by hand in worship
artist’s hand with physalis, first published in qarrtsiluni
Hands have been a major preoccupation of mine as I once wrote about here. When qarrtsiluni put out a call for submissions on the theme of worship, I began to think of the meaning of that word in a somewhat less than usual religious context.
I was inspired once again by the idea of how my hands are so much a part of me as a human being and as an artist, not just for the act of creating art but also for holding, observing and treasuring special found objects. I started to explore this idea by scanning my hand as if in the act of drawing, rather like when I had photographed my hand some years ago. I continued to make a small series of scans of my hand holding certain objects that are precious to me, as if in worship of those small things that make up this world we live in. I submitted several of these to qarrtsiluni’s guest editors and was thrilled when they were all selected.
These are now up today, including the image above. I hope you enjoy the artist’s hand as well as the other marvelous entries in qarrtsiluni’s worship issue.
P.S. Editor Dave Bonta told me that this is my 16th post at qarrtsiluni. I cannot believe it and must check out the archives in the author index.
P.S.2: Here is an earlier scan of a physalis, a favourite of mine.
November 4, 2011 in Being an Artist, Human, Nature, Photography, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
Those are wonderful, Marja-Leena! Worship, indeed. Just lovely.
Marja-Leena, I just love these. They are, for me, beautiful self-portraits of you, and the one you picked to show here on your blog is my favorite.
Leslee, so glad you think so, thanks.
Beth, how intriguing to think of these as self-portraits but yes, they do reveal something of me. Thank so much.
Oh, shall zip right over!
I like alternative self-portraits…
Marly, glad you like!
Thank you all for the lovely comments at qarrtsiluni!
I liked seeing all of them too but this one is also my favourite. The hands of all artists and people who make things are beautiful.
Susan, I’m glad you like these. I think all hands are beautiful, young and old… and how very important they are to us as humans… to work, play, love, communicate, make food, clothing, music and art. Even early man used their hands to make marks on cave walls.
physalis, how interesting a word is that! x
It is often a problem to find a subject within a theme which is not too obvious or mundane. You have it just right. Sixteen posts is a great achievement in a magazine with such high standards.
Joe, that’s very true. At first, this particular theme did not seem right for me until I came up with this idea while working on something else. Thanks, I was quite surprised at the number, so I checked and found that ‘q’ has been in publication since Sept. 2005, over six years! My first published entry was in Oct. 2005.
Elisa, do you know this is the Chinese Lantern, with orange-coloured papery covering before it dries off? Have you seen this amazing scan?
There are edible physalis too, called cape gooseberries or ground cherries.
Marja-Leena, you know how I feel about Dürer’s drawing of his brother’s hands. This theme is delicate yet powerful. I’m heading over to qarrtsiluni …
Rouchswalwe, how wonderful of you to mention this favourite artist of mine and his most famous and beautiful drawing. Thanks for the lovely comment over at q… and to everyone else too! I’m quite touched by the response.
It just occurred to me that we usually see people’s hands from the top side . . . but the palms are so much more interesting. I love the shading and highlights in this image.
Thank you, Marja-Leena, for your thoughtful and kind comment to my post. x
Bee, that is an interesting observation, after all the palm is the ‘working’ side of the hand. Thanks, so good of you to visit.