It was a relief to find that the majority of the Life Book lessons I had missed were bonus lessons which meant they were instantly accessible, minimum fuss and make efficient use of time. One such lesson was delivered by Rachael Rice – who had delivered an earlier LB lesson on feathers – and was about creating a hamsa hand symbol using watercolour as the medium.
I am not from a culture or faith group that utilises hamsa hand symbols so I did not feel much of a connection to the idea of creating a spiritual symbol that has actual meaning to those who do form part of those cultures or faiths. However, I did engage with the idea of creating art revolving around a hand symbol. It was, after all, one of the first forms of artistic expression that early humans opted for: hand prints on the cave wall.
I painted the whole thing with watercolour and then used paint pen to draw stylised branches and blossoms along the fingers, the palm of the hand becoming a trunk. I quite like the way it turned out, specifically the bleeding together of the colours and the branch patterns.
A Pict in PA 
yep, it looks good! What kind of watercolors do you use?
Thank you. I actually used my kids’ watercolours as they happened to be out on the table. It’s a set by Prang. The colours are actually really juicy.
Laura,
I like using the hamsa hand as an activity here at our hospital–it has so many great metaphors–thinking about what we can create with our hand and fingers always amazes me. Your hand has a wonderful healing quality with the blues and purples. Doesn’t that Prang set pack a pigment punch?
That’s is how I had to think about the hand: as a symbol of creativity and the capability humans have to construct and create things in the world around them. I don’t have a connection to the more specific symbolism of the hamsa hand so I didn’t know how to start until I had that thought about early humans in caves making prints with their hands. Then I was off.
Yes, that little set is actually pretty impressive. I’ve actually not bought a proper set of watercolours since we emigrated (I had to give my old ones away) so I’ve been using a cheap set. I like my kids’ cheap set better. I do need to buy some decent watercolours though.
That bleeding of colors captured my eye and brought a smile to my face. The colors you used are so cool.
Thank you. I’m really impressed with that wee watercolour set.