Hands

Hands have never been my favorite thing to draw. There is a lot going on and it takes a lot to make what starts out as a crude claw into something that resembles a hand with five proportionate digits. Because I struggle with hands I decided I better dedicate some time to them. This series of five paintings was a study of form, colour, evolving composition and layers.

 

Heart in my Hands

All of these paintings are 8" by 10" watercolour on watercolour paper mounted on cradle back board.
Each painting has a message and a meaning behind it. Some titles make these meanings more obvious while others leave it up to the viewers interpretation.

 

One Hand in Peace  

My ultimate art goal is to capture moments in dance that hold meaning, movement and symbolism. At first I felt that this project of hands did not fit in with my other work but hands happen to be very emotive in very symbolic ways. Aside from ASL (American sign Language) hands have a very distinct language and help us communicate in our day to day lives.

Hand in Hand

 Hands are agile and can express complicated thoughts and emotions through simple movements. My chosen moments so far depict peace, love and friendship but if I continue on in this series there are some darker concepts I would like to play with. Life is full of positive and negative energy and I would like to represent both sides.

Heart on a String

 There is so much that can be said with our hands and we often don't think about it. In the dance studio I am constantly talking about the quality and energy of hands and fingers but in real life they aren't given the credit they deserve. The way you touch people and gesture towards them can change the meaning of your words which makes our unofficial hand language very important when we communicate.

 

Remember

I will probably take a break from hands for awhile as the dancers in my head are taking over! 

These paintings are for sale in my Etsy shop I hope you have enjoyed them!

RAD

Rachelle Anastasia Dyer

Throughout my childhood I had my initials (RAD) hanging on my wall above my window but had no idea what they represented other than my name. Various family members had commented on how cool they thought it was but no one really explained it to me.
When I started taking ballet I felt very special to have my initials printed in the corner of my bodysuit. I later (much later) realized that they stood for the Royal Academy of Dance and were not personally monogrammed for me specifically. I clearly thought the world revolved around me! :)

I looked rad up in the urban dictionary.

Rad - An abbreviation of 'radical'--a term made popular by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Still primarily used by people on the West Coast who find words like 'cool', 'awesome', and 'tight' to be tired and overused; 'rad' is generally considered to be a much higher praise than the aforementioned superlatives. Also used as a general expression of awe

This definition might not quite apply to me but I am hoping it applies to my art and the things I create. I have been blessed with fun initials and intend to own them and use them to their full extent!