Artists who specialize in any handmade pieces can relate to the struggle of having shaky or unsteady hands. Indeed, adding tiny details in an artwork can make your heart feel like it has stopped beating, because your trembling hand can’t make a clean dot or line. Sewing, knitting, sculpting, and carving can also be a nightmare. Basically, anything created by hand is an ordeal for you, albeit a very satisfying and worthwhile one.
Thankfully, you can now create art digitally to give your shaky hands a rest. But nothing will really beat authentic, handmade pieces. Not only are they more unique and personalized, but they can also cost a fortune.
Hence, you shouldn’t give up on handmade arts and crafts just because of your unaccommodating hands. After all, that minor flaw isn’t a disability. And if the disabled — particularly those without hands or limbs — can produce a phenomenal piece using the other parts of their bodies, then you don’t have an excuse for believing that handiwork isn’t for you.
That said, here are some amazing arts and crafts your shaky hands will undoubtedly handle:
1. Polymer Clay Art
Seniors with decreased dexterity are encouraged to work with polymer clay to exercise their hands. If you’re a beginner in handmade arts and crafts, you will also enjoy this activity. It doesn’t require any advanced skill or talent. An instructor can teach you how to create clay pots, bowls, vases, pins, and beads, all of which you may sell or decorate your home with. You can also make necklaces or any other hanging ornaments with polymer clay. Simply use a rolling pin to flatten the clay, then form a pendant using a cookie cutter.
2. Hand-painted Wall Decor
We couldn’t stress this enough: Your shaky hands aren’t a hindrance to painting! To build up your confidence, start by warming up your hands. Do some stretches to loosen up the muscles there and get your blood flowing. Relax and take deep breaths to loosen up the rest of your muscles, especially in the neck, shoulders, and arms. Don’t hold your breath, or it’ll tense up your muscles.
Getting some support for your hand and arm may help too. Graphite artists and watercolorists often do it. Place a wooden dowel or any kind of sufficient support underneath your forearm, then start painting. This technique will reduce strain in your forearm as you hold a brush steady.
Incorporate less detail to avoid exhausting your shaky hand. If you’re depicting a certain object, a landscape, or a person, try to suggest your subject instead of just replicating it. Simply put, create your own version of it. Consider using a bigger brush as well to expand your scale and keep yourself from nitpicking the tiny details.
3. Hand-Drawn Artworks
Your shaky hands won’t also stop you from creating beautiful sketches, typography, or calligraphy. Even your doodles can look like art in itself. The messy lines you’ll start with can help you capture the general picture of what you’re trying to create. From there, you can let your trembling hands go free until they become part of the landscape, according to designer Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar.
Therefore, if you feel like sketching your dream home, don’t mind the lopsided and crooked lines. Think of it as a construction project; it starts messy and inelegant but finishes fabulously.
4. Laser-Cut Woodworks
Thanks to the modern and innovative laser wood cutting machine, you no longer need to use your hands as much to produce awesome decorative woodworks. You can sell your creations, or turn them into a collection to grace your abode with.
The items you can produce with a laser cutter is are almost unlimited, and all of them have earning potentials. You can make miniature buildings, clocks, gadget holders, book stands, lampshades, life-size statues, and more. People will surely adore those pieces that they’d be willing to pay you for them.
5. Jewelry Making
Making your own jewelry is also a clever way to earn extra bucks. Like polymer clay art, many seniors with decreased dexterity also engage in this activity. It can make you look back to your childhood days when sporting DIY bead bracelets made you the cool kid in class!
You can still make those kinds of bracelets as an adult, and give them matching pendant or bead necklaces. If you also want to try crocheting, make a crochet bead necklace, which will surely sell during the summer and shortly before Coachella.
Some of these arts and crafts may intimidate you at first, but once you get the hang of them, your shaky hands will barely bother you. A word of advice, though; if you think your shaky hands are related to a health problem, consult a doctor and get treated.
