Eddy's Chair

Eddy writes:
The CHAIR AFFAIR is a wonderful fundraising event that benefits Portland's Community Warehouse. You can help this incredible non-profit organization by attending the auction in April. To learn more about the warehouse or the variety of ways you could support them, go to communitywarehouse.org

I am excited to announce that three ORA members (Diane, Laura and Robin) are crafting a brilliant chair for this affair....(pictures coming soon, I hope!)......

.....and I am flying solo on a separate chair.

Months ago I selected a chair from the warehouse (see the picture) . It developed cracks in the wood (my son sat on it) and every attempt to repair it simply yielded more cracks! Monday brought even more cracks. I proclaimed it the CHAIR FROM HELL then drove to to the warehouse to pick up another chair (smaller but sturdier!- see the little black chair photo).

Thanks to the help of my husband and his circular saw, my wooden reinforcements are now in place. The glass work begins tonight!

My glassy chair won't provide cush for anyone's tusch, but it will offer relief from the stress of daily life. Stay tuned for updates!....Eddy

First Thursday - A Success!

Our First Thursday opening night was a huge success. A steady crowd arrived between 5-8pm and at 8:15 , with sadness, we announced that the museum really needed to close.


At first, there was a lot of schmoozing - but as the evening progressed, talk turned to discussions about the works of art. Artists explained their work, discussed their techniques, inspirations, tools and this Exodus journey.

We are most grateful to Judy Margles and the Oregon Jewish Museum for hosting us and each artist will donate a piece of art for the museum's upcoming art auction.

If you weren't able to see our exhibit on First Thursday - come on down to the museum. Our show continues through February 24th!

OJM
310 W Davis Street

A comment from Eddy afer viewing our Exodus Journeys

After everyone left our set up at the Oregon Jewish Museum I took one last look around. This is what I saw:

Diane Fredgant's brilliance on silk: creation, the red sea, blessings, journeys, explosions of color!

Sharon Segal's suitcase series that create memories of travels we've had and travels we've only dreamed of.

Laura Joy Fendel takes us to Miriam's well; a three dimensional fabric piece that makes you want to drink the rich deep blue waters of healing.

Robin Esterkin's portraits of women and men that recall another century.

Sara Harwin's geometric newest ultrasuede interpretations of hebrew words and their deeper meanings.

Esther Liberman's meticulous beadwork (a journey in the making, no doubt): a memorial candle for Miriam, and jewelry exquisite beyond words!

Leslie Elder's luscious water colors depicting a family's journey to Ein Gedi, the dance of Miriam, and more.

Rosana Berdichevsky's collages that blend words and images and color that bring you comfort- that bring you home.

Sabina Wohlfeiler has taken us to her childhood as a displaced person in Germany to her arrival in the US, and now to her artistic visions as a contemporary painter.

Lynn Dorman has created a delightful photographic album of her Exodus from the east coast to the promised land of Portland.

....and I'm feeling pretty good about the glass seder plate I created to honor the memory of six women who survived the Holocaust and became role models for me.

Yes, there is even more than I have described here.....!

If you're still reading this, please join us for our opening. Most of us will be there to welcome you.
Robin, Rosana, and Julie....we wish you all speedy healing.

Eddy Shuldman

The show is hung!

We spent the morning at the museum - and with the great eye of Fred Harwin directing us - we hung and placed our work for the upcoming show!

Thank you to Fred.

Here is a photo of us, and Fred, when we were done!







More photos and some video will be taken prior to the opening night and will be posted after that.



The show, EXODUS: OUR JOURNEYS, opens February 7th from 5-8 and is a part of first Thursday.

Oregon Jewish Museum
310 NW Davis
Portland Oregon

Show runs then thru February 24th....

My "Exodus"

Exodus: My Own Journey - [now on the wall of the Oregon Jewish Museum...along with the journeys of all the other memebrs of ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists.]

How I dealt with this project : - )

For months my mind had been a blank on what and how to do this project for the Museum.

In December I remembered:

1 -that my son had asked me to write down some tidbits about my life as he was interested in "things I used to do" - so for him - I had started that... He even gave me a sort of title: From Cambria Heights to Portland.

2- over the last few years I have been sorting through family and my own photos - over 70 years of pictures - yow!

3 - it was exactly 40 years between my leaving New York City and arriving in Portland...

All this can not be a coincidence I said.

And voila - From Cambria Heights to Bridgeton Road: my 40 year journey to the promised land - was born!

