The Hands of Create in Me

When I first became a coordinator of the Create in Me retreat, one of my jobs was to take pictures, a job I discovered that I love.  I also discovered that many people are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of having their picture taken.  But most of those folks didn't mind if I took pictures of their hands.

Most of us don't spend much time thinking about our hands the way we do about the rest of our bodies.  We don't diet to change the shape of our hands.  Unless we play an instrument, most of us don't think about the strength of our hands.  The aches and pains in our hands aren't as debilitating for most of us as other pain.  Most of us don't consider plastic surgery to make our hands look younger.

I love these pictures of hands as they interact with art supplies.

I love hands that have been stained by the process.

The candle was needed to melt the wax to decorate the egg, but it made me want to create art by the light of candles.

I find this intersection of metal, dough, and flesh to speak to our condition.

Can we determine gender by our hands?

Can we determine age?

What else do our hands say?