Author: rockinjambo

With it being the New Year, it is now time for my 2018 New Year resolutions and 2017 accomplishments. First for my 2017 accomplishments, I have to say that 2017 has been a good year compared to my disappointing 2016. Of all the years that I have ran my business, 2017 is the year that i brought in the most money, which is a big improvement from 2016, which was the year I brought in the least money. This year I bought a heat press and added mugs to my business, which has been a success. I also bought grid wall to display my picture at my booth at events and I have had an increase in sales since I did so. I also started my blog this year, which has helped bring attention to my business. I did my float in the Griffith 4th of July parade for the 2nd time this year and won 2nd place for the best float. The biggest highlight of 2017 was seeing the great American eclipse. I am glad that I was able to get into the path of totality and that it wasn’t too cloudy. Another big highlight of 2017 was my Special Olympics basketball team made it to and won state. We won gold medals. I also went to Charleston, South Carolina in May, which was the first time of me and my mom going to the ocean together. I also went parasailing for the first time on this trip, which was very fun. I also ran a 5k for the first time this year, which was the aut2run for autism 5k that I also sold my pictures at. I didn’t place, but I did finish it. Also in February my business Facebook page made it to 500 likes. I also had a lot of fun playing my guitar at the local open mics this year. Now for my 2018 new year resolutions. One thing I would like to do in 2018 is improve my business. I would like to put out plenty more blog posts in 2018. Like I said before, blogging has helped bring traffic to my website. After buying my heat press and being successful with the mugs in 2017, I would like to make more products with my heat press in 2018, including pint glasses and t shirts. I would also like to do balloon arches and pictures for people in 2018. When the Griffith 4th of July parade comes, I am going to try to win first place with my float after winning 2nd place last year. I would like to build my online following in 2018. I have been researching ways to bring traffic to my website, which I will be putting to action in 2018. I also wouldn’t mind doing some hand made frames for my pictures. Also in 2017 there were some art fairs that I wanted to sell at, but I found out about them too late and the application deadline had passed. I am hoping to sell at some of these art fairs in 2018. In January I will be doing so special needs drivers ed through voc rehab. Hopefully I can get a drivers license in 2018. Also starting in January I have a person that will be helping me find a job. Hopefully I can get a job and even go to collage in 2018. Here in my last blog article I talked about how I wanted to get married some day. If I am going to have a wife, then I need a way to support her. It would be the greatest thing of all if I can make a living off of my business, but I have a long way to go for that. It would also be nice if I could get a girlfriend and improve my social group in 2018. In 2017 I found out about the night to shine special needs dance, but I found out about it pretty last minute so I was unable to go. Hopefully I can get a good date for it and go to it in 2018. Maybe I will luck out and meet my future wife there. I would also like to improve my music in 2018. I would like to get a least one guitar pedal in 2018, since that is something I still have yet to do despite me playing guitar for several years. One of my nephews got a bass guitar for Christmas, another one of my nephews got a drum set for his birthday, and I met another autistic guy who plays guitar at the northern Indiana autism expo in 2017. With that being said I am hoping to do some full band performances at the Griffith central market and maybe some of the local all ages open mics in 2018. That is my 2017 accomplishments and 2018 new year resolutions. I would like to thank everyone for the support in 2017. I cant want to see what 2018 has in store.

Happy New Year from Autistic Eye Art and NWI Differentability Club

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

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After releasing my blog article about my experience with the great American eclipse and my business dream it is time I start talking about my frustrations of being autistic. One of my biggest frustrations on being autistic is trying to have deep relationships with people. It seams that people think that because I don’t express my emotions the same as everyone else, means that I don’t have the same emotions as everyone else. That is not true.