At least the idea was there but no logistics - except my mind was focused on maps and photos. I yelled "help" to old friends and new for over a month - and suddenly the other day one local friend came up with an idea from a magazine she was looking at - and I also put out a "help" request on a mastermind business call that same night. Guess what - a woman on the call had seen something similar to the magazine idea with an added component - and so the planets aligned for me - the two ideas gelled and I am now in the process of putting the idea onto foam boards that will be hung in the Museum this Sunday for the opening next week!

There really are no coincidences - I have always been a believer in the idea that everything fits together and this is what is meant to be.

The OJM display is an abridged version of the journey and I am thinking of doing an ebook [later] using many more of my writings and photos and dedicating it to my son...[ of course!]

You can see all the journeys on opening night - February 7th...from 5 to 8 PM - part of first Thursday
310 NW Davis Street

Coming in early February - Exodus!

February 7 – 24, 2008

ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists present

EXODUS: OUR JOURNEYS


New Exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum

A year ago OJM hosted our first show, Breishit: In the Beginning.

This year we return to the museum on February 7 with a new exhibit - Exodus: Our Journeys.



This exhibit is an artistic and spiritual exploration of Torah text, of personal and artistic journeys. Works on display will include collage, paint, silk, fiber, precious metals, beadwork, glass, and photography.




Miriam Dancing by Diane Fredgant


Our exhibit will run from February 7 through February 24, 2008.

Please join us for a FIRST THURSDAY opening on February 7, 2008, 5-8 p.m.

A Yummy Meeting

We held our 1st meeting of the year yesterday and had decided to do a pot luck lunch meeting - also a 1st.

Not surprisingly, we are all good cooks/bakers and the foods were delicious.

Hmmm.......wouldn't be surprised if we decided to do a cookbook filled with our favorite recipes and of course, our art : - ).

Pull Up a Chair!

Diane, Robin and Laurie are designing a chair for The Chair Affair Benefit for The Community Warehouse.

For more information on The Community Warehouse click here.

"We were laughing and squealing and screaming with sheer delight over our ideas !!! Any little girl would LOVE this chair. "

"I guess I'm just a little girl at heart" said Laurie..... "last week I needed to buy something at Home Depot and as I walked in I saw a play house.... castle in front of the building. I ran over to it , went inside, and believe me when I tell you that if I had 1,600 extra dollars I would have bought that play house just for Moi ! I always loved play houses as a child and I still do. It had bay windows, and shutters. I was never fortunate to have a real play house as a child but I'll always dream of it."

This group chair has:

Queens and Crowns
Kingdoms
wishes
dreams
luxury
reading about fantasy and fairy tales
frou frou
ruffles
all things girly

The chair incorporates pinks, golds, glitter, snow globes, velvet and capes, into storybook magical lands.

"So jump onto the magic carpet and come away with us to fantasy land as we turn ideas and smiles into reality."

Read more about the Chair Affair and see where the chairs will be viewable.

An update from Esther

It was long, and we were tired, but the Holiday Market at the French American International School http://www.faispdx.org/home was a success!

Rosana and I had tables right next to each other, which was nice. It was entertaining to watch all the goings-on, from students on stilts, to classes singing Christmas carols, to contortionists, to the French wine guys flirting with the young women, to kids trying to persuade Moms that they need their ears pierced.... you get the idea. And in between, Rosana and I each sold a healthy amount of work, so we were happy.

That's my last show of the season, so now I can turn my attention to our next ORA exhibit.
This is a challenge.... "Exodus: Our Journeys." Hmmmmm.....

More on our versions of Exodus coming soon - but save the date

Feb 7 - 24, 2008
Oregon Jewish Museum
http://www.ojm.org

Friday and Saturday

Rosana Berdichevsky and Esther Liberman will be exhibiting their artwork at the annual Holiday Market at Portland's French American International School [This is a fund raiser for the school.]

Friday, Dec. 7th 3pm - 6pm
Saturday, Dec. 8th 9am to 6pm
Free admission.

8500 NW Johnson St, Portland 97229. Corner of Cornell & Miller Roads.
More info: http://www.faispdx.org

This event includes food and gift vendors, a Parisian Cafe, and wine tasting from several local and international wineries.

Sounds yummy - art, food and wine - a great mix

About our artists

Once in a while one of our artists will be highlighted....today it is Esther Liberman of Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Esther is a beadwork artist specializing in beaded jewelry and Judaic ritual objects. She is known for her Kippot made entirely of glass beads, and her detailed Mezuzot and Yahrzeit candle covers created with thousands of tiny beads. Local customers also love her unique Mah Jongg bracelets and Hamsa pendants.

She holds a degree in Ethnic Arts and throughout her studies, she continued to be fascinated by the beads and needlework.

"I have done every kind of needle work imaginable," she says, "but I keep coming back to the beads. They just speak to me; they always have. The dance of various cultures is best accentuated by beaded costumes, and the music by beaded gourds!"

