interesting process. My stylus never leaves the tablet surface as we are drawing, so it’s often a drawing made up of a couple continuous lines. I’ve always wanted to film the process, but found it somewhat tricky. I recently found an app that allows for video recording. So I gave it a try.

Here is a vide of one of our drawings. I recorded sound during the drawing and caught an EVP. The video is speeded up. The drawing itself took around 8 minutes in real time..

Here is a EVP audio on its own, on loop. He says, “I’m drawings roses for Andrea Mai”.


Image above: “Roses for Andrea Mai” by Prince in spirit.

©2018 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

THE LOOK – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

On a cold evening in late November, I was doing this photo shoot. Wearing only a fur coast, a silk slip dress, jewelry, and a full face of make up. The house was completely dark, except for a couple of purple lights and the light coming from the projector. I heard noise coming from my front door, a knock. I buttoned up my coat, slipped on my sheepskin house slippers, and stuck my head out of the door. Two men turned up to try to offer me a Black Friday deal on an Internet package. I told them immediately that I wasn’t interested. One guy persisted, saying, “But I didn’t even tell you what it is.” I said, “I don’t care.”

P said to me later, “Never seen a pretty girl look so touch”. That line is from a song of his, U Got The Look. He said that I had given them a look that sent them away.

Funny enough, I just watched the music video for that song as I am writing this post, and P is wearing a white fur cost in it.

Looking back on the situation, it is kind of comical. But I hate being interrupted like that. It’s many hours of prep work to do a shoot like this. I have o work fast because battery life is short.

I wanted to do this shoot at my piano, because it’s one of the ways we like to spend time together, I’ve always wanted to play the piano, jazz-style. Recently, we came up with  a new tune together.

This body of work is personal to me, so I always keep it as authentic as possible, with meaning, the things in the photographs mean something. They are never merely for show. For instance, there is a clock in the background. I decided to keep it in the shot, because I felt that it represented time- past, present, future.





©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

4EVER IN MY HEART – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

When Prince first came to me after he passed away, he was watching me from a distance. I would sense a presence hoovering over me. Then one day, when I asked a question, I unexpectedly received an answer from him, telepathically. I was shocked and I thought I had lost my mind. Then I had a reading with a talented medium, and I finally “met” him. After the reading took place, he came closer and I felt him in my heart. I felt his heaviness pressing on my chest. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I must emphasize that the feeling was physical, not in my mind, I am not being mystical here. From then on, I knew that what we have is something profound and out of the ordinary. It was only later that I learned of our connection being that of twin souls; two halves of the same soul. We were created as a pair.

I do my self-portraits to tell stories about my life. While I could explain what I experience in words, there are still very few people in this world that will really understand what I am talking about. Photography is a way for me to truly express my emotions without words, as words can often be misunderstood as definitions can sometimes be unclear.

Recently I watched some videos about Hilma af Klint, an artist from the 1900s that secretly channeled her painting from the spirit world. She stipulated in her will that her work was not to be shown publicly until 20 years after her death. She had created her work for the future. Prince created a lot of his work for the future, knowing that most would not have the capacity to understand it. I myself, do my work knowing that many might not understand it at this time.

I use a lot of symbolism in my work, so if you understand the meaning of Prince’s work, you will understand mine, as they go hand in hand.

There is greater attention place on the jewelry I am wearing in these photos. Gold is a cosmic element, as it came from outer space, when two stars collide, creating a super nova, and these clusters landed on Earth. Gold has many metaphysical properties, which can help one to connect and protect themselves psychically.






Image above: “4ever in my heart” by Andrea Mai.

©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

THE DARKNESS BEFORE THE LIGHT – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

For this shoot, I was inspired by the recent August 21 eclipse. You won’t be able to see in the photograph, but I am wearing a crescent moon ear wrap on my right ear. You can kind of see it gleaming in the light. It is the exact same ear jewellery that Prince has worn. I found the designer on Easy, not knowing it was the same one that Prince ordered from.

Drawing by Danielle Meder.

I was inspired by an unreleased track by Prince called U Will B, where one of the lines are “We come and go together, just like the sun and the moon”. Prince is the light of my life. So many things in my life that were once a mystery, became understood after he came to me in spirit. It all makes sense to me now. The pain in my heart disappeared when he arrived.