My autism makes it hard for me to make friends

One big area this causes me frustration is me trying to make friends and get people to do fun things with me. My autism makes it hard to have deep relationships with people, which puts a big damper on me trying to make friends. One thing that was nice about high school was it provided me a great way to meet people. There were lots of people around me every day to talk to. In 2013 I graduated from high school with a core 40. One thing that was nice about high school was it provided me a great way to meet people. There were lots of people around me every day to talk to. Unfortunately after the high school and the graduation fun was over, that great high school social life was gone. I was left with not much of a way to meet people. Facebook became my main means of keeping in touch with those I knew from high school and those that I would meet. It is very frustrating that when I message people asking them to do fun things with me and 9 times out of 10 they either ignore me, say no, or say yes and then cancel on me later on. My attempts to get people to do fun things with me fail so often that people are surprised when I do get someone to do something fun with me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that life happens and sometimes people are just too busy to some of the fun things I ask them to do or that sometimes things come up after saying yes, but sometimes I feel like people ignore me cancel on me or say that the have to work to get out doing these things with me. It is especially frustrating when people ignore messages. It’s like what, I’m not important enough to respond too? It would be very quick and easy to just type no. It is very frustrating and makes me feel unwanted to have so many people say no to doing fun things with me and ignore me. Another thing that is frustrating is that with as much as I message friends asking them to do fun things with me, is no one ever messages me up asking me to do fun things with them.

My autism makes it harder for me to get a girlfriend.

Since I was in 8th grade it has been a dream of mine to get married someday. In September of 2015 after about 6 ½ years of trying to get a girlfriend, I finally got my first girlfriend. Unfortunately the relationship didn’t go good and after only a month of dating she lost interest and dumped me. with as much as I can complain about what she did wrong, I wasn’t a the best boyfriend ether. One thing that made me not as good of a boyfriend was she would call me and try to have a good conversation with me, but I would just end up joking around saying that she loves me because I just couldn’t get out what I wanted to say or what I knew she wanted to hear. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of the reason that she broke up with me. My autism made it hard for me to have that deep relationship that we both wanted.

This is also a problem I have when I hang out with girls I crush on and just friends. Sometimes I also do the you love me stuff with some of the girls I crush on. I say that to the girls I crush on because I wish that they loved me and wanted to be my girlfriend and I want to have a deep relationship and good conversions with them, but my autism just makes it hard. When I crush on a girl, I picture me and her doing fun things like riding bikes, riding the rollercoasters at Six flags, hiking at the Indiana dunes, watching fireworks, jamming out at music festivals, looking at Christmas lights and other fun things together. Sometimes I imagine myself proposing to my future wife, kissing her under the 4th of July fireworks, giving her that New Year kiss and saying our vows at our wedding. Then comes the reality of getting told no, ignored, and canceled on. It is frustrating that most of the girls I crush on wont even give me a chance at being their friend, let alone boyfriend.

There is one thing that people just dont seem to understand and that is despite the vibe that i may give  due to wanting a girlfriend and my fear of getting rejected, i am not trying to rush into a relationship. I would like to do things right and take about a year to be friends and get to know each other before starting a relationship. I have a good understanding when it comes to relationships. Just check out my blog post about signs that you are not ready for a relationship, which you can read here. It isn’t just the girlfriend situation that is made harder by my autism, but also having deep relationships with my family and other people in my life.

My autism makes it harder for me to have deep relationships with my family and other people in my life.

Not only has my autism caused me to not be as good of a boyfriend to my ex girlfriend as I wanted to be, but it as also causes me to not be as good of a son to my mom, a brother to my sisters, and a uncle to my nephews as I want to be. I wish that I could be having better conversations and deeper relationships with them, but my autism makes it hard. My brother in law once made a good point. Just imagine wanting to talk to someone about and having that voice in your head saying don’t talk about it. That is something I deal with all of the time and is very frustrating. People just don’t seem to understand this frustration since it is hard for me to express it and sometimes people make me out to have problems because of it. Me having a hard time expressing how I feel makes it easy for people to slide me under rug and ignore me and not understand my frustration.

I started a social group for adults with disabilities called the N.W.I. Differentiability Club.

