Caroline
Caroline can’t wait to get started creating new art with the iPad, keyboard, pencil and case she received from The Eric Fund. Caroline is a 27-year-old artist and graphic designer with cerebral palsy who has her own design business and creates original artwork on the computer that she sells at art shows, craft fairs and on her website: www.labradorabledesigns.com
A power wheelchair user who always has her service dog, Shelly, by her side, Caroline is excited to find a new way to create her art using the iPad. “I am looking forward to learning how to do my art right on the screen with the iPad pencil or my finger. I think it will be easier and more fun than what I do now, which is draw with my finger on a MacBook track pad,” she said. “I look forward to trying different art apps on it, and keeping my website updated. I hope to grow my business by learning more about online market- ing, especially since I can’t do fairs and shows during COVID. It will make me more independent in every day life, because I can use it to text, write emails and look up information.”
She looks forward to the iPad helping her expand her business in-person as well once the pandemic subsides. “Hopefully when this COVID thing is over, I’m going to do more art shows again, and plan to use the iPad for taking payments,” she shared. “I’m also hoping to learn how to do more photography with the iPad camera. It’s also fun taking classes and seeing people through Zoom, so I’m going to look for more things like that. It will help me learn new things and stay in touch with people. I’m excited.”
When Caroline is not busy creating, learning and running her business, she enjoys riding horses and driving a horse-drawn carriage, writing and listening to music, exploring big cities, and going to concerts, movies and art museums. Caroline is also a disability activist who volunteers for Canine Companions for Independence (where she got her service dog, Shelly) and at a therapeutic riding program.
She said just like Eric Savader for whom The Eric Fund was founded, she enjoys adventure: “From what I’ve learned, Eric was a wonderful guy, who lived life to its fullest while he could. I feel the same way,” she said. “My cerebral palsy and wheelchair don’t stop me from riding and skiing and traveling, and I have many more adventures ahead.”