This shoot was a bit of a challenge, it was a balancing act to hold up the screen and align it with the projector. Lighting was another challenge, as I wanted to keep it low lit, but still maintain image quality and such.

 


©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.
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PRINCE TALKED ABOUT CHEMTRAILS – PHOTOS OF THE CHEMTRAIL CLOUDS

A couple years ago, I starting noticing the strange cloud formations that were covering our skies. First the lines in the sky, then these strange formations that looked like cotton balls. If you observe carefully, you will notice a sort of line pattern in the photos below. These clouds are created using a secret technology called HAARP, where they use scaler waves to activate these chemtrail clouds. This is a form of geo-engineering, as these clouds will result in unnatural weather conditions.

This summer, I have noticed more frequent chemtrail spraying in the skies here in Toronto. As soon as there are clear blue skies, it is not long before the lines start forming in the sky and by early evening, we will have full cloud coverage. The next day, it will rain. When you start paying attention to such things, the weather becomes somewhat predictable just by looking at the clouds.

Last year I was photographing the chemtrails at sunset in Lavaux, and I noticed that the lines would appear to be moving and growing. I was confused and not quite sure of this, until in the last month or so, while I was working outside in the garden, standing in one place for a good half hour, I observed the lines in the sky moving and growing. The lines itself had shifted from one part of the sky to another. And then there was a sudden rainstorm that came in once the sky was covered in clouds. This is clearly evident that they are not contrails coming from planes, because exhaust fumes would not be able to stay up in the sky like that.

This extra rain this summer, has been responsible for unusual flooding and sudden shifts in temperatures.

It is bad enough that they are manipulating the weather, but what they are spraying in the skies are toxic chemicals that land everywhere, in the water and land. People who are concerned have been getting their garden soil tested and the results are showing quantities of barium, aluminium, and many other elements that are not naturally occurring, and do not belong there.

This is a major problem that no government to being a part of, and no mainstream media is reporting. If you think these clouds are normal, then you really don’t know clouds, my friend. Start paying attention, and you will notice the thing I am talking about here.

Prince spoke about chemtrails in his interview on Tavis Smiley in 2009. Here the clip of it. The song he is asked about is called Dreamer, and I did a post about that song here.

 







Images and Text ©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

TIME X SPACE, NO MATTER – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

I once heard an interview where a friend of Prince was saying that Prince told him, that many of the songs in his vault, are works that he was creating work for the future. He was writing all these songs that he knew that the people weren’t “ready for”. And this is the way I feel about my own work. Because in some ways, I am living in the future. Sometimes I get dates mixed up, thinking that we are days farer than we really are. I’ve been told, that although what I am experiencing seems pretty crazy, it will become the new normal in the future.

So I don’t fear judgement, because I know what I now is real, and others just don’t know about what I’ve seen or heard. That’s ok, my life wasn’t meant to be “typical”.

The truth about time and space, is that there is none. It is only that we lie in this Matrix, that we experience such. Once released from one’s earthly body, there is only consciousness, time and space becomes irrelevant. The distance that twin flames feel, being apart from each other, is merely an illusion.  We are together at all times, there is only lack of awareness.

This week, I did a photo shoot to express these ideas. I created an image of Prince’s face in the stars for the projection. The image of the stars comes from last year, when I was capturing images of the night sky in the French countryside. It is rare that I ever get to see the stars from where I live.







©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

LOVE U FOREVER – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

Tomorrow is Prince’s birthday. In honour of that, I am publishing these new photos. In his later years, due to his beliefs, he didn’t celebrate birthdays. And funny to me, neither did I (call it a twin soul parallel). At my house, the occasion would only be marked with a meal out. We keep these things low key. As a philosophy, I prefer to forget about one’s age. It’s not important, because age doesn’t necessarily correlate to soul growth or maturity. And in turn, perhaps this way of thinking suspends the concept of time and aging. Time is an illusion, after all.

