Finding Their Inner Artist

Cassandra Clark, left, paints
a spool cap with help from
Janice Cashel.

TOLEDO, Calif. -- Walk into the Shared Lives Studio across from Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo and you’ll be greeted by colorful dragonflies, funky coffee mugs, eclectic jewelry, striking photography, and original paintings — both whimsical and serious.
You can also see the artists at work — drawing, painting, and creating as music plays in the background.
The scene is much the same at the aptly named Kan Du Studio on South Main Street in downtown Findlay, where artists such as Taryn Bregel find inspiration and a market for their artwork.

Memory Fuels Work of Artist with Autism

Stephen Wiltshire is an accomplished artist known around the world for his amazingly detailed panoramic landscapes, which sell for thousands of dollars. What makes his talent seem superhuman is that he needs to see the landscapes only once to reproduce the images from memory.
Wiltshire was late to develop speech. It wasn't until he was 5 years old that he spoke his first word: "paper." "Well, because I needed some paper to draw on, so I asked my teacher about it," he said. His second word was "pen." He's been drawing ever since.