With Both Hands

All my pieces start out with photography - I model for pieces myself and ask someone to take a picture with instructions - or, ideally, I get a friend to model for me.

With Both Hands was taken in Croatia. It was an incredibly inspiring environment because of the crystal clear water, but also because of the intense patterns and ripples that occur because Croatia's stony shores.

These are both a challenge and a delight to paint. A delight because the patterns are intricate and visually fascinating - but a challenge for the same reason, they really are complex and require a lot of time and focus to create.

My model for this piece is a good friend, and the kind of person who is always seeking out new experiences - throwing herself into new challenges and committing to them wholeheartedly.

I titled the piece With Both Hands, in part because it was the first time I had painted a figure showing both hands, but also because the phrase denotes both the character of the model - always pushing and striving and trying new things, and the kind of mentality I needed to create a complex and testing piece like this.

If you like this piece, checkout Negotiate and Upward Glance from the same series!