I am hoping that this blog post will help bring understanding to this frustration. Like I said earlier in this post, after graduating from high school I was left with not much of a way to meet people. To help with this situation, I started a social group for adults with disabilities called the N.W.I. Differentiability Club in hopes of meeting other people with disabilities that I could be good friends with. In December of 2015 I had my first social group meeting. To this day still run the social group. With this group I hope to not just help myself, but help other adults with disabilities make friends. If you know an adult with a disability who has a hard time making friends and lives near Griffith Indiana, feel free to tell them about the group. You can find more info about the group and upcoming group meetings here on my website. I also have a Facebook group for the group that is called nwi differentiability club.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

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My 4 year Business anniversary has recently passed. Over the past 4 years I have sold at many events and started my website. Someday I hope to open a storefront for my business, preferably somewhere in downtown Griffith, Indiana, my hometown. Over the past 4 years I have shared a picture I drew of storefront for my business on the holidays. One thing I haven’t talked much about is what I would do with a storefront for my business. First, as you would expect, I would sell my pictures and products there, but I would do more than that. Since I play guitar and piano, I would do open mics and karaoke. Also I do a disability social group called nwi differenability club, which I would do meetings for that at a storefront for my business. Also I would do workshops to teach people how to do some of the cool art things I do. I would also do game nights and movie nights there. I would also allow other people to display there art there. i would also do guitar and piano lessons there. I would also get it so people with disabilities could work there and get paid by work one, which is a company that paid me when I worked at the SNAP store in Griffith. it would be a fun place to be and hopefully it would help other autistic artists get the word out about their stuff.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.net
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

Feel free to share these pictures if you like them and thanks for your support.

