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Artists with epilepsy display works at show
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WOOD WORKER: Tom Capp of Cornersburg displays woodworking and painting projects at his apartment. Capp’s work will be on display at Piccadilly’s Fine Art Galleries in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood today through next Friday.
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WORKS OF ART: Tom Capp, 52, is a machinist by trade but is now on disability because of his epilepsy and a broken hip. At top is a sign he made. Above is a hand-crafted sign. “I’ve been able to draw since I was a little kid. I never was schooled in it,” said Capp, of Cornersburg. He is exhibiting the items in the “Art Walk” in Cleveland.
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FINE CRAFTSMANSHIP: This is a stool Capp crafted. He is one of four local artists invited to display their works at a weeklong “Art Walk” in Cleveland, which features the creations only of artists with epilepsy.
By Harold Gwin
The artwork is being displayed in seven galleries in Cleveland’s Tremont section.
YOUNGSTOWN — Four local artists have been invited to participate in a weeklong “Art Walk” in Cleveland featuring the work only of artists with epilepsy.
Their works are being displayed at galleries in the Tremont section of Cleveland today through next Friday.
It’s part of an educational effort wrapping up National Epilepsy Awareness Month in November, said Janet Mau, director of the Mahoning Valley Epilepsy program.
Tom Capp of Cornersburg; Pat Davis of Boardman; Jeff Crew, formerly of Austintown; and Alexis Wochaka of Youngstown will participate in the event, Mau said.
Susan Hlaudy, formerly of Warren and now living in Cleveland, is the owner of Jefferson Gallery on Jefferson Avenue in Tremont and has opened her gallery for the show offering the work of artists who have been diagnosed with epilepsy and have artistic talent.
Hlaudy, who also has the disorder, has arranged for seven galleries (all near the area around the 800 block of Jefferson Avenue) to participate, featuring the work of artists with epilepsy who live in Northeast Ohio.
In addition to her gallery, the Virescent Designs, Doubting Thomas, Tremont, Piccadilly’s, Asterisk and Geode galleries are all involved, she said.
The show title is “A Dose of Versatility.”
Capp, 52, is a machinist by trade but is now on disability because of his epilepsy and a broken hip.
“I’ve been able to draw since I was a little kid. I never was schooled in it,” Capp said, noting that he won’t have any paintings, per se, in this show. His contribution will be in the form of painted wooden crafts he has made.
Art has always been his hobby, but now he hopes to make it more of a vocation, he said, adding that he is considering taking art- education classes.
A small bedroom in his Cornersburg apartment is his studio, he said.
Epilepsy hasn’t been a particular factor in his art, but it has been a significant player in his life, and not in a good way, he said, explaining that he believes he had been discriminated against by former employers because of it.
Davis, 61, also uses a vacant bedroom as a studio at her Boardman home. She will have ceramics/plaster craft/resin figurines in the Art Walk.
Davis said she was diagnosed with epilepsy while a student in college. She hadn’t dabbled in art before, and art wasn’t her college major, but she recalled how one day she saw an art student painting a picture and decided she could do it.
Art has been a hobby since then, but it’s grown over the years, she said, noting this is the first time she’s been invited to participate in this type of show.
“I try not to let my epilepsy get in the way of my life or get in the way of my art,” Davis said. “When I sit and paint, it’s very calming to me. I can sit in complete quiet. I can sit all day long and just paint.”
Still, it can be taxing and can trigger a seizure, she said. If she pushes too long and too hard on a project, her body lets her know when it’s time to stop and take a break, she said.
Epilepsy is a disorder that causes a momentary disturbance in the electrical system of the brain, resulting in seizure activity, according to Mau.
Over the years, people with epilepsy have shown remarkable abilities to create beautiful pieces of art, she said, pointing out that Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear and Giorgio de Chirico are included in that list.
The show will open with an artists’ reception from 6 to 9 tonight at the galleries to which they have been assigned.
Hlaudy said it will be a showcase of talent of people with epilepsy. It will bring them and their artwork together to open a dialogue that will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the disorder, she said.
gwin@vindy.com