Freshman draws on her artistic abilities

The legally blind teen draws everything from animal portraits to political cartoons.
& lt;a href=mailto:slshaulis@vindy.com & gt;By SHERRI L. SHAULIS & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- Joey Barr remembers the first time she figured out she was a good artist.
"I was in second grade," said Joey, now a 15-year-old freshman at Hubbard High School. "The other kids liked my drawings, so I would sell them for a penny each. Then I got in trouble, so I stopped selling them."
But Joey, the daughter of Thomas and Debbie Barr of Spring Street, never stopped drawing. Her works are displayed throughout the city's schools -- in the library, in the board of education offices -- and at last year's annual Reed Middle School Art Show, she walked away with seven awards.
Her latest work -- a political cartoon commissioned by schools Superintendent James Herrholtz -- is already being submitted to local newspapers for publication, and will be included in next year's school calendar.
No small feat since Joey is considered legally blind.
Poor eyesight
Joey said she's had very poor eyesight since birth, though she wears glasses and can see things as long as they are very close to her. It all stems from a condition called albinism, which leaves her hair and skin with little or no pigmentation.
Though she needs to keep her paper and colored pencils -- her preferred media -- close to her face, she's never wavered in her desire to create art. And no one tries to tell her she can't do it.
"There are some people who have tried to say 'You can't draw because you can't see,'" she said. "But then they look at the pictures, and they stop saying that."
Political cartoon
Herrholtz said he was already familiar with Joey's work before he asked for help with his political cartoon. He had asked one of the high school art teachers to have some students draw the cartoon, and had several samples back within days, he said.
When he looked at the first submission, it was perfect. And he knew it was Joey's work.
"I have no ability to draw," Herrholtz said with a laugh. "Even if I took two years, I couldn't draw the picture Joey did."
The cartoon centers on the frustration educators feel over an edict from President Bush and the No Child Left Behind Act. Herrholtz said he knew what he wanted the cartoon to look like, and Joey was able to create it for him in a matter of minutes.
"It's just perfect," he said. "She's so talented."
Expressing herself
Drawing has always come easily, said Joey, who can't remember a time when she didn't draw. She acknowledges that while she sometimes has trouble expressing her thoughts through speech or writing, she can always get her point across with pictures.
"Even when I was little, I would make books and draw the pictures for it first and then give it to my mom and make her write the words for me," Joey said.
While Herrholtz said he has ideas for a few other political cartoons he wants to collaborate on with Joey, she prefers to stick with other subjects. Her favorite things to draw are animals, specifically corgi dogs, which she loves; she even owns one as a pet. Several of her creations hanging in the high school's library feature corgis and other animals.
Her dream is to continue developing her art skills and to some day work in animation, though she hasn't decided yet if she will attend an art school after high school.
"I'm too young now," she says. "I can figure that out later."
& lt;a href=mailto:slshaulis@vindy.com & gt;slshaulis@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;