St. 's student continues painting despite disability (HNPP)

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St. 's student continues painting despite disability

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The Associated Press - Friday, October 12, 2007

WINONA, Minn.

Holly Schuh had to give up sketching detailed drawings of landscapes

and people when a nerve disorder made it too painful to work.

But instead of giving up altogether, the 21-year-old Saint 's

University student started using bigger brushes, fewer colors and

broader strokes.

" To keep my own sanity, I had to find a way to do it, " said Schuh,

who was diagnosed with the rare disorder called hereditary

neuropathy with pressure point palsies.

Paintings Schuh has produced while dealing with the disorder are now

on display in Washington, D.C., at an exhibit featuring 15 emerging

artists with disabilities. One of Schuh's paintings will be on

display at the Kennedy Center through October and another is at the

sonian's Ripley Center through the end of the year.

The nerve disorder, which makes detailed movements such as brushing

her teeth very painful, led Schuh to use house-painting brushes. She

also started using darker colors and larger canvases.

In one painting called " Prayer, " Schuh used blocks, lines and swirls

to form a figure praying.

Schuh, who was born in Korea and adopted, doesn't have records of

her family medical history, but she says she's accepted her

disability and moved on.

" I want to see whatever I inherited as a positive inheritance, "

Schuh said. " I feel extremely blessed to figure out my style. "