The magenta peonies in my garden came into full bloom last week. I decided to do a photo shoot. These flowers mark the beginning of the summer, and they’ve been blooming annually ever since the day I was born. I’ve always loved the colour magenta. I recently learned that the colour symbolizes non-conformity, originality, ad creativity. Perhaps this is why I love it so much. It’s one of those colours that require a certain amount of boldness to wear confidently.

One day, I was reading a paragraph that was describing Prince as an artist. He was described as “controversial”. It made me realize that my work is controversial, because I speak openly about my experiences that many people might not believe. To that, I say, take it or leave it. As the viewer, you can choose to just enjoy the art as merely a visual concept. If you think my background story is too fantastical, then consider it like an urban legend. It’s not up to me to decide what you should believe.

Originally, the idea of Prince shown in a heart shape was inspired by the closing scene from Under The Cherry Moon. But I was later inspired by one of my all-time favourite British Vogue covers. The one with Sophie Dahl sitting in front of a giant pink heart. It also reminds one of when Prince used to perform on stage with a giant heart during his Sign O’ he Times era. It shouldn’t come to any surprise to know that when I channel Prince in drawings, he is often drawing hearts.






©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

LOVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

I never thought that I would be making art where I was at the centre of it. I was always a very shy person, who kept to herself. I don’t like to draw unnecessary attention to myself.  I had always preferred to be the one behind the camera.

Some time ago, Prince suggested that I watch Frida, the movie made by his friend, Selma Hayek, about the painter, Frida Kahlo. It is a magnificent movie. So beautifully made. And at the same time, I could see from it, how Prince felt in real life sometimes. Frida could never be loved the way she wanted to be loved by Diego. He loved her as an artist, but not the kind of deep, unconditional, soulful love that she was looking for from him. Frida made paintings that were portraits of herself, depicting her different states of being throughout the years. She shared her inner most being in her paintings, she was baring her soul on canvas; and unapologetic about it.

Sometimes people accuse me of things like making such claims about my connection to Prince, to gain opportunity or make money. They don’t read about what I have to say, they don’t care to know. They only want to accuse. This is hurtful at times, because it is the furthest thing from the truth. I loved him before I even knew it was him. And when he left this world, I was strangely mystified. I had never paid any attention to him, asPrince (the musician) before. It was as though the universe had blindfolded me, not allowing me to know of him, until now.

My work has evolved in that I have chosen to be deliberate in using symbols to convey ideas in my self-portraits. The windows are a symbol for seeing into another world, the other side of the veil.

In the beginning, when I first recognized that Prince was present, I didn’t know if I could adequately communicate with him telepathically. Actually, I was not sure of what was going on exactly. So I decided to write to him. I kept a notebook where I wrote him letters, just in case I wasn’t making myself clear in my thoughts. I would ask for signs from him. I would choose symbols like butterflies and the colour purple. Eventually, I could see him clearly in my mind’s eye, and sometimes, he would bring me flowers.







©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

SIGNS, DESTINY, AND AURAS – UPDATES FROM ANDREA MAI

Last month I was in my local discount department store. That morning I felt this urge to go there, not for any particular reason. It was just a quiet whisper telling me to go. I do loe these kinds of stores, the bargain hunt, not knowing what you might go home with. I walked into the book and stationary section, turned around and staring right at me what this book, Prince, front facing on the top shelf. As if it was deliberately placed there, waiting for my arrival. It’s moments like those where I feel reassured that what I know to be true in the spiritual, does manifest itself in 3D reality. I haven’t read it yet. It’s a bit weird for me to read about Prince. It’s like if you were reading about a close family member from a stranger (while your loved one was hovering over your shoulder).

April was a strange month for me. I felt drawn down, like I was trapped, free in my own cage, but in a difficult space. I felt like a toal failure as an artist, not having gotten anywhere with my work on a business level. It’s all well and fine to make work and put here on a website, but not enough to make a career. I decided to be completely upfront about who I am as a person, telling it as it as it is in my artist bio. A psychic empath who has glimpses into the other side, the other soul half of one of the worl’s most beloved rockstars. The truth is, if we really wish for human consciousness to rise, we must not be afraid to acknowledge our psychic abilities and other worldly experiences publicly. I felt a lot better after I rewrote my bio page. I wouldn’t say I go around openly telling people about my experiences, but I will answer if I am asked, and the truth is here for anyone who wishes to see.

