Me.

For a majority of my life, I worked in advertising. I was an art director, a copywriter and associate creative director. Advertising was a fulfilling profession for me, but I’ve always been attracted to making art.  

I went to art schools in my youth, and although I ended up in advertising, I kept drawing and painting as often as I could. It didn’t matter, as long as I was creating something. In my spare time I made funny, weird drawings. It was something I never got bored of. I even had a couple small art shows. Nothing major, just to get my artwork noticed and to have some fun making artwork for them.

In April 2020, during the COVID lock down, I suffered a major stroke. It was a life changer for me. I lost the use of the right side of my body, leaving me confused, speechless, lame and I couldn’t write nor draw because I was right-handed like 85% of the population. I couldn’t work and was facing a life with half of my body paralyzed.

I had to retrain my body and rewire my brain to function from scratch. The only way forward was through intense therapy, mind numbing practice and most importantly… patience. After a few years I was finally able to do some things again. It was major for me. It meant I didn’t need to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I could walk, speak, cook, read, write and draw confidently again. I had learned to do things with only my left hand.

Now, having been unable to continue in the advertising world I’ve decided to focus on my art. Over the last few years, I taught myself how to think and draw creatively again. I studied anatomy, color and light again, and made illustrations with pencils, markers, ink and recently, watercolor. It was like going back to art school all over again. Drawing and painting still has its challenges for me, but I’ve been able to create a body of new work.

My new drawings are still funny and weird, but this time they’ve all been done with my left hand solely. Unfortunately, despite years of therapy, my right hand never got better. It can move around a bit but it’s very minimal. Now when I use my left hand my right hand just sits there, curled up, unable to move, and watches as my left hand does what it once did.

I do miss my right hand, but I think that maybe this is what my left hand felt like before the stroke happened. Because for all my life my left hand never got a chance to express its artistic side. It was the hand that just sat there, curled up, watching jealously as my right-hand made art.

Well, now I think it’s time for my left hand to make art. For this body of work, I’ve been calling it ‘Pictures from the Left Hand’.

Feel free to contact me: ticklesmichael@gmail.com