Zichron L'vracha

We join the world's Jewish community in mourning the tragic loss of Rabbi Gavriel & Rivka Holtzberg in Mumbai, India.

There are no words to express our grief and outrage...

Shabbat Shalom.

Difficult Projects

Earlier I wrote about my struggles with a Holocaust memorial piece, and here it is, reflected in a mirror. It depicts barbed wire, the yellow star of the Jewish ghetto, bloodshed, and the word YIZKOR, or memorial.

It is a sheath of tiny beads, which fits over a standard 24-hour Yizkor candle-in-a-glass. This one fought me every inch of the way, but I did finish it, and I'm pleased with it.

I don't know why my camera couldn't capture the purple color at the bottom, but use your imagination....

I have a number of these memorial candle covers shown on my web page. This is the first one to commemorate the Shoah, and it was by far the hardest I've done.

Have YOU wrestled with a difficult project? Click on "comments" and share with us!

Better Late Than Never

It seems we never posted the update on the CHAIRS that our members created for the Chair Affair this past spring. Each chair now has its very own page on the website of the Community Warehouse. Take a look... you'll see pix of our own wonderful artists and their chair creations, as well as a blurb on each one. (And an extra bonus: photos are by our Neveh Shalom Rebbetzin, Carol Isaak.) Months later, I'm still kvelling....

http://www.communitywarehouse.org/chairaffair/2008event/artists/shuldman.html

http://www.communitywarehouse.org/chairaffair/2008event/artists/esterkin.html

Celebration At Last !!

People are wondering why I haven't written about our CELEBRATION OF ART yet. Good question! Mainly, I was really tired afterward, and overwhelmed with the aftermath. But also, it was so emotional, it's hard to put it down on paper... or monitor screen!

It was a wonderful event, and a big success. It was the culmination of so much work and worry and hope. And coming two days after the worst week in the stock market's history, with Americans stunned and terrified, we didn't know what to expect. Would people come? Could people buy?

Well, people were wonderful! They came, and they bought. Many people couldn't spend the way they wanted, and some couldn't spend at all. But they came, they schmoozed, they smiled, they hugged. It was really lovely.

The JCC Ballroom is beautiful, and was a great setting for this gathering of Jewish artists and patrons. Rosanne had planned everything down to the smallest detail, and Carolyn and Zack kept everything running smoothly. It was such a luxury... all we had to do was show up, set up, and enjoy the moment! All the months of work and worry paid off.

This was our first show with guest artists, and we were very happy with this addition. It made for a very full show, with lots of variety, and lots of happy customers.

And the displays! People were really touched by the table featuring the work of artists from Rose Schnitzer Manor. And everywhere you turned were beautiful displays of beautiful art. The booths in the middle of the room were so dramatic, and all around were first-time exhibitors interspersed with seasoned pros, each tempting and rewarding to visit.

Rewarding is a good word. It all turned out to be a rewarding experience, something we're glad we did. And soon we'll gather the energy to start planning next year's Celebration!

I'll put up a whole page of photos soon, but here are some to get us started. Click on any picture to see it enlarged: