Sargy Mann
Paintings by Englishman Sargy (pronounced like "Saggy" with an R) Mann sell for as much as 50,000 pounds, (about $80,000) and are strongly in demand among serious collectors, including Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis.
What sells those paintings is not that Sargy is blind but that his impressionist work is magnificent.
In Sargy's mind's eye he can see beauty in many forms. He keeps track of the placement of all the elements of his paintings, by use of a coordinate system he created, along with temporary raised spots on a canvass.
Others help in laying out his paint colors, and as Sargy paints he mentally notes where each paint color is.
Sargy Mann Painting
"I haven't really spent much time at all being miserable about my loss of sight. I haven't grieved for it."
"And when my daughter has her baby soon, I may have some moments of wishing I could see it, but I will hold it and smell it and that's the way my life works now, and it's a good life."
His blindness began in the early 1970's, when at age 36, Sargy developed cataracts. Numerous surgeries and complications later, Sargy lives today in a world of visual darkness. But in his mind, he sees captivating beauty, whether in people or in nature.
From his home in England, and in the sunshine or in the rain or in the breeze, he can feel and hear nature's beauty, and he can inhale the heavenly scents of flowers and touch their pedals.
Surrounded by people and nature, his spirits soar.
For Sargy has purpose in his life, and he lives in a world filled with love from his wife Frances and from their children and grandchildren.
At 78 years of age, and with his colorful imagination and his joy for painting, there is no end to his determination to express himself on canvass.
