It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but sometimes that beauty, the vision, is about so much more than what can be seen.

With every stroke of his brush, Michael Simmons begins to realize his vision. The abstract artist in Watertown hasn't had the easiest of lives, but he's able to find solace in front of an easel.

"I kinda can get into my own little world. It takes me to a different place," Simmons said.

Michael Simmons has been creating works of art since he can remember. He's had pieces in museums across the state. He even had his own gallery.

However, for Michael, it was never about the status or money, but rather about bringing the way he can view life much different than the way most can, to life.

"One you can see with your eyes. One you see with your inner being, your soul," Simmons said of vision.

That's how Michael sees the world, with his soul. When he was just 10, he contracted meningitis. He slowly started to lose his eyesight, and hasn't really been able to see anything but faint light since. He's blind.

"I'm not able to see people, objects, the sky, my surroundings," Simmons said.

Instead, he's able to use his memory of sight as a youngster, and the atmosphere around him to not only get around, but create the art he loves so much.

"There's inspiration everywhere. There's inspiration out here. There's music. There's my wife, my family, my kids," Simmons said.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, including happiness and tragedy.

Michael had never seen the World Trade Center towers in person, but his painting to honor the lives lost on September 11, 2001, hangs in a nearby business.

There's many questions, some that may seem simple, but still leave you wondering, such as how he knows what paint color is which.(He gets help setting up his paints so he knows what colors he's using.)

"I'll say 'let's put red here, yellow there, blue there,' whatever. I have them put in particular places," he said.