BUCKFIELD – No one ever told Geoffrey Workman you needed perfect eyes to be able to paint beautiful pictures.
The 46-year-old Buckfield artist, who has only 30 percent of his peripheral vision and no central vision, has had his painting, “Nezinscot Bend” accepted for exhibit in the Lewiston/Auburn Area Artist Show opening Sunday, Jan. 23, at the Atrium Art Gallery at L/A College.
Though Workman has been plagued with Reiter’s Syndrome since 1979, doctors failed to connect his vision loss to Reiter’s, but diagnosed him with ischemic optic neuropathy, or ION. He missed his graduation from the University of Southern Maine in 1999 because of the disease.
Workman takes nine pills a day to keep Reiter’s in remission. The disease comes with kidney stones, gout, diabetes and thyroid problems, among many others.
Some days, Workman must crawl out of bed due to symptoms, but this does not dampen his enthusiasm for his painting, sculpturing and woodwork. He is working on a wood relief carving of Streaked Mountain as he sees it from his home in North Buckfield.
In addition to his art, which has captivated him since age 6 when his artist mother started his art education, Workman hunts, fishes, hikes and restores antique automobiles. He currently has a project of converting the wood from a piano into the neck of a guitar, his instrument of choice for playing.
Workman gives credit for his continued success as an artist to ophthalmologist Pauline Beale who taught him to scan a scene in his mind, put it to memory and use this imagery to fill in gaps in his vision.
His success is apparent as his studio is filled with commissioned paintings of landscapes, portraits and sketches. He is also indebted to the Lions Club of South Paris that sponsored him for special glasses. Friends are always helping out and local artist John Wiley often takes him to live-model drawing sessions.
Workman admits to being frustrated at first, but his faith has caused him to be more committed to use his talent.
Sharon, his wife of 24 years, and his three children did not allow him to lose his good humor when blindness struck. On his return from the hospital his kids told him not to worry because they changed all the furniture around for him.
Workman and his wife enjoy sharing their writings of prose and poetry with each other.
His paintings may be seen at the Painted Mermaid Gallery on Briggs Avenue in South Paris or at his studio on Darnit Road in North Buckfield.
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