be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to experience a total solar eclipse. A few years ago I found out about the great American eclipse. Unlike the other solar eclipses that happen about every 18 months, this one was total and only about 6 hours from where I live. First came the debate of if I should get in the path of totality or stay home and watch as the moon covers almost 90% of the sun. I read articles from people who had seen total solar eclipses and they where saying that you should definitely get into the path of totality because it is the most amazing sight that nature has to offer. I wondered if these people were exaggerating, if 90% of the sun being covered and the whole sun being covered would make a big difference. What I also had to decide was who to go with where to watch it. I got lucky and my brother in law just happened to get 2 weeks off of work just in time for the eclipse. In the weeks before the eclipse I did a lot to prepare it. I bought a new lens, teleconverter, and a wireless shutter release se I could get better pictures of it. I also bought a few pairs of eclipse glasses. I used one of the pairs of glasses to make a solar filter. First I put a uv filter on my lens. A uv filter doesn’t have any effects. Photographers use the to protect their lenses. On top of that I put one of the lenses from the eclipse glasses. I then put my step down rings on the uv filter to hold the eclipse glasses lens in place and to block out unwanted light from coming in where eclipse glasses lens didn’t cover. I tested it out before the eclipse and it worked. That was only needed during the partial phases of the eclipse. The uv filter allowed me to quickly take off the eclipse glasses lens and step down rings in one piece when the eclipse hit totality and put it back on after totality. After I found out that my brother in law got the time off of work, I talked to him about the eclipse and we decided to drive to Carbondale Illinois to see the eclipse, since it was the closest place to home to see it and it was the place with the longest duration. Rather than paying a bunch money for a hotel room like a lot of people did, me and my brother a law decided to get up very early on the day of the eclipse and drive straight there. The eclipse wasn’t the only thing for me to look forward to that weekend. The final days before the eclipse were Westerndays. Westerndays is a fair that a church in my home town puts on every year in august. Westerndays made the decision of whether or not to get into the path of totality harder. Getting into the path of totality meant missing out on the fireworks on the last day of Westerndays that I look forward to every year. It would have also been fun time watch the Westerndays fireworks, then get up the next day and meet up with my social group and watch as the moon covers almost 90% of the sun. after debating I decided to get into the path of totality. I figured I have the opportunity to do it, the Westerndays fireworks will happen again in a year, and the eclipse wont happen again for almost 7 years. Also my brother in law may not be able to have the time off of work come the 2024 eclipse. On the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before the eclipse I had a fun time at Westerndays. Then on the day before the eclipse I skipped the last day of Westerndays and went to my brother in laws house so I could get to bed earlier. While I could have watched the fireworks and then went to my brother in laws house, I didn’t because then I would gotten only 3 hours of sleep at the most. I may have been up all night due to being so excited about the eclipse. After going to my brother in laws house we came to find out the that the weather wasn’t looking very good for Carbondale. They were talking about it being cloudy around the time of totality. my sister ended up finding the Hopkinsville Kentucky had a better chance of clear skies, so we decided to go there instead. It would have been a big disappointment if I would have went on a trip to get into the path of totality and then it ended up being too cloudy. On the morning of the eclipse me, my brother in law, and my nephews got up at 2 am and hit the road at 3 am. It didn’t take long to see our first thrill of the day. A little bit after getting on the road we drove through a thunderstorm and I got some good lightning pictures. When the sun came up it was good to see that the day was a least starting clear enough to see the eclipse. Luckily when eclipse time came it was still clear. Another thing I was worried about was the traffic. Before we left it was saying all over the news that traffic was going to be very bad on the morning of eclipse day. With the way the news was making it sound, I worried that we would end up having to watch the eclipse from the side of the highway due to not making it to Hopkinsville in time. Luckily it was smooth sailing all the way there except for some construction zones. Around 10 am we arrived at Hopkinsville. After worrying about getting there too late, we had 2 hours until the eclipse started. First we drove around town for a little bit. Then we stopped at a grocery store called the piggly wiggly to get snacks and drinks for the eclipse. It sure was a funny name for the store. We then went to a cemetery to watch the eclipse. I set up my camera stuff and then still had a few minutes left until the eclipse started. Around noon the moon or as some people believe rahu aka the black sun started coving the sun. while we were taught in school that it is the moon going in front of the sun, some Christians believe that is a dark celestial body called rahu going in front of the sun. these people also believe that the moon is not solid, is transparent, and is self luminescent. These people also believe that the moon landings were fake. I’m not sure if I believe this, but it is an interesting theory. In this article I am going to say that it is the moon going in front of the sun. I then watched as the moon covered more and more of the sun. I watched as it slowly got darker. I watched as the circles of light in the shadow some nearby trees turned to crescents. Then when we got down to only a sliver of the sun visible I took my homemade solar filter off my camera lens and I took pictures of the diamond ring effect, then baileys beads, then the eclipse hit totality. All of a sudden the strangely dimmed out day turned to twilight. A few stars came out. Venus became visible. The crickets started chirping and streetlights turned on. The suns corona put on a neat display. With the partial eclipse light still visible lower in the sky it was like a 360 degree sunset. The temperature even dropped a little bit, bringing some relief to the hot day. I took a few pictures of the total eclipse. As I was watching the total eclipse I was very amazed. I was glad that I missed the westerndays fireworks and got in the path of totality. I came to see that what I had read about totality was right. One thing that was strange was at totality, me and the people around me got a strange feeling in the stomach and got a little bit lightheaded. Watching as the moon covered almost 90% of the sun from home wouldn’t have been nearly as neat of an experience. After I took pictures I looked at the eclipse for the rest of totality. Then all of a sudden totality ended and the sun popped back out. The twilight turned back to the strangely dimmed out day. The stars faded, the crickets stopped chirping, and the streetlights turned back off. The days heat also came back. I then put my homemade solar filter back on my camera lens and took pictures as the moon moved off of the sun. I watched as the dimmed out day slowly turned back to a regular day. After seeing the total eclipse I agree with the people that say you should get into the path of totality. if you do not get into the path of totality, you missing out. While you can watch a live broadcast of the eclipse, it is not the same as actually witnessing it. Like an article I read said, watching a broadcast of an eclipse is like phoning in on your wedding. After getting into the path of totality of this eclipse, I will definitely be getting into the path of the 2024 solar eclipse if I get the opportunity to. I will not be debating it like I did this one. I will not give up the opportunity to get into the path totality for some annual event back at home. After watching the eclipse we went out to eat. Then we drove down to New Orleans. We stayed in a hotel. The next day we drove around the city. Then we ate at a restaurant. Then we drove to Memphis and stayed in a hotel there. Then the next day we drove the rest of the way home. That is my experience with the great American eclipse. After all the things could have gone wrong, I would say that everything worked out for the best.   

