<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hello All,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our very own Carlos Sanchez is featured in the Rio Rancho Observer this weekend in a story about his jewelry-making business. Here is a link to the article online, and below that is the article itself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.rrobserver.com/news/features/article_dd1f6524-9ce3-11e8-bafe-3fc1ae3ece7d.html">http://www.rrobserver.com/news/features/article_dd1f6524-9ce3-11e8-bafe-3fc1ae3ece7d.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Artistic vision without vision: Blind artist makes jewelry <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Stephen Montoya <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Assistant editor <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Aug 11, 2018 Updated Aug 11, 2018<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Blind artist and jewelry maker Carlos Sanchez stands inside of the Galeria de Corrales. Sanchez came from not having a job to discovering a career and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>now is part owner of the galleria. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>CORRALES — Every artist has a signature that defines his or her vision and interpretation of the surrounding world. What makes jewelry maker Carlos Sanchez’s<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>work unique is he has never really seen a single piece he has created.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>That’s right: Sanchez is blind, and although he doesn’t have the one thing many people would think is essential to be an artist, sight, he has pushed beyond<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>normal conventions to become a success.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez is the founder of Legally Blind Artistry and member of the Galeria de Corrales at 3923 Corrales Road.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Although he is always on the move to one event or another, Sanchez sat down with the Observer to talk about his life’s journey in a world many said would<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>not be possible.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“My eyes weren’t the best when I was younger but I could see a bit more then,” Sanchez said. “I didn’t know I had a problem, because I wasn’t allowed to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>leave the yard and when it was dark, I was in bed.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez didn’t realize it at the time, but he was born with an undiagnosed degenerative eye disease that was passed on to him from his mother, who had<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the same symptoms.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“We have RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa),” he said. “I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 33 because I kept complaining about how hard it was to drive.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez said his dad told him to get his eyes checked right away to see if his road problems stemmed from his vision or lack thereof.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The minute the eye doctor came back with the results, he looked at me and said I had no business behind the wheel of a car,” Sanchez said with a laugh.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Since then I have had to rely on others to get me around.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Shortly after his eye diagnosis, Sanchez began a new chapter in his life by attending the school for the blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“I had to relearn how to function on a daily basis at this point because we had to do everything blindfolded,” Sanchez said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Image: Sanchez made these bracelets, on display at the cooperative gallery. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A normal morning of blind school, he said, would begin with cane training, then brail, a physical education class and then lunch.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“After we were done with lunch, we had a brief period where we could take off our blindfolds but then we had to put them back on for practical everyday<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>training,” he said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez can see light and some shapes, but he cannot see detail, even with strong prescription glasses, he said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“I had to learn how to find the escalator at a mall, and navigate a crosswalk on a busy street all by myself to get used to my condition,” he said. “Every<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>day it was a lesson on building skills to survive without sight.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez’s next journey would take him in the unlikely direction of art after a teacher turned mentor took the time to teach him how to create art by touch.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“My teacher, besides my mother and grandfather who were both artists, was Phil Loredo and he took the time to teach me how to feel art, not just with my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>hands but with my mind,” Sanchez said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Loredo would set up all of the tools Sanchez had to master in the same spots for him find each time.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> “I began to get a rhythm and a routine,” he said. “When you are blind, routines are essential for you to find your way around. Phil was great about helping<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>me gain my confidence and soon I was creating jewelry.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sanchez said he sold out at his first show in Albuquerque with orders for more jewelry from customers he had just met.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“This was the biggest boost for me, because Phil, who was way better than me and my mentor, said he had never sold out with orders in all of his years<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>as a jewelry maker,” Sanchez said humbly. “I knew right then I was on to something.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Still reeling from his mother’s passing in March, Sanchez said he has a vision to start his own gallery in the small town of Rebera, N.M., just outside<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>of Las Vegas.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“It has been hard with my mother gone, but I know she is still with me and now I feel like I am ready to move in that direction,” he said. “I want a place<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>where the blind can touch the items for sale and chronicle my family’s rich history. The blind can lead the blind, believe me.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For more information on Legally Blind Artistry, go to <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Legallyblindartistry@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> or call 771-1338.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Tonia Trapp, secretary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>nfbnewmexicosecretary@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>www.nfbnm.org<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Live the life you want.</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>