With his phone camera on full zoom and his imagination filling in the small details, legally blind artist Joel Jensen has defied his disability one painting after another.
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As he gears up for his very first solo art exhibition, the Wagga painter admitted he was "quite excited" to put his extensive and varied collection of works on display.
Mr Jensen was born with two rare eye conditions, Aniridia and Peter's Anomaly, but he has been in love with art since the moment he first picked up a pencil.
In the past five years, his love of sketching has developed into a passion for painting and recently he has started tackling larger, more detailed works.
When he sets up at the easel, Mr Jensen uses the small amount of vision he has to draw inspiration from a photo and then he lets his imagination run wild.
"The smaller details I obviously can't see so those are pretty much all my own imagination," he said.
"That means I have to put my own twist on whatever I've been inspired by."
While painting, Mr Jensen puts his phone up to his eyes and zooms the camera in as much as he can, allowing him to keep track of his progress.
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Nearly 100 of his paintings will be put on display at his art exhibition and he has promised to donate 20 per cent of the profits to Guide Dog Australia.
Mr Jensen received his guide dog Nicci about six years ago and said she has transformed his life.
"It's been a massive change in independence, being able to get around on my own after I moved out of home," he said. "I'd love for more people to get that opportunity."
Tahlia Keogh has been painting alongside Mr Jensen for over four years and said she is "incredibly proud" to see his growth as an artist.
"People ask me 'how does he do it' and I just don't know because it is so amazing what he pulls off," she said.
"His art is just this really unique combination of life through his eyes and imagination."
Mr Jensen's art exhibition will be launching at the Tahlia Keogh Fine Art studio on Edward Street this Saturday, June 25.
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