AN artist is celebrating his first one-man exhibition ... after going almost totally blind.
Stanley Knapp, 84, first picked up a paintbrush eight years ago, specialising in landscapes and buildings.
His eyesight was slowly deteriorating and two years ago he was officially registered blind.
But he refused to be beaten and now has his first solo art show at Clacton’s West Cliff Theatre.
“It got to the stage a couple of years ago where I couldn’t drive a car any more,” said Stanley.
“Then it got to the stage where I could see a person’s outline form but I couldn’t see their faces very well.”

Gazette:

  • Stanley at his first solo exhibition at the West Cliff Theatre

The exhibition features paintings done before and after the retired technical artist lost his vision.
“I have changed my style and don’t paint with the same amount of detail as before,” said Stanley, of Carnarvon Road, Clacton.
“I hover around impressionism and abstract.
“I’ve got one picture called By a Black Hole. I don’t know what a black hole looks like but I’ve created an abstract picture of what it might be.
“In another picture I was thinking of a waterfall coming down between rocks but I’ve painted it in the form of abstract colours.”

Gazette:

  • One of Stanley's paintings on display

Once a month Stanley goes to the Essex Blind Charity’s art group at Cadows, in Old Road, Clacton.
“It brings people in a similar position together,” he said.
“You don’t need much - apart from paint and a bit of paper.
“Some of the abstract art you used to see wasn't much more than a splash of paint on paper.”
The exhibition is at the West Cliff until the end of January. The art group meets at Cadows on the first Thursday of the month from 10am-12.30pm.