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| Using my left hand (I'm right handed) I rolled black acrylic paint on a canvas stapled to a plywood wall in my cellar. Then I squeezed out a glob of red paint on a palette and began painting as best I could with my non-dominant hand. No image, just slashes of paint. I used up all of the red then squirted out a mass of white and began to paint with that. The canvas is maybe 48" square and my brushes were wide. |
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| After about half an hour of slashing at the canvas with strokes of red and then white paint I began to write What Now? over and over again with a large piece of charcoal and also with a graphite stick. |
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| My writing is very crude when done with my left hand but that's OK... will be OK now, a week after the accident... that's the answer to What Now? I'm not sure yet how long it will take me to get back to weaving at the speed I am used to but I know it will happen. Thanks to good friends who've helped me see the light where the black seemed to be. |
Wow, that tells the story in a whole different way.
ReplyDeleteTommye, how so very frustrating - yet somehow liberating, as well - to be forced to use your non-dominant hand to create. I think you are right; something WILL come out of this, because you don't seem to be allowing it to stop your unstoppable creativity. I am very impressed and inspired by you!
ReplyDeleteWow-Tommye, what a great painting. It would be a great tapestry. You know when something so traumatic happens. You have a right to be angry and frustrated about it.
ReplyDeletehow better then to put it into a design and then weave it. Every time I have hand surgery I get scared angry and frustrated, so much of my life is tied up into my weaving. My Doctor says it makes me a very bad patient, because I ama aso pushy. Just keep stretching your hand religiously and work with it. The more you stretch it the faster you'll get back to normal, if there is such a thing. One of my favourite tapestries, is a box called miracles that expressed how I felt about everything going on with my had surgery.
My Grandmother taught me to tie feathers to bushes as prayers to the spirits or write the problem and then burn it and when they were gone so would the problem be, but I find it better to weave to work it out. It's remarkable how fast the had can heal and how much you'll value what it took to heal it and move on.
Cheers,
kathe
kind of reminds me of a method I use to work through dark spots...I have not tried your paint it out method, but just sit down and write everything (good, bad, ugly, hateful, self-pity, etc) that comes into my mind until my mind is empty...seems cleansing somehow and I hope the paint exercise helped you find a place of calm and peace. It sure speaks volumes about your state of being right now. Much love to you Tommye.
ReplyDeleteTommye, this is the first I knew of your terrible accident. How brave you were to handle so much with the blood and all.
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful your hand is improving and you will be able to create your masterpieces again.
You have the most beautiful blog - and one I can easily read.