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Niam Jain celebrates and rings in New Year’s Eve Fireworks on the beach as the sky light up in vibrant colours.  The beach was full of people dancing, celebrating, the excitement, happiness was contagious. Every family celebrates New Year’s Eve, and ours is no different. We try to make it extra special because Niam loves to dress up and loves the countdown to New Year’s Eve. He waits for it every year. I always save the party hats and glasses for the following year to make special pictures.  Rohan ( eldest brother who adores Niam) booked an outdoor restaurant that had plenty of vegetarian options. We dressed up and took pictures. I dragged everyone down to the beach to get pictures of the cloudy sunset. Niam sat down on a recliner chair  taking in the beauty of the sunset.  I wondered if we were going to get a painting from this trip.

We recognize Niam  does not have a formal art education, thus we do our best to provide visual experiences that can be  reflected in his art. Art is emotional. Art is visual. Art speaks to the viewer. It not necessary that a particular artwork is of one particular experience,  one piece can have a multitude of experiences pulling one into the depths of the layers.

It was a beautiful night.  Instead of taking a cab, we decided to walk to the restaurant. It was a long leisure walk, where we took in different sites, sounds and, music from various restaurants and pubs.  The outdoor restaurant Rohan booked was full of lights, and, a pretty loud DJ.  We  danced in between courses and drank champagne. Yes, we allowed Niam to have champagne. Many think that Autistics are not able to tolerate loud noises. Every person is different. There is a saying, “That when you have met one person with Autism, you have met one person with Autism.”  Autistics are just like you and me; we are all the same, yet we are different.  In Niam’s case, he can tolerate loud noises. If noise is bothering him, he will put on his headphones. I think he does it more for sensory, as his headphones are NOT noise-cancelling.

At 11:30 pm, we returned to our hotel for fireworks on the beach.  The sky lit up in an array of vibrant colours that could be seen for miles. The sky was dark and, the fireworks sparkled against the dark sky, and the colours reflected against the ocean.  It was a beautiful nice full of colours, music and emotions. It are these very simple moments of life that inspire Niam’s paintings.