Down Syndrome doesn't slow artist down

By JAN HOGAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Small hands. Big at heart. A person's measure may not be so much in stature as in the impact he or she has on others.

Sandy Lovell, standing only "four-foot-nothing," as family members lovingly joke, is a victim of Down syndrome. Yet she expresses herself with sweetness and an optimistic outlook, things that strike a chord with those she meets. Another way she expresses herself is with her powerful illustrations.

"I've had people look at her artwork and they're just amazed by it," said Sherry Wolfe, her big sister. "A promoter was going to do a whole show on her, but that fell through. I want to get her work published somehow, maybe make it into a calendar and give the proceeds to the Down Syndrome Foundation."

Sandy's 22-year-old nephew is a free-lance artist and he, too sees the promise in her work. He provides her with materials and, apparently, inspiration.

"I'd like to be a good artist, good like Todd is," Sandy said, carefully enunciating her words.

What she cannot easily express in sentences, she does well with her art. Favorite topics include scenes from stimulating casinos, movies she watches time and again (her favorites include "Titanic" and "The Poseidon Adventure") and images from the circus. Most are framed by curtains as though seen on a stage.

Sandy's favorite medium is colored markers on poster board and lately she's been in an abstract mode, using geometric shapes and concept drawings done in bright, highly contrasting colors.

She spends as much as eight hours a day at her easel, creating some pieces in two hours, taking up to three days on another.

When Sandy was a toddler, doctors said she was a slow learner. At age 6 they put a label on her: Mongoloid, now called Down syndrome.

"She was always tiny, like a live doll," Wolfe said. "When she hit about 5 years old, she just stayed that way."

The two sisters were roommates until Wolfe went off to college, years that formed a strong bond. Although her parents always kept her at home (they refused to put her in an institution), the time came when they passed on and that's when Wolfe stepped in, 3 1/2 years ago.

"I always told my Mom that I wanted Sandy with me. It was the one thing I promised her," she said.

Caring for Sandy has not been a problem, as Wolfe's husband, Bill, is in the insurance business and works out of the home. He and Sandy are more like buddies, running errands, enjoying brunch and going out occasionally to play nickel Keno. Her tiny stature and happy, line-free face have caused her to be carded more than once.

"They think she's 16," Bill said with a laugh.

In her mind, Sandy may be young, reading at a first- or second-grade level and showing a bit too much trust in strangers, but her big sister will always be there for her.

"She's like one of my kids," Wolfe said. "She'll always have a very special place here with us. I hope she has a long life with us."