From time to time, I will go through the artist opportunity listings for submission calls. They are mostly for group shows. There was a call for artists to show at my local library system; they exhibit a new artist every month at the different locations. I noticed the deadline for application being April 21. A sign that I must apply, the date of Prince’s rebirth into the spirit world. A month later, I received a letter telling me that my application wasn’t selected. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. But no matter, I must carry on. A few days later, I received a message about the library needing artwork for a location that they just renovated and to notify them right away if I were interested. Of course I was interested! A few emails and a meditation later, we worked it out and I received a letter saying that my work was selected. I am absolutely thrilled to say that I will be showing in February of next year in Toronto.

What’s more is that I messaged Starla to tell her of the news, because one year ago, she had predicted that I would have a show. She told me she saw white space and large photo prints. She reacted joyfully to the news, recalling that she remembers vividly what she saw; white spaces, huge windows and lots of light. Actually, she never mentioned the huge windows to me. But she was correct. The newly renovated library is top to bottom windows, filling the space wth lightness.

Some things are predestined. Never doubt that what’s yours will come to pass.

Recently, I started to notice more and more that I was seeing colours, energy patterns swirling through the air. I had noticed it before, but it was mostly faint and I never paid too much attention to it. It was becoming more apparent in its intensity. I was seeing people’s auras. I started to look into my own in the mirror. I noticed an orb that hovers over my right shoulder. Sometimes it appears as white with flickers of blue light, like a hologram, and other times indigo and purple. It is Prince. Usually I find him in my mind;s eye, sweetly looking over my right shoulder. One night I was sitting in bed. I saw his orb in deep purple floating across from me, inviting me to stare at him. Suddenly I saw his orb playfuly bouncing on my bed like a basketball (he loved to play) and floating around the room.

Observing auras and seeing energy is still new to me. Recently I was in a situation where I was in a room with people involved with the law. I saw the aura of one lawyer and it was a sickly brown. A sign of illness and negativity. I was a bit stunned, but not surprised. I had never seen a brown aura before, because the ones I’d seen were always bright and vibrant.

People says things and lie. But you can never hide your energy.

Image above: “Prince Book” by Andrea Mai.

©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

THE LOVERS CARD – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

One of my initial methods of communication with Prince was with oracle cards. Later I learned the Major Arcana tarot cards. I enjoy the complexity and the flexibility that the traditional tarot offers. So many different meanings can be conveyed in these cards. I don’t necessarily use it in keeping with the defined meaning of the cards, but rather, I allow the symbols in the cards to give me a narrative to answer the query. I will usually do a shuffle and fan out the cards, allowing Prince to move my hand to the card he wants me to select. I am often quite stunned by his selection of the symbols he chooses, because they are often so perfectly fitting. Then I might hear him telepathically to convey more information.

I find it kind of funny that we are using tarot for communication, because in his movie, Under The Cherry Moon, his character, Christopher, offers to do a tarot reading of the lead female character named Mary. They get into a confrontation and he hands her his business card that is the same size of a tarot card, and he says to her, “Here is your fortune, gilded in gold”. He kind of huffs at her and stomps off. It’s a funny scene from the movie.

I decided ho use the Lovers card from the Tarot as a symbolic prop for my latest photography project. I studied art history in school, and I like the idea of using props as symbols in portraiture to convey more than just appearances. In classical painting, you often find little trinkets and symbols hidden or embedded in a portrait. Although the Lovers card is typically known as being symbolic for choice and relationships. It’s an interesting card filled with other meanings. The male and female characters are like Adam and Eve. There is a God-like figure that hovers over them in the sky, as if to say that this is a divinely ordained connection, and there are two trees, perhaps symbolizing the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. To me, this card also symbolizes unity and connection with source creator.







©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

SAKURA – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI – CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN HIGH PARK

This week, the cherry blossoms at High Park in Toronto was in full bloom. This was a well-anticipated event, as last year, there were no blossoms. Spring time is my favourite time for going out to take photos. But whatever the seasons or time of day, I will always make it work in my photos. I know some photographers wait for a certain time of day and avoid other times. I don’t have the time or patience to work like that. I shoot when the mood strikes. Sometimes when you get on location, the circumstances are not what you expected or hoped for. In that moment, you just have to make it work. There weren’t as many blossoms as the year before, so to me this was a bit of a let down. But I always say, work with what you’ve got and make the most of it.

