Hi, my name is Michael Sincic. I am an artist. I am a creator. I am many things and yes, I am blind. Here is a bit of my story :
Childhood
I was a young boy that loved to play hockey, hang out with friends, and draw cartoon characters. I was living a pretty ordinary life with my parents and 2 brothers. There was one problem – I started to have series of headaches, dizziness, blackouts, and eventually double vision over the previous two years that lead to the discovery of a brain tumor at the age of 13. This tumor was creating a lot of pressure and interfering with my vision. I didn’t know it, but my life was about to change.
Operation
In Traverse City, Michigan, they put a shunt in to relieve the pressure on my brain. After, the surgeon came in my room and told me I had 3 weeks to live, and there was nothing that could be done. I was scared and didn’t know what to do.
My parents started to do research to find a surgeon who could help me. After sending films out to many different hospitals, they found a surgeon in New York who was very familiar with my type of tumor. My family and I flew to New York. After nine and a half hours of surgery, the tumor was out but the tumor severed my optic nerves and left me blind.
In School
I started going to school at the beginning of the school year, taking a class a day, and eventually went a full day at the end of the year. I still did not know where my life was going. I had to learn a new way of reading, writing, walking, and basically, a whole new way of life. After a couple of years, I started getting some vision back. We went to the ophthalmologist, but they said they didn’t know why my vision was improving. The only way they knew I could see was by hand motion as, I could see shadows. I felt a little relief but was still frustrated.
How Art Changed Me
Once I moved to high school, I worked with an art therapist. We did different projects, and one of the projects we completed used watercolors. I really enjoyed the feel and working with them. I then bought my own small set of paints, and started to try painting abstracts. I couldn’t picture in my mind what I was doing, so I bent a pipe cleaner in a circle shape and painted in the inside with red. I kept my finger at the top and dipped my brush in brown and painted in the stem and made an apple.
Developing As An Artist
Another couple years had gone by, and a little more vision came back. We went to the ophthalmologist, and he still had no idea why it had improved. I could still see shadows, but they were a little more defined.
Working with the art therapist in high school opened the door to new self-expression – watercolors. In the process, I turned one of my paintings into a notecard for a friend. My senior year in school, I took a business and marketing class. One of the projects was to create our own business. I decided to create a business focused on my artwork. It helped me with moving forward with painting and selling my artwork. I believe that art is the core of my life.
I am legally blind and am striving to support myself through the sale of my artwork. Thank you for visiting my website and hearing a little bit about my story.