VisuallyImpaired1

I used to wonder what it would be like if I lost the use of my hands - back when I thought I was a serious artist. (No -one take me seriously nowadays, not even me. (no- not poor me)) How much would that suck ? I always consoled myself that I would be resiliant and never giving in, I'd learn to paint with my feet. I knew this to be easily possible because when I was a kid, a man with no arms lived a few doors down from my grandmother, he was an artist and he painted with his feet. At the beginning of this year I found myself suffering frequent if not constant nagging pain and bouts numbness in both my hands that was getting worse steadily. L

I'm sure everyone on this forum knows something about how quickly any down turn in our economy bites at the business of art very quickly. We are in one of those fields that exists in a dichotomy or maybe its an oxymoron incarnate? ! We need our art and we don't need art. we need to creat, collectors need to collect and appreciate, viewers need the stimulation and expression they interpret from our work. Children thrive on art,art is therapy, art is so many things we need. But when we need to pinch pennies, we don't need art like we need bread and milk. we don't need art so we stop buying it. We stop buying frames for it. And we stop making

Sometimes the life of an artist becomes bogged down in the art of living and survival. Making art takes a back seat sometimes. Teaching painting makes up for that, for me. But eventually we come back to art, in practice, never having left in theory, always painting or drawing on the canvas of ones mind even if life will not permit the physical wielding of mediums. However, as an artist I can also satisfy my creative needs by being an artisan, crafter and fixer of things - there is always something to be done that will feed the creative drive. And so here I am again after a long break from DA sharing a little with you all. I have been away fr