Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tyrsday: I Am Not Left Handed

No, it's true! Yes, I draw and write left-handed. But that's not my default state! I was born ambidextrous, and trained away from it by years of school teachers and parental types insisting I just choose one, already, and stop changing hands in the middle of the page all the time.

That I chose to focus on the hand that would guarantee tool failure 90 percent of the time illustrates why even smart children should not be allowed to make life altering decisions. But I digress.

I never did narrow my handedness down on anything besides school-related work, and given my various health issues that's saved my bacon more than once. But even if I didn't regularly have body parts drop out of commicsion,  it seems a horrible waste to have one hand that never gets to do fine work- and also it seems like begging fate to come along and disarm me so that I have to spend my remaining days lamenting my lost dexterity (sinisterity?). So this year my resolution is to get my right hand back up to snuff! I've been writing longhand, and if the handwriting isn't perfect yet I can't say it's really worse than my usual lefty doctor-prescription scrawl. But the art, now....


That's gonna take a while.
So come around Tuesdays to share the hilarity of my attempt at self improvement, won't you?


(Tyr, of course, was a Norse God of Getting His Hand Bitten Off By A Giant Wolf Who Was Also Sort of His Stepbrother. And you think your family reunions are awkward.)

6 comments:

Cal said...

How bad that the teachers made you choose!

Connie said...

aha! i found you..i love your humor. my dh is a left handed ambi.
he was a cameraman. did you know that 80% of cameramen are left handed? ...and all are very artistic. but i digress. very nice to meet you. my sister lives in san antonio...but texas is a BIG state. i will meander around your blog now....
connie

SaraLynnArt said...

This is actually awesome - it has such a wonderful movement to it! Also, the colors are great.

(And I agree with Cal - boo on teachers who discourage children from using the hands they are comfortable with!)

Ellen said...

my son may be ambidexterous and we just let him do what feels most comfortable for him....

btw, you were my OWOH winner last year!!! Any pics with you wearing the flower? Did you like it? ( I hope so. If not, please lie to me :) I will never know the difference lol

also are you in OWOH this year?
Im about a third of the way but haven't come across your blog just yet!

Carapace said...

Cal-Oh, it could have been worse. Much worse. I'll write more about that next time, I think...

Connie-I did not know that! There does seem to be a high percentage of artists among us lefties. Left handedness and migraines, in freaky high proportions...

I'm actually pretty close to San Antonio! It's an amazing city, I visit any chance I get!

Sarah Lynn- Thank you! I'm stunned it came out so coherent myself. I agree, Boo on the teachers! But then I did get lucky, really...

Ellen-Was your flower the green-and-polkadot? I've been wearing it with my scarves this winter, tres glam!:D Seriously, it's perfect for my usual ensembles. No pictures! I keep having people take pictures of me in my handmade swag and then they never send me a copy, grrr!
No, I'm not doing OWOH- it just snuck up and past me this year! I'll be sure to swing by and say hi to everyone I can, though!
I feel I got lucky on the ambi-thing, actually...I'll talk about that more next week! Weather permitting.

Laume said...

I was also ambidextrous as a child, got the same pressure to "conform". I now write and draw righthanded but I often do large motor skills (throwing a ball, leading foot on a skate board...) with my left leg.