Liberman loves to explore the possibilities presented by mixing traditional forms with modern materials and aesthetics. Tribal African beads shine in modern jewelry, while ancient Hebrew texts are revisited with computer-produced beads.

Esther is a co-founder of ORA - our Portland art collective and completed an ambitious website for the group which can be visited at www.northwestjewishartists.org.

Her own personal website can be seen at www.geocities.com/estherbeads.

Her work will be for sale at the upcoming Hadassah Fair this Sunday - November 18th from 9 am - 4 pm.
This is held at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland.
More info: http://www.portlandhadassah.org

Liberman will also be selling her work at at the annual Holiday Market at Portland's French American International School, which is a fundraiser for the school. This sale takes place Friday, Dec. 7th 3pm - 6pm and Saturday, Dec. 8th 9am to 6pm. Free admission.

8500 NW Johnson St, Portland 97229. Corner of Cornel & Miller Roads.
More info: http://www.faispdx.org

This event includes food & gift vendors, a Parisian Cafe, and wine tasting from several local & international wineries. (It IS French, you know : o ) ]

Upcoming places to see some of us

Esther, Diane, and Julie will be exhibiting at Hadassah's annual Holiday Gift Fair

Sunday November 18th from 9 am - 4 pm.
This is held at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. [Same locale as our recent show]
Free admission.
More info: http://www.portlandhadassah.org


Rosana & Esther will be exhibiting at the annual Holiday Market at Portland's French American International School, which is a fundraiser for the school.

Friday, Dec. 7th 3pm - 6pm and Saturday, Dec. 8th 9am to 6pm. Free admission.

8500 NW Johnson St, Portland 97229. Corner of Cornel & Miller Roads.
More info: http://www.faispdx.org
This event includes food & gift vendors, a Parisian Cafe, and wine tasting from several local & international wineries. (It's French, you know.)

Photos and ....

Here are a few photos from the show at Neveh Shalom.

It really was more wonderful looking in "real" time....



More photos of this event will be published on our website. That site [see link at left: ORA website] is also a way to contact each of the artists and/or look at some of their work.





And our next event will be at the Oregon Jewish Museum from February 7th to the 24th.....

The Day After

Wow - what a show. The social hall was truly transformed - the crowds never stopped coming - the coffee and yummies were great and the art and music were superb!

After all those superlatives - can we do this again? YES!

Nothing like a group of supportive women to keep each other going - creatively and emotionally.

Most of us are tired today but our creativity is running away with ideas for the "next" project - individual and/or collective.

Photos of the show to be posted when one of the picture takers sends them on to me.

And a personal PS: As a a long time Boston Red Sox fan - their winning the World Series last night was the ultimate capping of a super great day!

Scenes from "getting ready"

Here are some photos of our "space" after we hung drapes and set up table and grids






Come see it on Sunday - tomorrow - when these grids and table will transform into a world of colorful art!










And these signs will be outside Neveh Shalom to direct you to our Celebration of Art!

Yiddish Hour

Laurie Fendel, one of our artists, is subbing for the Yiddish Hour tomorrow morning on KBOO Radio. I hope she says nice things about us!

10am -11am 90.7 FM

Countdown to the Show

Egads - she says...will I ever be ready by the 28th?

For some of us, shows are still nerve wracking; while others see this "smaller" show as easier than the much bigger ones that they do.

Are you an artist? Do you do solo shows or shows with others? How long did it take for you to lose the anxiety about being "ready?"

We love comments - so just click on the word comments below the post and you'll get a little window where you can write as much as you'd like...

Rosanna goes to collage workshops!

Photo of Rosanna [left] with Ann Baldwin
[click on photo to enlarge]





Rosana Berdichevsky, our multimedia collage artist, recently attended the "ART AND SOUL" Conference held in Portland where she attended workshops with well know multimedia collage artists Traci Bautista, Angela Cartwright and Ann Baldwin.

Rosana enthusically jumped into workshops on black and white collage, the dance of your life and creating stories with collages.

She said she found these workshops to be soul inspiring and you can see how she incorporates all of this into her joyous new work when you attend the ORA show on October 28th at Neveh Shalom in Portland.

Music to Celebrate With

We are thrilled to tell you about the three exceptional local musicians who have agreed to perform at our CELEBRATION OF ART, scheduled for October 28th.

• Stephanie Schneiderman, well known singer, songwriter and member of Dirty Martini will grace our stage for an hour of stunning vocals and guitar work.

• Justin Jude, recently named "Oregon's Best Singer/Songwriter 2007!"
will perform songs from his newest CD to be released in early November.
Rumor has it he may make a few copies of this CD available at this performance!

