An Experiment in Off-handed Painting

"Three Moose in Red"

A few years ago I ran across a magazine article that discussed several artists who, for varying reasons, began painting with their non-dominant hands. I'll admit that at first I thought it was a little weird to even consider - why would anyone want to do that? Wouldn't be really difficult? I'm a righty and the few times I've tried writing with my left hand the results looked like chicken scratch!

Of course I ended up trying it - mostly just to see what would happen and to get a laugh or two.

"Oh Please Oh Please"

Yep, at first it was pretty difficult trying to control my left hand in the same way I control my right. Then a thought occurred to me - DON'T try to make my left hand behave as if it were my right. So I let go of the need to produce a certain outcome and just let things flow as they might.

The first few were really awful so I never bothered to take pics...but after the 3rd, things started looking up for my left-handed alter-ego.

"Balancing Act - study"

 I noticed the paintings were more graphic, less "realistic", with a more contemporary rather than classic feel. Even stranger, at least to me, is that I really wanted to let my wacky, humorous side out in these paintings. I'm not sure if that happened because I didn't really focus on the result, or if another part of my brain had taken over - a part of my brain where all of the humor was stored.

"Stilts"

 I liked the results enough to keep the experiment going. My lefty paintings continue to evolve in ways I would not expect, but that's the fun part of this. I have no expectations as to what the results look like with my left hand so these paintings are really fun and expressive for me. They loosen me up, make me think about painting elements in different ways, and I think in the end they are helping me grow as a painter.

"Crow Medicine"

 I've also been amazed at how well-received these paintings have been here in Maine. My own view of these paintings was that they were strange and a bit goofy and honestly, I didn't take them seriously. This summer I got up the courage to bring a few in to work and a lot of folks really liked the images and the sense of whimsey. That experience gave me a new perspective on these and I realize they're just a valid as my right-handed paintings so I've given them their due - a separate website and a slightly different name for my left-handed alter-ego.

More of my lefty paintings are here:  Nancy Rose Art