Visually impaired teenager finds more than clay in her creations

This Valentine's Day Molly Burke already has her gifts planned.

Necklaces with clay hearts and three dots stamped on the back -- the braille letter M.
The 12-year-old Oakville girl, who has retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive disease that is slowly damaging her retina and will likely leave her blind, is the queen of the kiln.

"You really don't need to see to do pottery. It's all about the way it feels," said Alex Travnickova, creator of Blind Kids Art, pottery classes for visually impaired children in the GTA.

Travnickova started the free classes this September in her Toronto studio after going to an art museum in the Czech Republic.

"They didn't just want us to look at the art; they let us touch it. I thought this would be a great thing for kids who couldn't see," she said.

Between drumming, singing and skiing lessons, Molly makes room for a two-hour pottery class every week where she gets one-on-one attention from Travnickova and a group of volunteers.
"She's really busy but she always makes time for pottery," her mom, Niamh Burke, said.

Travnickova's students do more than build bowls, plates and valentines gifts; they also build self-esteem.

"They realize that if they can do this they can do anything," said Travnickova, an artist who pays for the program mostly out of her own pocket.

"Families with disabled children already pay enough for other things," she said.
But running the classes is not cheap.

Blind Kids Art is having its first major fundraiser Feb. 15 at the Arts and Letters Club on Elm St. The night includes private wine tasting and live entertainment.

Molly's mom said her daughter uses her pottery to help her relate to kids at school.
"She is just so proud of what she does," said Niamh.

"We're talking about buying her a pottery wheel of her own."