FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WKRG) — It took going blind for artist Ricky Trione to start painting in color.

“Two separate accidents. One was in 1993 when I was back in the Army, and we were doing a training exercise and a truck passed by and my rock hit me in my left eye,” he said.

The second one was seven years later.

“This time, my car broke down on the side of the road, I got out to check on it. An 18-wheeler truck passed by, blew out a tire, and it slung a big piece of tire tread right across my right eye, my good eye,” he said.

Little did he know, his vision going black would inspire him to switch up his style – and start painting in color

“I always loved to do pen and ink — I never used colors,” he said. “Along the way using textures, I learned to use colors, then I remembered colors, and could see them in my mind.”

He was inspired to find a way to continue painting by his uncle Ronald. An accident took away Ronald’s ability to use his arms and legs, and he learned to paint by holding a brush in his mouth.

Trione is one of this weekend’s featured artists at the Jubilee Festival of Arts in Daphne.

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