Arte Autismo

It's been quite a while since I last blogged... but this particular post is long overdue. Two months ago, I received an e-mail from Ray, a mother of a young man with autism, Filipe. Ray and Filipe are from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ray had come across my blog, and my post about autism in Singapore - specifically the "Pathlight School" post - caught her eye. "The ideal school", she wrote, "If only it were that way in Brazil. It would be wonderful."

Ray has her own autism website, www.arteautismo.com and a blog, called O Blogo do Arte Autismo. She had blogged about my visit to Pathlight here, and even borrowed some of my photos, which I found very flattering :) I'm not too familiar with Portuguese, but with the help of an online translator, I was able to read her post and a little message to me at the end:

Cordelia, amei conhecer seu trabalho, realmente fiquei espantada com a qualidade de Pathlight. Parabéns por nos mostrar tudo isso e por estar preocupada em dar o seu melhor para eles.

Um beijo.
Ray.

Cordelia, I loved learning about your work, and I was truly astonished with the quality of Pathlight. Thank you for sharing this with us, and for taking the time to make things better for them (children with autism).

A kiss.
Ray.


In her e-mail, Ray told me that her son began to paint, which made Ray so happy that she began to share it online with others. She hopes that he can make enough money from donations and from selling his artwork at exhibitions to eventually become self-sufficient. She writes,

"Cordelia I've fought for my son with autism. With much effort my son started painting.
I was happy and I made a website and a blog. We moms do not live forever. I wanted to make a request: You can do a post on the painting of Filipe? The more know what he does, will help a lot. You can do this my dear? A big hug."

I was so touched by Ray's e-mail, her blog post, and her story. Posting about Filipe's beautiful artwork is the very least I could do. These are just a handful of my favorites of Felipe's creations:







I love how the colors change from bright and vivid to soft and soothing. You can tell from the brushstrokes that a lot of hard work has been put into creating these pieces. Click here to check out Filipe's online art gallery, and to see even more gorgeous paintings!

Ray, I am inspired by your story, by your son, and by parents like yourself. Thank you for getting in touch with me, and I hope many others will learn of and be inspired by you and Filipe.

Filipe, the artist

Filipe & Ray
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil