Handprints

Pen Jen's Inkwell Podcast

A young artist encourages others to do like she does and make their unique mark with vibrant handprints that tell the world who they really are, for all time.
Twelve-year-old Juliana Nelsen is an artist who puts her handprints on the walls, thumbprints on the ceiling, and footprints on the floor. She thinks her prints reveal who she is, where she’s been, what she’s done, and what she gives to the world. She also frames a baked red clay sculpture of her handprints to make the statement: “I was here.” She wants to be remembered by people far and near. When someone else looks at her unique handprints, Juliana thinks they can tell she likes rhyme, reason, Mathematics, and Michelangelo, and she enjoys ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate soda floats, symphonies, ballet, and sophisticated quotes, as well as sunrises, blue skies, fields of yellow daisies, dancing, dreaming, and doodling.
Juliana’s parents are artists who work in paint and clay. Her interest in handprints of each shape and tiny size started with her own hands. Now she’s also interested in making other people’s handprints, so when friends and family see them, they will remember who the person is like a silver shooting star. Juliana asks the reader to make a first impression with their hands into clay and write their name at the bottom to claim the prints. Then, everyone will know the person is a masterpiece of fine art, of which there is no clone. The world can know the person’s likes, dislikes, favorites, and yikes.
If a person really wants the world to notice a unique style, they can leave a trail of handprints in the colors of the rainbow. Using fingers, toes, and elbows to leave marks is also a good idea. To make a larger painting, a string of hearts or flowers made from handprints can be entertaining. Handprints can be used to make wings of an angel taking flight, turtles with their shells, butterflies that soar, or the sun in the heavens. They can also be used to make leaves on a tall tree, a fish in the sea, a giraffe that stretches his neck, or a flamingo with feathers. Making a stamp from a handprint, or prints for the squares on a quilt, or a T-shirt design for pajamas are other possibilities. When someone looks at handprints, a larger meaning comes forth, like a picture with a purpose. Handprints are always growing, just like someone’s life story. Juliana says to be proud of handprints in all their wonderful glory. It’s like they are on display in a gallery of never-ending ageless art. When Juliana is 101 years old, she says she will have her handprints from age 12, and she will remember being young. Her framed handprints, like her heart, will almost be the same, just a little bigger with time.