The Art of Limbitless
Summer 2017 | By Angie Lewis聽鈥�03
didn鈥檛 start off with the colorfully detailed, custom designs for which they鈥檙e now known 鈥� such as the Iron Man-inspired arm their first recipient, Alex Pring, received in 2015. It wasn鈥檛 until the UCF student-run organization that creates noticed Alex changing the colorful fingertips on the original arm he received that they realized how important it was to give kids arms that show off their personalities.
This creative customization is what inspired Stephanie Valderrama 鈥�16 to volunteer for the nonprofit. The says she often found herself in the engineering building, admiring its innovative, fun spaces, when she came across a display of Alex and the work Limbitless Solutions was doing.
鈥淚 saw the [arm] sleeves and noticed that they were hand-painted,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 like to paint, so I thought I would volunteer and start there.鈥�
After first putting her graphic design skills to use on one of the organization鈥檚 Indiegogo campaigns, which helps to raise much of the money to create and build bionic limbs, Valderrama finally got to show off her artistic abilities, designing and hand-painting the intricate details on many of the arms.
Here鈥檚 the inside scoop on Valderrama鈥檚 favorite bionic arm:
The Reveal
Connor Moline was born with a partial left limb due to amniotic band syndrome. He was 12 years old when he received his Minecraft-themed arm as part of Limbitless Solutions鈥� 12 Arms for Christmas project in 2015. 鈥淭hat was my first time seeing the reaction of a child getting my arm,鈥� Valderrama says of watching the family鈥檚 home video. 鈥淗e opened his wrapped box and said, 鈥業t鈥檚 my Minecraft arm! It鈥檚 so cool!鈥� He turned it all around and had this look of amazement.鈥�
The Theme
When beginning the design of Connor鈥檚 arm, Valderrama had very little knowledge of Minecraft. And she had never heard of Connor鈥檚 favorite character, the Endermen, who have long arms and purple eyes and leave behind floating purple particles when they teleport. 鈥淚 decided to explore the video game realm and played some games to immerse myself,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 took inspiration from the cubical form and colors for my sketches.鈥�
The Design
Valderrama knew the design would be tough since Minecraft is pixelated, much like video games in the early 鈥�80s. To achieve the look, she used spray, acrylic and metallic paints in designing this arm, which is made from the same plastic as Legos. 鈥淲e had just bought metallic spray paint and never used it before,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he sparkly texture made the sleeve all the more interesting, and it fit with the mystical character Connor loves so much.鈥�
The Ultimate Payoff
Connor鈥檚 mom, Wendy, says he was most affected by 鈥渢he fact that he was finally getting the opportunity to feel 鈥榳hole鈥� for the first time in his life. He spent much of that evening testing out the arm and opening and closing the hand, trying to pick up small objects. Several times, I would notice his full hand holding the prosthetic hand. At first, I didn鈥檛 think anything about it. Later on, I realized, he has never had his other hand to hold 鈥� and now he has one.鈥�
The Reaction
For most kids, the real approval comes from their friends. And thanks to Valderrama鈥檚 spot-on design work, Connor鈥檚 Minecraft masterpiece received unanimous approval from all. 鈥淸Limbitless Solutions] did an outstanding job on the artwork of his arm,鈥� Wendy says. 鈥淗is classmates at school thought it was a pretty neat design when he showed them. All of our friends and family loved the look of the arm, but beyond that, it was the smile on Connor鈥檚 face that lit up the whole room.鈥