CPR – Colorado Matters interview with artist Jim Stevens.
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http://www.cpr.org/news/story/jim-stevens-lost-his-sight-not-his-vision-art

Artist Jim Stevens, who is legally blind, works at his Wheat Ridge studio on July 16, 2016. (Photo courtesy Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

(This story first aired on 7/18/2016. Stevens spoke with Colorado Matters host Nathan Heffel.)

While serving in the Vietnam War, Jim Stevens was shot in the head. He survived, but decades later, the injury caused Stevens to lose nearly all of his vision — his line of sight is now the size of a tiny pinhole. Despite being legally blind, Stevens has made a name for himself as an artist. He works out of his studio in Wheat Ridge, and has paintings featured through July 30 in “About Face,” a portrait show at Denver’s Cabal Gallery.

Jim Stevens says his process to create “monofilament paintings” — acrylic paint on 129 strands of fishing line, eight layers deep — can take up to two months.

Stevens show how each strand of fishing line makes the whole picture.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

Stevens uses five different lens when he paints.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

Stevens paints on monofilament fishing line.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

One layer of a painting, which is composed of 129 strands of monofilament fishing line.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

Jim Stevens, who is legally blind, works out of his studio in Wheat Ridge on July 16, 2016.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)

Stevens has his personal mantra — “A man with a vision is near truly blind” — posted throughout his art studio in Wheat Ridge.
(Stephanie Wolf/CPR News)