I Have always found that the most incredible things happen right in our own back yard. The portrait above was made by 8th grader, Talia. Diagnosed in 2009, Talia has always been grateful to Sir Frederick Banting for his discovery of insulin.
Her admiration of his work is why she drew the picture of him…..but the real art in this work is something that you have to look very closely to see. This is not made up of lines or just at random——every inch of this drawing is made up of words.
Not just any words either.
There truly can be no mistake about it that Kerri Sparling is one of the most respected writers and lecturers in the diabetes community. Her incredible attitude and drive to inform others makes her a powerhouse in this field.
The words used in this drawing are from Kerri’s initial blog ‘penned’ in 2005. Talia was, and is, inspired by Kerri’s Six Until Me writings and she chose her because the inspiration of Kerri and Dr. Banting gave her the vision to create her drawing.
Now here is the interesting part of the story and why I chose to write about it. In as much as I love the entire concept, the story takes a turn right about here. This was an artwork made for school, and where most students created random people and partially added words, Talia took the time, and a lot of time, to create Kerri’s writing to make up the entire face.
But as fate would have it……..there was a strike at Talia’s school and the school year ended before she could even turn it in. So no one saw it.
That is unacceptable to me.
So if you find the drawing as incredibly interesting as most, kindly post here and congratulate Talia on this incredible master piece. Where the school may have failed, I am sure the DOC can make up the difference in letting Talia know what we think of her incredible work. So reply today!!!
I forwarded this to Kerri who wrote back to me; This truly took my breath away, and this is the first time I’m seeing it. I wish I had a print of this to hang at my house. Seeing someone use my words to create their art is a collaboration I’m honored to be a part of.
Talia likes to go to summer camp, and loves to dance, swim, and read. Her goal in life is to become a marine biologist, her mom, Terese tells me. But on this day in early summer, to an entire diabetes community, to an entire world—-she is an incredible talent who has given something to this world to admire. Let her know how you feel.
And I’ll take that any day.
I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.
