Thursday, January 1, 2009

hands of an artist

I woke up today and just spent a few minutes looking at my hands. Twisting them, turning them and watching the light come through or bounce over. Admiring the way the sun gleamed through my nail tips. Hands are amazing things.

Then as I was reading my blog role today, Nina at Ornamental caught my attention with two shots of her hands. She talks of shadow puppetry, which put me in mind of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, (I always associated strophe 11 with Pepe le Pew) strophe 46.

For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

That always makes me think of the Bard, of course.

On 1000 Markets I was thinking of changing my picture from a piece of jewelry to me. I don't know that I will. I've post pictures of me on this blog and on Flickr, but they're just snapshots-- nothing the least bit artistic or even very interesting. And if you're using your picture to advertise your art I think interesting is very important.

I did learn to operate the self-timer on my camera though, so I could shoot both of my hands instead of just the left one that is frequently seen modeling my work!

Not shockingly, I was at a loss about what to do with them . . . .

5 comments:

  1. Hands are remarkable! Take care of them and they will reward you 10 times over! Great Post! - CT

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  2. Yes, hands are incredibly amazing. Have you ever compared a baby's hands to those of an elderly person or wondered at the stories in those wrinkle lines and knarled fingers? I hope I can keep the arthritis in mine at bay for a few more years of beading.

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  3. Hands are so fascinating...this would be a lovely series / project to pursue.

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  4. Heather, what an interesting idea . . .

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  5. Sarah - You have such nice hands, wonderful for modeling your creations.

    I, on the other hand (ha!), have gnarly, scarred hands with short fingernails, and currently a big gash on the side of my thumb from my adventure with a utility knife. Using my hands to model jewelry would just scare people away.
    :-)

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