Talking hands

What makes us human is more than just brain power. Some say our opposable thumbs gave our hands the ability to manipulate objects and create tools.  But my foray into hands as a subject for paintings began with hands as substitute for speech, for instance hands spelling out words in sign language, hands gesturing like the Italians do, or hands creating objects by the shadows they throw. The Eulogy series, created after the death of my father, interrupted this series. some of those paintings have similar usages of hands. See: http://www.scottponemone.com/portfolio/eulogy/

This series, which began in 2007, was inspired by Hands, a painting I did after visiting Palermo, Sicily, in April, 2001.  I had just left a museum there without doing any sketching when it dawned on me to go back a draw hands because  medieval and early Renaissance artists used hands to direct the viewer’s eye and label persons in the paintings be how they held their hands.

HandsHands

Watercolor, 24 July 2001, 19 1/2″ x 15″, NFS

551854-R1-026-11A_012Lessons

Watercolor, 12 Feb. 2007, image 25 5/8″ x 15″, $950. Lessons combines sign language with Italian hand gestures.

The GospelsThe Gospels

Watercolor, 27 Feb. 2005, image 20 1/2″ x 20 1/2″, $1,250.

Raj-ClockClock

Watercolor, 20 March 2005, image 20 3/4″ x 18 1/2″, SOLD. The central image is adapted from a Roman mosaic in North Africa.

535601-R1-034-15AG

Watercolor,  15 Jan. 2007, image 25 5/8″ x 14 1/2″, $950. “G” the missing letter.

Ponemone,Scott,#3The Seasons

Watercolor, March 2007, image 23 1/4″ x 23 1/4″, $1,250

fateFate

Watercolor, Feb. 2006, image 23 7/8″ x 23 7/8″, $1,250.  The central image is taken from the facade of the duomo in Ferrara.

Ponemone,Scott,#5Pleas Rite

Watercolor, 19 Aug. 2008, image 20″ x 20″, $1,250

Ponemone,Scott,#4Oscillation

Watercolor, 24 March 2008, image 24 1/2″ x 17 7/8″, $1,250.

Legacy 9-08Legacy

Watercolor, 13 Sept. 2008, image 24 1/4″ x 18″, $950.