• George Fendel is a jazz historian & columnist for JazzScene Magazine who can be heard weekly (Sunday afternoons) on jazz radio KMHD 89.1 FM. George is also well known for his beautiful piano stylings and has played widely around Portland.

Congrats to Leslie

Our member LESLIE ELDER entered her painting, Jerusalem Spice Shop, in the Watercolor Society of Oregon Transparent Show and it was accepted!

This painting had sold at our show at the Oregon Jewish Museum last year, but the owner agreed to let her show the piece.

It will not be for sale but will be displayed at the Fall Show at the Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville, OR beginning Oct. 6th through the end of the month.

The painting was one of 80 entries selected for the show.
There were 173 artists (all Watercolor Society members) who submitted 306 total images.

Celebration of Art

The magic begins as you enter our Main Exhibit Hall.

Live music by well known recording artists and performers will greet your ears, and a coffee house featuring fresh treats will tantalize your palate as you listen to the musical stylings of Stephanie Schneiderman (of Dirty Martini fame), George Fendel, jazz pianist, and Justin Jude, recently named "Oregon's Best Singer/Songwriter 2007!"

Stroll from exhibit to exhibit to experience a unique show that blends the best elements of a gallery opening with an artist colony tour -- with a coffee house of a forgotten age tossed in. Celebrating their second year as a collective, ORA artists invite the public to discover their new work. Although the artists are Jewish , Judaic and secular works are available for purchase.

Members of ORA are: Rosana Berdichevsky, collage and multi-media; Lynn Dorman, photography; Leslie Elder, water colors, Robin Esterkin, water color, acrylic and mixed media; Laurie Fendel, fabric construction; Diane Fredgant, silk painting; Sara Harwin, fabric construction, acrylic painting and serigraph prints; Julie Hockley, hand-cast precious metal jewelry & ritual objects; Esther Liberman, handmade bead work; Sharon Segal, acrylic and mixed media paintings and cards; Eddy Shuldman, fused glass; and Sabina Wohlfeiler, water color paintings.

Best of all, admission is free! And - you don't need to be Jewish to come look, schmooze with the artists, nosh a little, and buy art that speaks to you.

For more information visit our website: www.northwestjewishartists.org

Pre-Blog Blog

These were our earliest "blog" entries before we had a real blog.









September 16, 2007
We are thrilled to announce three exceptional local music talents have agreed to perform at ORA's CELEBRATION OF ART, scheduled for October 28th.
• Stephanie Schneiderman, well known singer, songwriter and member of Dirty Martini will grace our stage for an hour of stunning vocals and guitar work. 
• Justin Jude,  recently named "Oregon's Best Singer/Songwriter 2007!" will perform songs from his newest cd to be released in early November. Rumor has it he may make a few copies of this cd available at this performance!
• George Fendel is a jazz historian & columnist for JazzScene Magazine who can be heard weekly (Sunday afternoons) on jazz radio KMHD 89.1 FM.  George is also well known for his beautiful piano stylings and has played at the MAC Club, Salty’s and at private parties around Portland.
 
 
September 11, 2007
Our member LESLIE ELDER  entered her painting, Jerusalem Spice Shop in the Watercolor Society of  Oregon Transparent Show and was accepted!  This painting sold at OJM  but the owner agreed to let her show the piece. 
It will not be for sale but will be displayed in their Fall Show beginning Oct. 6th  through the end of the month  at the Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville, OR.  The painting was one of 80 entries selected for the show. 
There were 173 artists (all Watercolor Society members) who submitted 306 total images. 
 
 
August 26, 2007
We have lift-off!  Our website is up on the internet.  We're fine-tuning, and correcting mistakes, but basically it's done.  This is very exciting!

 
August 20, 2007
We've got a domain name!  And website hosting!  The website should be up and running by the end of this week. 

 
July 12, 2007
We will have a two-week exhibit at Oregon Jewish Museum, probably in  February of  2008.  The theme will be Exodus: Our Journeys.  If possible, we hope to have another fabu First-Thursday reception on opening night. Stay tuned for more details.
 
 
June 10, 2007
We will have an exhibit feauturing the "Miriam" theme during this year's Women's Day of Jewish Learning.  It will be held at Mittleman JCC on Sunday, March 9, 2008.  The day includes workshops, classes and lunch.  Our group's work will be on display all day.
 
 
May 17, 2007
Good news!  Our fall/winter show will be held at Neveh Shalom!  This was what we hoped for.  It will be held on Sunday, October 28th.  What a relief!  Now we can get down to the business of planning the show, and creating some new artworks!