An Artist Turned Autism Into a Superpower With Their New Business

Sometimes the best career move is stepping away from the overwhelming grind of a day job and into your own world. That’s exactly what Rhys Caldwell-Clarkson did when quit his retail job and picked up a paintbrush.

Based in the town of Malvern in England, Rhys launched Art on the Spectrum, a business where he views his autism not as a disability, but as something that helped him unlock a hidden talent for landscape art.

He says, “Autism affects people in many different ways. But instead of a disability, you’ve got to look at it as a superpower.”

Rhys creates vibrant “floating islands” and scenes inspired by the local countryside from his home studio — a safe space where the rest of the world just fades away.

After finding a massive boost of confidence from fans on Facebook, he’s now selling his work online with the ultimate goal of opening a physical shop where others can come to relax and find their own creativity. As Rhys explains, the moment that brush hits the canvas, he’s in a different world — and one that he’s sharing with more and more with other people else these days.