Woodburning Gives DeafBlind Artist Purpose

37-year-old Krista Webb’s primary purpose in life is being a mom to her two boys. Her family, including her husband of 16 years and her American bulldog pit bull terrier, are everything to her. But as her vision loss has progressed in recent years, she’s turned to creative outlets to cope and found herself in woodburning.

Krista was born deaf and has been wearing hearing aids since she was two. And at 19 years old, Krista received the diagnosis of Usher syndrome, meaning she was gradually losing her vision as well. Despite the initial disbelief, the reality of her condition became undeniable as her vision loss progressed. About four or five years after her diagnosis, Krista had to stop driving at night. In her early 30s, Krista stopped driving altogether, which, at that time, felt like a huge relief. Soon after, Krista lost enough sight that she was officially legally blind.

“Losing my vision has been incredibly hard because I am continually losing my peripheral,” explains Krista. “I used to tell people my vision was like looking through two toilet paper rolls. And now I tell people it’s like looking through two drinking straws, so it’s shrunk quite a bit.”

In recent years, Krista’s significant vision loss has led her to embrace her white cane as a vital tool to help her feel empowered. At first, Krista was embarrassed to use her white cane in public and didn’t like the attention it drew. But in 2022, Krista attended a life-changing Orientation and Mobility training at Leader Dogs for the Blind, which helped boost her confidence after she learned some new techniques.

“I learned to build a good relationship with my white cane,” says Krista. “Now I feel proud using my white cane, and I know it’s there for me; it’s my sidekick; it helps me detect obstacles and alert others.”

Krista has also found solace in her vision loss journey with the intricate art of pyrography. Krista’s passion for woodburning ignited in 2019, introduced by her husband. Krista found a woodburning Facebook group to learn more and instantly fell in love with the art.

Krista works on her woodburning designs on her phone or iPad, creating them digitally first. She’ll then sketch the design with a pencil and use her phone camera to ensure it’s balanced. She also uses a headlamp for better lighting and visibility.

“Woodburning is a patient process, forcing me to slow down,” says Krista. “Woodburning is truly my therapy, and I try to make sure it doesn’t get to be too much of a job, so I continue enjoying it.”

To document her art in one visual place, Krista started an Instagram page to post her woodburning pieces. What started as a page for herself turned into others finding her work and liking it, too. Krista then began using blindness-related hashtags, which connected her with others in the blindness community, transforming her personal art page into a hub of support and camaraderie.

“When I was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, I didn’t know anyone else with the disease,” says Krista. “Instagram has really helped me connect with people globally and find my people. Now, when I think about my Usher syndrome, I think about my community and the wonderful support system I have.”

Krista is also using her platform to dispel misconceptions about blindness and teach others about the spectrum of vision loss.

“Over the years, I’ve learned that blindness is a spectrum,” says Krista. “Many of us in the blindness community can see something, but that doesn’t mean we can see everything. But so many people don’t understand that, so we need to educate others, especially young kids. If you don’t ask, you don’t learn.”

Through her art, Krista will continue to strive to enlighten and advocate for others to find their positive purpose.

“Losing your vision doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” says Krista. “You can find good out of vision loss; you just have to figure out what motivates you to roll out of bed in the morning. Woodburning gives me purpose, and I try to use my art and social media to help educate others about blindness.”