"My Hand - Various Poses"
charcoal pencil on sketch paper
I've been cleaning out my studio, tossing out old creations that don't have much meaning to me anymore. Whatever meaning means, so many levels to that word. Then I found the above drawing in a sketch book and felt an emotional connection oozing out. Aha, meaning! My hands, posed in different ways, all on one piece of paper. Each pose seeming to convey a different message. Artist hands here without the paint remnants under the nails. Nails on this particular day so smooth and well-tended. If I painted or drew my hands now, I know there would be changes. Hands more natural, not so perfectly groomed, perhaps with a few more wrinkle lines drawn in. But no matter how they looked now, I would be content. It's like our aging process, where we say we're proud of every grey hair. We've earned it. So too with other parts of our body. But isn't that what it's all about? To accept changes in all aspects of our life and not resist them. And let the spiritual self, the soul come forward and say "it really doesn't matter. I'll always be with you no matter what happens to the physical self, that outer shell. And then I know that that particular inner voice, which is soft yet authentic, will help me to embrace the cycles of life and see it as an adventure, a learning experience. It made me appreciate my hands even more yesterday as I processed the feelings stirred up. Though it's always fun and intriguing to paint and draw others who pose for us, there is something very personal about recreating images of the whole form or pieces of who we are. And there's something about charcoal pencil, in its stark black and white and shades of grey in between that somehow feels more expressive, at least in this particular image. For that, I am grateful for all the mediums we have at our disposal. They can make a difference in what message we want to convey.
I feel strength coming from this drawing and I take the feeling within myself and breathe it in. Somehow, the extra energy gained will help me as I continue to clean and simplify my domain. I am grateful for the art process for it does sustain me. Even old creations from long ago still have that power to trigger something within me. Does creativity evoke power in you and allow transformation to take place? I invite you to share if you so desire.
Oh and to my art teacher, Dorothy, who I hope is smiling down from the heavens above, I pay you homage here today with one of the drawings I created in your class.... Thank you......
4 comments:
Most interesting post and I guess at it's most basic level we are always creating the next stage in our lives. So creativity is always there, its whether we realise its there or not. Love the hands and the concept. I just need to look at my Partner's hands to see what you are talking about with the paint.
Yes, my hands too are very different from much of society. I have often called them Polish laborers hands, but think they always were intended to create with.
I have some of those old drawings of my hands too - one of the first things I also did in a drawing class years ago. I look at them with favor each time I pull them out. I don't know what it is about them. Have some old line drawings of my mom crocheting too. Her hands...
Bev where are you...don't let the change stop you...get back to the paper and work on through it.
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