-Timelapse Eclipse-
This is a picture made out of a series of pictures I took.

The eclipse day thunderstorm, luckily not during the eclipse.

The total eclipse.

The diamond ring effect.

The partial eclipse with my homemade solar filter.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.net
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

Feel free to share these pictures if you like them and thanks for your support.

be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest.

Almost 4 years ago on september 6th 2013 my booth went up for the first time at the griffith central market and I made my autistic eye art facebook page. to celebrate this achievement I will be putting on a customer appreciation day. It will be on September 8th at the SNAP retail store in Griffith, IN. I will be doing a 50% off sale, playing my guitar, and doing a raffle. I offer framed  prints, greeting cards, bookmarks, garden signs, garden rocks, gourd necklaces, and gourd birdhouses. please let me know If you have any questions regarding my products or customer appreciation day, I’m happy to help. Thank you for supporting a small business and an autistic artist.
I have always had an artistic passion. From a very young age I would make thousands of pictures on my home computer. I would figure out how to play songs by ear. I would make up my own songs by making beats with my mouth or on a little keyboard that belonged to one of my older sisters. As time, and my talents progress, I continue to develop my visual and musical art. Most of my spare time is spent taking pictures or playing guitar and piano.
I had a very memorable high school career. I did my music in the talent shows and I took many great pictures during the school field trips and other school events. one of my favorite high school memories was the school dances. I had a date for every dance. one thing I didnt like about high school was the homework. I spent hours a night doing homework.
After all my hard work and help from the people who love me, in may of 2013 I graduated from Griffith High School with a Core 40. Achieving this goal was a major accomplishment. To celebrate I put on a graduation party. I did my music and other fun stuff. After the graduation fun was over came the big question, what am i going to do with my life. With the money I made off of my graduation, I started my business. On september 6th, 2013 I started selling my pictures at the Griffith Central Market. I didn’t think i would get any pictures sold that day. I guessed that I would be just giving out business cards, but I ended up having beginner’s luck. I got 5 canvas prints sold.
In the past 4 years my business has come a long way. I like to take pictures of the often overlooked beauty of nature around us. I have taken many pictures from the winter snow to the summer thunderstorms. I am hoping to make enough money to buy some nice photography gear. just imagine what my pictures would look like with a really nice camera. At first the name of my business was Puzzle Piece Photography. I Started out just selling canvas prints. After the first central market season ended I changed the name to Autistic Eye Art because there was already a business called Puzzle Piece Photography. I didn’t want people buying from them thinking they were buying from me. Then I opened my Etsy store for people to buy my products online. My Etsy store is no longer open because I now have my website. Then I started selling mat prints, cards, garden signs, and garden rocks at the Highland Indoor Market. On February 14, 2016 I started my website. This central market season I started selling mugs. I sell my products on my website, the Griffith Central Market, and other events. The Griffith Central Market is a farmers market at Central Park in Griffith, Indiana. it is every Friday 4-9 PM, May through August. I set up my booth on the one Friday of every month weather permitting. Also be sure to check out my music and social group. If you have any questions regarding my business or website feel free to contact me. Thank you for taking the time to look at my website and going to my events. 
I am thankful for my business and the great gift god has given me. I would not be in the position I am in if it weren’t for all the people who have taken the time to check out my work and encouraged me to continue my artistic efforts. For that i offer a special thank you to every single person who takes an interest in my art and spends their hard earned money on my products. It is very much appreciated. I take pictures for myself; to capture a world that captivates me. I hope it captivates you too.

-Timelapse Sunset-
This is a picture made out of a series of pictures I took.

-beach-

This is a picture I drew when I was a kid

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.net
business facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Feel free to share these pictures if you like them and thanks for your support.

Happy New Year from Autistic Eye Art. I would like to say thanks for all the support in 2016. Let’s make 2017 better than 2016!