Tue, Nov 10 2009
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Published June 07, 2007 07:38 am - The last thing Kevin White remembers from the evening of his accident is the brilliant June sky and thinking "what a beautiful sunset it would be." That was back in 1984, when Kevin, just nine credit hours short of his commercial art degree from Cuyahoga Community College, suffered a spinal cord injury that left him ... THE HANDS OF AN ARTIST Quadriplegic artist uses head to create digital art Star Beacon By CARL E. FEATHER
Lifestyle Editor The last thing Kevin White remembers from the evening of his accident is the brilliant June sky and thinking "what a beautiful sunset it would be." That was back in 1984, when Kevin, just nine credit hours short of his commercial art degree from Cuyahoga Community College, suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. "A friend was driving the car," he says. "We were just going home, and I just happened to be a passenger. I only go by what they tell me, that we were blindsided by a drunk driver. No one else got hurt out of that ... And that was that. We were almost there, just three blocks from home." The first few years following the accident, Kevin focused on surviving. "I always had art in the back of my mind, but I knew I had to rehabilitate first. My main concern was to get up and get walking again." His family tried to care for him, but Kevin says the demands were too great. "They had their own lives to live," says Kevin without a trace of bitterness in his voice. "I think that's probably the thing to do. I can see it." His social worker told him about Broadfield Manor in Madison Township, and Kevin became a resident in 1992. He says the long days with nothing to occupy his mind were grueling; the accident had taken away the use of his hands, arms and legs, but not his creative spirit. "I had to do something," he says. "I could not sit with an idle mind. I kept asking the counselor if he could get me a computer." Kevin got his wish in 1995. The Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation provided a used computer and software. "It just happened to have an art program on it," he says. "I said 'Let me mess around with it and see what becomes of it." The package included an interface that allowed him to manipulate the computer's cursor using a small sensor that attaches to the user's forehead. Kevin, however, mounted his on the bridge of his eyeglasses. "It's like a little microchip," he says. "I used to have it on my forehead, but I came up with this idea. It wouldn't stick to my forehead." It took several months for Kevin to master the interface and basic art program that came with the computer. He had no books, no tutorials, no online resources or training. "Just by sitting at this computer every day and practicing and practicing," he says, explaining how he mastered the software. "Whatever art program I could get, I practiced with it." 
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