BY RECORD STAFF

Nobody ever said leftys were lame.

Gerald Roberts is one bloke who would have to agree because this Whidbey Island artist has turned adversity into opportunity.

After complete shoulder replacement surgery in October 2008, Roberts grew eager to get back to his art. But his right hand was out of commission.

“I believe the urge and drive required to be a true artist must also be great enough to overcome almost any obstacle,” Roberts said.

By December, the determined Roberts, a natural right-hander, decided it was time to pick up the brush in his left hand and see what came of it.

He already knew what to expect, as it was a bit of déjà vu for the painter.

In 2005, Roberts had been forced to paint left-handed when he fell and broke the shoulder he would have to replace years later.

Roberts completed five canvases that year before returning to painting with his right hand. Now the old left hand is back in practice.

Roberts is determined to have at least eight new left-handed paintings done for the “Spring Art Studio Tour,” which features painters from Greenbank and all points north on the island on

March 7 and 8.

Roberts is one of more than 30 Whidbey Island artists who open their studios to the public for the annual tour.

He’s been painting for more than 50 years, but not as a sole profession. But now that it is his life’s work, he said he is more dedicated to doing what he does than at any other point in his life.

“I spend four or five hours a day, six or seven days a week painting,” Roberts said.

Using mainly acrylic on canvas, Roberts’ work focuses on Native American subjects.

“I want to capture the Native American expression; a moment of real life rather than a posed one,” he said.

“I am a painter of life.”

Capturing those moments is definitely harder with one’s non-dominant hand, he said, but it’s an experience that allows one to see and do things in a different way.

Roberts enjoys pointing out his Leonardo DaVinci-inspired mirrored signature on his left-handed paintings. DaVinci was a left-hander who made mirror writing famous, and Roberts used DaVinci’s cleverness to inspire his own fortitude.

His advice to other artists who find themselves in the same predicament smacks of toughness.

“Doing anything with your other hand is hard, and there has to be a new approach to get what you want,” Roberts said.

“If you are dedicated,

you’ll find a way.”

For more info about Roberts’ work — Click here.