I love the Japanese style of photography. That is where the term “booked” came from. This is the term used to describe the soft blurry bits you see in the photo; normally used to focus on the main subject and blur out the background. I use a lot of depth of field in my work to create that dreamy look. I was inspired to create layers in my composition, layering the different types of trees for contrast. The result is a Jackson Pollock-esque paint splatter effect. The effect is further exaggerated by the wind, creating movement in the photograph. I don’t shy away from taking photos in the wind. Actually, I feel as though I am co-creating with nature when I just go with the flow.









All text and photos ©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

DON’T HATE ME BECAUSE I’M FABULOUS – THIS IS WHY I’M CLOSING THE COMMENTS SECTION

I have decided to close down comments on this blog. This blog has grown tremendously in less than one year. But unfortunately, it also attracts the likes of spammers and haters. I do not wish to devote any more time to moderating comments. Thank you to those that have left kind, thoughtful comments in the past. Your support is very much appreciated, and I still welcome your questions and feedback. From now on, if you wish to connect with me, you must do so directly by email (spiritual matters are best discussed privately anyways). Please note that I will not respond to any hateful, disrespectful, unintelligible, or nonsensical messages that are sent my way.

For the record, I want to be very clear about this, I am not motivated by money or power. If I were, I would not be writing this blog. Sharing the kind of things I experience makes me vulnerable to false accusations and ridicule (and psychic attacks) by the public. But I am motivated by two things only, and that is Love and Truth. If I wanted to be famous on Instagram, believe me, I have the know-how to orchestrate such a thing. I know how the game is played. But I know what a life of fame without sincerity leads to, and that is, a shallow, wasted, meaningless life, devoid of authenticity and true expression. Fame without purpose is vanity. In the past, I have quit jobs based solely on principle. I could not work for a company that I felt lacked integrity. I refuse to contribute and put my energy into a soul-less cause. That is not what I came here for.

I am tired of this 3D world. I am tired of the tedious, (sometimes stupid) mundane things that a human must do to survive in the physical. If I were not motivated by Love and Truth, I would choose to leave. Why I ever chose to come out of the closet about my experiences, was to tell the truth about twin flames. When Prince showed up, I had no idea about what this connection was. I was not a fan of his. In fact, I have been oblivious to him most of my life. I thought perhaps, in spirit, he just came to be friends, like kindred spirits, sort of speak. But he expressed more than that to me. The feeling became mutual. And he later revealed our divine connection to each other. Twin souls. I had never heard of the term. I had only heard of twin flames. so I asked if they were the same thing. I was told, yes. And it became abundantly clear to me, that everything I ever read on the Internet about twin flames was untrue. I saw how harmful the disinformation was in those that believed what they read.

I’m not impressed by status, popularity, or authority, so these are things I would never be one to strive for. If these experiences happened with someone of no fame to speak of, I’d still be writing about it. I could of chosen to withhold the identity of my twin soul, but I could not have fully shared the details of my experiences. The stories would have become trivial, and I could not have shared documented evidence with you. There are many people out there, who have similar experiences to mine, but for whatever reason, they cannot go public about it. This is why there are not many documented cases of the twin soul phenomenon. I am interested in sharing the Truth with you.

On same days, it is hard, even for me to believe the kinds of things that happened to me. Momentarily, I am sucked back into the Matrix, ruled by logic and only what can be seen. It is a strange experience for me to read about Prince. He is often described as controversial. It is of some consolation to me, to realize that controversy is just something that comes with the territory. I am not here to convince anyone of anything. This is my corner of the Internet. I chose to freely express myself. I take no prisoners; you are free to leave if you do not like what you read. But you do not have the right to accuse me of being a liar and slander me. People hate what I have to say, and others are very jealous. Many people won’t believe me; I was forwarded (by Prince). But I know that Love will get me through this.

