SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio artist Angela Weddle is savvy with her pen, so crafty, in fact, that her art got displayed at Southtown Art Gallery for the month of February.
- San Antonio pen artist Angela Weddle displaying work at Southtown Art Gallery
- Weddle has austism and cerebal palsy
- Relocated to San Antonio following Hurricane Katrina
“So a lot of these books were done, the drawings were done live at different places around San Antonio,” Weddle says, pointing at her art.
Her art illustrates these intimate tales of San Antonians, including her own. Co-curator of the gallery, Albert Gonzales, heard about Angela through his wife Caroline.
“It just motivated us even more to work with Angela and really showcase her work and show the people how talented and amazing she is,” Gonzales says. “Not only to create beautiful work but to overcome these obstacles that she faces day in and day out.”
Those obstacles affect her everyday life.
“So I’m autistic, I have cerebral palsy. In the left foot, surgery on the right, a heel that was reconstructed,” Weddle says. “Just pretty much I hurt all over. I tell people I’m just cosmetically young because they say my body is like someone who is 60, bone-wise.”
It takes Weddle three to five times more energy than the average person to do normal activities such as drawing, cooking or even walking. Each movement is a negotiation.
Artist Angela Weddle appears on a bus in San Antonio, Texas, in this image from February 2020. (Jose Arredondo/Spectrum News)
“Biggest challenges are just the practical challenges of getting around,“ Weddle says while waiting at a bus stop. “And doing that while you are pain, doing that no matter the weather and doing on a schedule that is not totally in your control always.”
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Weddle lived in North Texas and even Florida before settling in San Antonio.
“I came out here because of family but all of its related to Katrina,” Weddle says. “You have to go somewhere and everyone's trying to cope.”
Waddle coped with the 2005 hurricane the best way she could, with a pen and a surface to draw on.
Towards the end of her opening show at Southtown Art Gallery, she shared some words of encouragement for anyone dealing with a disability.
“Disability isn’t a bad word. Disability is just a part of who you are, but it doesn’t mean you lack ability either, “ Weddle says. “Do what you want to do. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do, look at what you can do. Maximize the time that you have.”