[nagdu] Hello

[Ron Davidson]

Well I never thought about it but I should introduce myself. I have been on here a couple of weeks now blabbing like I know something so here goes. My name is Ron Davidson. I live in Wichita,Ks and I was found to have an eye disease called Uveitis and Irietis when I was 14 both these affect the pupil and eventually the peripheral vision. When I was 19years old I was involved in an industrial accident and lost my right eye completely and 70 percent of the vision in my left eye. I worked for 38 years as a furniture and cabinet builder until I was unable to see nothing but a pinhole of light. I can't make anything out of what light I do see as near as they can tell my vision is 20/2500. In 01 when I quit doing my current job I took up woodcarving and now am a professional carver. I even learned how to do chainsaw carving this last year. In my spare time I do public speaking to anyone that will listen. The person I work with speaks about various eye diseases and then I speak about mobility and the history and the training of guide dogs. I have never seen any of my carvings . I have a great friend in Wv that between the two of us and the last three years we developed a way to put a pattern on a piece of wood using a laser we burn away the surface and leave a raised line for me to follow. If you have a friend that is sighted or depending on your vision you can go to my website at www.westvirginiawoodarts.com and look for hand carvings and then Rons carvings . There is also a short video from reuters news. Glad to be part of this elite group and hope to be able to contribute. I am also in the process of getting a site set up on The Blind Artist Society  in the next few days I will let you know when it is up.