sculpt but no one teaches them to paint."    Her husband serves as her eyes, reading art books to her whenever he has the time.  The rest she's taught herself and she can now distinguish between paint colours by feeling them.     The pigments in the various paints differ - some are thicker than others.    "Cobalt blue is sticky - stickier than yellow, which is light and smooth," she says.  "Red is even smoother."    Oil paint is another matter. Its texture doesn't help her because all the colours feel the same.  Her husband identifies them for her and she arranges them in alphabetical order on a special palate.    Her work is amazingly realistic - all based on her recollections from the days when she could see. [ ]

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Examples of the work of Lisa Fittipaldi (ABOVE), the fruit of the rage she felt when her husband criticised her for being depressed after losing her sight.