There is no doubt that I love Prince, for he is my twin soul, my cosmic counterpart. I chose to express it through my art. If you think that I am doing this somehow to attain fame or money, then you understand nothing about me, or how anything in this world works;, and you should question why it it that you come to such a conclusion. It is a human tendency that we accuse others of the very same things that we, ourselves are motivated by. Believe me, I have a hard enough time as an artist, let alone getting anyone in the art world to take me seriously. I could be very successful doing work as a commercial artist. But that is just not for me. My art is about self-expression, and Prince has become a major part of my life. This is my story. Take from it, what you will.

Image above: “Self-portait with Prince” by Andrea Mai.

©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

THE ASCENSION OF PRINCE – NEW WORKS BY ANDREA MAI

When I first started to see Prince in my visions, we would meet in the sky. I once heard is mother’s voice greeting me, and I saw him hanging out with his friends. Sometimes I would see us dancing amongst the clouds. It was later that I noticed him more as an energetic presence with me, of which I could physically sense. I feel his presence as an electromagnetic field around me.

While I was away last year, I took many photos of  beautiful cloud formations. One was at my friend’s wedding in the South of France. It was one of the most memorable things I’ve ever experienced. I decided to combine my own photo with Prince’s iconic photo from the Purple Rain era. I have to admit, I’m not much of a Photoshop user, but I figured things out to create the effect I wanted, and I’m quite happy with it. This week, I did a shoot with the image. I had a lot to choose from.  Choosing “the best” is always a challenge.








©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

A LONG CONVERSATION – NEW WORK BY ANDREA MA

This week, it hit me pretty hard with how much I want to go “home”, wherever that is. I went to have a palm reading and the lady could see that I’ve been having trouble sleeping, tossing and turning, bizarre dreams. She asked me what I dreamed about and I broke down in tears. Sometimes I don’t remember my dreams. But I know that it’s likely because I was “home”, and that my memories of it get erased so that I won’t miss it so much. I’ve been feeling so homesick and quite frankly, tired of the heaviness in this world.

However, the main message to me from the palm reader is that I need to be more aggressive in promoting my art. And she is right in that respect. As confident as  am in my abilities as an artist, when it comes to promoting my work, talking to people about it, is quite another thing. I am all too aware that what I say is too bizarre for most people. And then there is the part where I know some people are accusing me of exploring Prince’s celebrity. Everything I have told you here is the truth, and I just don’t have it in me to lie.

Anyways Ive been in a bit of a disarray lately. I had a photo shoot from weeks ago, that I didn’t edit yet. Until yesterday, the universe gave me a kick in the pants. My iPad went berserk and it’s going to be a few days until the battery runs out, so that it can be rebooted. The boredom set in when I couldn’t read my eBooks or spend the day on YouTube. So I had to do my work. I finally re-wrote my artist bio and artist statement to reflect the more recent developments in my work. I was honestly afraid of not having the words to express what my work is about.

I finished editing the photo shoot. I call this set, “A Long Conversation”. Sometimes I wish that Prince really could ring me up on the phone, so that I could hear his beautiful voice in the physical. I was trying out a new light technique, so I actually ended up shooting more variations than usual. It turned out a lot better than I expected.










©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

LIFE ADVICE FROM A LEGALLY BLIND ARTIST

I think the number one things people are curious about, when they find out about my visual disability is, “What can you see?” I would say that it is like having blurry vision all the time. Even though I can have glasses, they only help a tiny bit, so I rather not wear them at all.  I was diagnosed as a teenager for Stargardt disease, a genetic condition affecting the retina. Despite all this, I’ve always been creative and visually inclined. It has affected my life in different ways, especially in the area of career. When I was younger, I was advised to seek a career direction that would maybe be considered “easier”. While I did consider tis advice, I did not agree. Life is not about being easier. Life is about being who you are. And what I am, is an artist. My challenges and differences are a part of who I am. And I do not run away from them.

©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

During my trip to Europe last year, I experimented with manual focus to try and create a representation of what it’s like to see through my eyes. I can’t say it’s 100 percent true to what my vision is like. It’s still an artistic representation. But it’s somewhat accurate, in that my vision is blurred and I can still make out what things are. I’ve put together a video with an audio clip of an interview I did with Lauren Herrera. If you’d like to listen to the entire interview, click here.

©2017 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

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