When Balbir Mathur retired at age 79 after decades leading Trees for Life in Wichita, Kansas, he planned to fill his time with hobbies: reading, writing, photography and painting. But almost immediately he began losing his sight to macular degeneration. His hobbies vanished.

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 However, a symphony of colors kept coming in his dreams. With eyesight limited to what he saw dimly on the periphery, one day he tried to paint. He was disgusted with the results. It was paint on the canvas, it didn’t have a heart. “Never again!” he said. But his conscience kept coaxing him to finish the painting. When he did, his wife, Treva, hugged it tight. “It’s the best present you’ve given me!”

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Soon, friends offered to help. One volunteered to mix his paint colors. Another offered to touch up areas that he couldn’t see. The offers kept coming. His friends became his eyes. Others wanted to purchase what they saw. Balbir decided to sell the paintings to provide eyeglasses to needy children in developing countries.

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 The children receiving the eyeglasses will never know those who helped. Those who helped will never know the children whose lives were changed. But the connected hearts will beat to one rhythm of love. This is Art Connecting Hearts.

 

This painting was created by Balbir at the age of 89.