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Diptych.
Oil on canvas. 100cmx100cmx2.
'Grandma's Hands'.
My latest body of work reflects on how the ageing process is perceived. I was inspired by a couple of horse chestnut leaves I found one autumn and used these to represent ageing hands. The media sells us age defying solutions to combat time, telling us that the only true beauty is that of youth. But...... if you were to chose between a crisp, unblemished piece of paper or one that has been used to pour someone's thoughts, emotions and experiences,with all its mistakes and scribbles, I know which one all of us would chose. Our hands are one of the hardest areas to hide our lifestyles. Like that clean piece of paper, hands tell the story of a person's life. What story do your hands tell?
Bill Withers' lyrics from his song, Grandma's Hands, provided the inspiration and title for this diptych.
Grandma's hands
Clapped at church on Sunday morning
Grandma's hands
Played the tambourine so well
Grandma's hands
Used to issue out a warning
She'd say "Billy don't you run so fast
Might fall on a piece of glass
Might be snakes there in that grass."
Grandma's hands
Grandma's hands
Soothed a local unwed mother
Grandma's hands
Used to ache sometimes and swell
Grandma's hands
Used to lift her face and tell her
"Baby, Grandma understands
That you really love that man
Put yourself in Jesus hands."
Grandma's hands
Grandma's hands
Used to hand me piece of candy
Grandma's hands
Picked me up each time I fell
Grandma's hands
Boy they really came in handy
Sh'e say, "Matty, don't you whip that boy,
What you want to spank him for?
He didn't drop no apple core."
But I don't have Grandma anymore
If I get to Heaven I'll look for
Grandma's hands
Date: 20/02/2017
Photographer: Julie Rawson