The Beginning
For the next two months, I could barely move my right arm, and the shoulder not at all. This made life difficult since I am right-handed.
This sent me into a mild depression, and I am generally a glass half-full kind of gal.
At the end of March, I saw an Orthopedic Surgeon who yanked on my arm, ordered an MRI and generally made me feel as if all of my problem was in my head.
After that appointment, and before the MRI, for spite’s sake, I decided to try my arm at painting again. I hadn’t painted since November of 2022 due to the holidays, and then the injury. I figured I had nothing to lose, and could at least possibly regain my mental health.
Mid-April came, I had the MRI, and a week later I got the results. I did have a partial rotator cuff tear, but not bad enough to have surgery.
Now knowing that I wasn’t going to make my shoulder worse, I began painting again in earnest, which was a very slow, careful earnest.
What follows is the painting that came out of that delicate period…
Delicate Pieces
With this piece, I explored everything that felt delicate to me. Beginning with a lot of white space, and then I slowly added color. The color was painted onto sheets of deli paper and then collaged on to the piece.
What else felt delicate? Thin pencil lines, small printed words, delicate script, and words from the Velveteen Rabbit drawn onto deli paper. Even the colors have delicateness about them, but also a feeling of hope.
The crown jewel was a photograph I had taken at the beach a few years ago that I stumbled across. I didn’t collage that on, I drew the parts that spoke to me: a flag of hope, and a Lake Michigan dune. I could picture that dune waiting for me to come explore it.
Finished and happy with the piece, I decided to enter it into a juried art show - Muskegon Art Museum’s 94th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition. My first ever entry into anything, and to my delight it was accepted.
This piece is 18” X 18” on wood panel - acrylic and mixed media.
This piece is not for sale. It is part of my story.
