Sensory experiences are works of art for April Cundy

Sensory experiences are important for people with Angelman syndrome.

April Cundy, daughter of Samaritan Ministries member Linda Cundy, has found one that blesses others as well.

April is an abstract painter. The 19-year-old with Angelman syndrome has latched on to painting as a way to satisfy those sensory needs. A teacher at April’s facility with an art background had April try painting about 5½ years ago after mediums like glue and clay failed to interest her.

When the teacher brought acrylic paints one day and invited April to put it on her hands and paint with it on a cardboard box, “April loved the feel of it,” Linda says.

The teacher asked if she could give April painting lessons.

“I thought, ‘Oh, really?’ I had a mess in the back of my mind,” Linda says.

The teacher made a basement available to Linda and April and that’s where they paint. April paints on canvas, paper, wood and textile, applying the acrylics with mops, stamping rollers, cupcake covers, feathers, sponges, car mitts, wood or tin objects with odd bases … anything but a paint brush. She paints in several layers, with 12 or 13 paintings going at once and a single painting taking several weeks to complete.

And there has to be a layer of fun, too.

“We have to have fun while we paint or hang it up,” Linda says. “We play peekaboo, hide-and-seek, peeking through chairs.”

April is now selling her framed art at craft shows and fundraisers and through a few stores in South Dakota. Her art is also being sold as frameable greeting cards on her website.

All profits go to April’s checking account and are used to purchase new art supplies.

You can read more about April and her mother’s She Acts Very Different.