Stephani Stephenson on sat 2 jun 01
Five years ago or so, I noticed that brushes such as you describe were
being introduced by some art supply distributers. Most of these
brushes have a very large bulblike handle. so the hand does not need to
be contracted in order to hold the brush. If you have a customer
service oriented art supply store near you, ask them. Otherwise you
might try a mail order art supply source such as SAX, Dick Blick's, or
even Daniel Smith in Seattle. I cannot remember if the brushes had a
specific name, i.e. if they would be called 'EZ grip' or some such
thing.... but a good art supply buyer should be able to track them down
for you.
Stephani Stephenson
Alchemie Studio
Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on sat 2 jun 01
Hi,
My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling
me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold watercolor
brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her
some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
TIA
Bonnie
Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
PS For many years Flora did stone sculpture, until arthritis re-directed her
into watercolors. She's a very creative artist.
Bacia Edelman on sat 2 jun 01
Bonnie: How nice to have a mother-in-law who paints. If you can
locate a Physical or Occupational
therapist, particularly one who specializes in hands and wrists, there is a
catalogue for all kinds of products to help, even for Carpal tunnel
etc. The catalogues show styrofoam or softish foam tubing that
is hollow and can be cut in any length. They can be pulled onto
brushes, making them much greater in diameter. I think the inside
hollow diameter varies as well.
Someone gave me some once when I had wrist problems. But I don't
know how to get a catalogue. I have neighbors who are a couple and both
are therapists, but not sure if O.T. or P.T. I am willing to
ask them if you can't get any information yourself.
regards. Bacia
At 07:43 PM 06/02/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling
>me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold watercolor
>brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
>brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her
>some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
>
>Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
>
>Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
>
>TIA
>
>Bonnie
>Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
>
>PS For many years Flora did stone sculpture, until arthritis re-directed her
>into watercolors. She's a very creative artist.
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Bacia Edelman Madison, Wisconsin
http://www.mypots.com/bacia.htm
http://www.silverhawk5.com/edelman/index.html
Avril Farley on sun 3 jun 01
I don't know of a supplier, but I wonder if your mother has tried using the
bamboo handled japanese style brush, very fine work can be achieved even
though the brush end is quite large by comparison to a normal brush head.
Thinking on from this, how about making a brush holder out of some narrow
plastic pipe filled with, say, blu tac or other non permanent stickum into
which the standard brush can be slotted and changed at will.
Avril in the Forest of Dean, UK
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman"
To:
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2001 12:43 AM
Subject: Making artists' brushes for arthritic hands
> Hi,
>
> My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling
> me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold
watercolor
> brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
> brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her
> some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
>
> Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
>
> Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
>
> TIA
>
> Bonnie
> Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
>
> PS For many years Flora did stone sculpture, until arthritis re-directed
her
> into watercolors. She's a very creative artist.
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Janus McBride on sun 3 jun 01
Hello,
I work with children with fine motor difficulties. We add Crayola's Model Magic to our pencils. The pencils are bulked up to fit the form of the child's hand. Model Magic has the same texture and weight as a marshmallow without being sticky...its great. Tip: don't bulk up too much. Let your mother-in-law create her own if she is a sculptor, it is important to fit it to the individuals hand.
Good luck, Janus in Ontario
>From: Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Making artists' brushes for arthritic hands
>Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 19:43:01 -0400
>
>Hi,
>
>My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling
>me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold watercolor
>brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
>brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her
>some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
>
>Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
>
>Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
>
>TIA
>
>Bonnie
>Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
>
>PS For many years Flora did stone sculpture, until arthritis re-directed her
>into watercolors. She's a very creative artist.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Russel Fouts on sun 3 jun 01
Bonnie,
Hi, haven't had much of a reason to send mail to you lately, sorry.
>> My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold watercolor brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles. Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where? Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy? <<
Grab your kid's Boy Scount Handbook or look up Knots and Wrapping on the
internet.
You could custom wrap the handles of her current brushes to make them
thicker and easier to hold.
Depending on what you used you could wrap and overwrap the handles until
you got a thickness and shape that was comfortable.
Russel
Waiting for you to move to Belgium, learn Belgian taxes and work your
magic for me too!
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes et Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Fax: +32 2 210 04 06
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Web: www.mypots.com
Millie Carpenter on sun 3 jun 01
Bonnie,
modify her favorite brushes by taking cording or, light rope and winding around
the handle
until the thickness is built up. or for softness, go to the craft store and buy a
sheet of 'fun foam'
and wrap the handle with that. I have done this for a student with CP also check
with the arthritis foundation. they sell foam adapters for pencils but I don't
know if they will fit brushes which are all different thicknesses
Millie in Md in a struggle with fibromyalgia and depression.
Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman wrote:
> Hi,
>
> My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was telling
> me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold watercolor
> brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
> brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy her
> some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
>
> Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
>
> Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
>
> TIA
>
> Bonnie
> Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
>
> PS For many years Flora did stone sculpture, until arthritis re-directed her
> into watercolors. She's a very creative artist.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
AKitchens on sun 3 jun 01
Hi Bonnie,
How about using a polymer clay like Sculpey and making a custom form to
fit her hand. Wrap the brush handle with a layer of the clay and have
her hold it the way she paints to mold it to her specific needs. Then
slide the tube of clay off the handle and bake it in an oven. You may
have to keep it on a form (metal tube? dowel pin?) while baking to keep
it's shape and hot glue it to the brush after it is hardened. This
system would give her a custom fit.
For brushes try www.cheapjoes.com, www.aswexpress.com and
www.pearlpaint.com (their golden taklon series brushes are reasonable
and wonderful size 0-12 rounds range from $2.08 to $8.75)
Nan Kitchens
Former watercolorist, now doing clay sculpture
in Tennessee
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 19:43:01 -0400
From: Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman
Subject: Making artists' brushes for arthritic hands
Hi,
My 89 year old mother in law is a fine watercolor painter, who was
telling
me last weekend that she is finding it harder and harder to hold
watercolor
brushes with the arthritis in her fingers. Someday I may make my own
brushes, but probably not in the near future, and I would like to buy
her
some good quality watercolor brushes with larger diameter handles.
Does anyone know if these are sold commercially, and where?
Or is anyone interested in making these for me to buy?
TIA
Bonnie
Bonnie Hellman in Pittsburgh, PA
Karen Lookenott on sun 3 jun 01
I just recently received a notice about new Loew Cornell Comfort Brushes.
They are made with larger brush handles for easier grip. You can check them
out at www.artistclub.com. Gives a word back on how well they work for her
if you decide to buy any.
Thanks,
Karen Lookenott
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