{"id":2787,"date":"2019-11-05T18:42:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T18:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu.shop.wacom.eu\/us\/?p=2787"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:24:13","slug":"recovering-relearning-and-rebuilding-the-remarkable-story-of-one-artists-journey-back-to-the-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/recovering-relearning-and-rebuilding-the-remarkable-story-of-one-artists-journey-back-to-the-new-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"Recovering, Relearning and Rebuilding: The Triumphant Story of One Artist\u2019s Journey Back to the New Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"Master caricature artist Glenn Ferguson was at the top of his game before tragedy struck on New Year\u2019s Day 2016. Newly married to JoAnn, the love of his life, Glenn was doing the job he loved: drawing caricatures for thousands of visitors at a popular Orlando theme park. Read the news story about the attack here<\/a>.\n\nEverything changed when Glenn was brutally attacked by a disgruntled coworker who was fired the previous day. Glenn was stabbed in the head and neck several times with a pair of scissors, which cut an artery and left him with a less than 50% chance of survival.\n\n\"Glenn's\n

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Overcoming the odds<\/h3>\nRushed to the hospital, He flatlined in the ambulance and was immediately wheeled into the OR where a team of surgeons and nurses worked on him against almost impossible odds \u2013 the blades of the scissors had penetrated five inches into Glenn\u2019s skull, and lightning-fast decisions had to be made to keep Glenn alive. In fact, he died two more times during surgery from lack of oxygen, which caused his stroke that has left him with lasting after effects. Doctors placed Glenn into a medically-induced coma to allow his brain to heal and he spent two weeks in the ICU.\u00a0 During this time, Glenn contracted pneumonia from the tracheotomy tube, so it was a rough few weeks.\u00a0 Once he came out of the coma, Glenn spent another 16 days in a step-down unit where he had to relearn everything\u2013 standing, walking, speaking and regaining his independence.\n\n \n\n
\"Glenn

Glenn crosses the rehab finish line<\/p><\/div>\n\nAfter many, many months of physical, cognitive, speech and psychotherapy, Glenn has had to relearn how to walk, talk, read, write, and draw. \u00a0He\u2019s come incredibly far, but has not survived unscathed. He speaks with a stutter and has some memory loss and PTSD,\u00a0 and is unable to drive, but the biggest challenge to his ultimate recovery is that the brain injury has left him with hemianopia, which has greatly affected his visual processing. Although his eyes work, half of his vision doesn\u2019t get to his brain and he only sees the left side of anything he sees \u2013 a huge problem to a visual artist.\n\n

\"How

How Glenn's brain \"sees\" the world now<\/p><\/div>\n

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New approaches and strategies for success<\/h3>\nAnyone who\u2019s ever met Glenn knows of his persistence and determination. \u00a0A true artist at his very core, he realized he had to find new strategies that would allow him to create again. Since the vision problem was one of the primary obstacles to his creating art again, he adapted his drawing style. By positioning his work so he looks at it from the left, Glenn is able to see the piece better.\u00a0 Glenn is right-handed, but he now sometimes draws with his left (non-dominant) hand, which he has found helpful in achieving the look he wants. Drawing often takes more time than before, more sketching, more thinking and more relying on his peripheral vision, but he continues to create amazing and beautiful artwork.\n

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\"Prince\"

Prince<\/p><\/div>\n\n \n\n

\"Stranger

Stranger Things<\/p><\/div>\n\n \n

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A long-time Wacom friend<\/h3>\nWacom has worked with Glenn for many years (back to 2009, when Glenn won the ISCA<\/a> (International Society of Caricaturist Artists) Golden Nosey Master Caricaturist award), and when we learned that Glenn was making a comeback to art, we were overwhelmed, relieved and grateful that he could return to a career he loved so much.\n\nHere's an excerpt from a 2015 Lucky Card Productions documentary about American caricature artists in which Glenn proudly wore his Wacom shirt. \ud83d\ude42\n\n