Art of the Non-Dominant Hand

The theme of the upcoming show, “Art of the Non-Dominant Hand”, has been quite a wonderful, eye-opening experience.
I would compare it to opening a box of presents you never knew you had.
It was an exciting challenge to create something so different from your habitual way of thinking and doing.
Creating a piece for this show has sparked a series of projects I would like to pursue in the future.
Thank you.
I would also like to thank you for your tireless energy to create platforms for local artists to exhibit their works.
I and I am sure many other artists are grateful for this opportunity.
All the best,
Debbie Ma

Extremely difficult at first—almost child-like—limited to front and back movements—even painful, I tried to paint the way I normally do but I couldn’t!
I had to rely on awkward new movements and what I knew about positive and negative space.
In the end, I enjoyed it so much I even signed it.  Then I did another one.  I intend to do a whole series!
Thanks EEA  for this great experience!
— Terry Tramantano, 4/23/16

Just totally enjoyed the challenge.  It energized my creative juices.  I became engrossed in the process.  So much so I couldn’t think about much else.
I had to let go of being too tight with my strokes –because if I tried to hard it was more difficult.  I couldn’t  force it to make things work the way I normally do.  I have had multiple surgeries on my non-dominant hand so my challenge was greater to me.
I loved it!!
— JoAnne Rosco

The exercise made me more patient—slowed me way down.  Very surprised by the result.
— Alan Johnson

To my surprise using my non-dominant hand was a very different experience than I expected.  When my hand would become hesitant (from lack of experience) it proved to make me more reflective and thus provide an actually more interesting line. I really, truly enjoyed this process (I did not expect to).  I intend to use it regularly in the future—to help lead my dominant hand in difficult areas of my images and enhance what my dominant hand is trying to achieve.
— Anna Jurinich, Wading River

Using my non-dominant hand in my art practice is something I do pretty regularly. I feel that I’m working in a more intuitive way, and the drawings have a raw quality. I often incorporate them into collage and mixed media pieces. I really enjoy experimenting with randomness in the creative process. I once did a large installation wearing a blindfold. (It came out pretty cool, and was great fun.) When I’m working on a piece I often close one eye, sometimes I’ll even close both eyes for a bit and then re-evaluate. In my collage work, some of the best pieces are the scraps I find on the floor.
— Patti Robinson

Was going to skip this show. Then suddenly experienced unexplainable pain in my dominant hand, so decided to try my left hand.
Results much more interesting than I anticipated. So here it is.
— Carol Carlsen

What a great experience! Quite fun – The key was not to “think”!!
— Lillian Spiess

When I painted with my left hand I felt like I was a child again, trying to put down the basics. The outline became very important to me.  The moment was inspiring me to paint boldly and with a new abandon.
— Laura Stroh