Bend teen artist born with no arms auctions painting in honor of late brother, to help searchers who found him
(Update: Adding video, comments from father of artist)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Fifteen-year-old Jayden Tranby was born without arms, but that hasn't stopped him from pursuing a passion for painting.
"I think for Jayden, it's one of those ways that he finds his place in life," said his father, David.
With tutorials from Bob Ross on TV as a guide, he produces a painting a day.
The Tranbys adopted Jayden from China, and his remarkable talent surfaced just a few years ago. He paints Central Oregon scenes like the Three Sisters, which have a special place in his heart.
Last July, his brother, Joel, died when he fell while hiking North Sister.
"It's never easy," David said. "It won't go away. It's part of our lives. It's part of who we are as people. We're making each day work."
To honor his brother, Jayden will auction off a painting of the mountains, donating the money to Deschutes County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, who helped find his brother.
"It's a big deal for us to be able to say, 'Thank you for what you do,'" Tranby said Tuesday. "'Yes, we wish that Joel would have been alive when you found him, but he wasn't. But you were out there looking anyway, despite the fact that it might not have been the outcome that we all wanted.'"
Jayden finished a painting during our interview, it will be presented at Bend's First Friday Art Walk on October 4th at Foundry Church.
Reluctant to express himself verbally, Jadyn finds a voice with his brush. A scholarship from the International Association of Mouth & Foot Painting Artists helps to cover his supplies and honor his talent.
"We always knew Jayden was like, super-awesome - just awesome," his father said. "It makes you feel so good about who he is as a person, and that he would be thinking about other people, and not just thinking about himself."
