Summer Art

Several of our members are participating in art events this summer.
Please come and enjoy these events!



- Eddy and Esther are sharing a booth at a giant juried craft fair:

"Craft-In" Arts & Crafts Show
Saturday, July 17th
10 am - 4:30 pm
at the historic 99W Drive-In Theatre Parking Lot
in Newberg, Oregon 97132
Admission: Free


-Laurie and Sharon will be featured in a joint art exhibit:

"Hearts and Vessels"
From Aug 31 through Sept 24
Artists' Reception is Friday Sept 10th
5:30 to 7:30 pm
at the Emerald Art Center
500 Main St, Springfield, Oregon 97477
Regular hours Tues - Sat 11 am to 4 pm
541.726.8595

E-Mail Mystery

Well, that was embarrassing! There was a glitch in sending out responses to our recent Jury. However, everyone has now received their responses, and we've started receiving your signed contracts.

If you haven't sent in your contract yet, please do it soon. Remember the deadline is July 15th.

We are so very sorry if the e-mail glitch caused you any anxiety. We actually had an incredible number of beautiful submissions, and were very excited to see how many artists were ACCEPTED by the jury! It's going to be a fabulous show!

A Breath of Plein Aire

Leslie Elder writes:

I am taking plein aire classes from Aimee Erickson this summer. The class is for artists working in acrylic or oil. The first class is in Multnomah Village July 6-9th. The second class is July 12-16th, and will focus on urban landscape in downtown Portland. You can sign up through the Multnomah Art Center.

I find that oil is a great medium to use outside because it doesn't dry too fast like watercolors tend to do. I really enjoy getting out of my studio in the summer to paint outside. With all the rain we've had lately I like to absorb as much sunshine as possible while the weather is good.

Award-Winning Quality!!

Our own Eddy Shuldman received a prestigious "Song of Miriam" award yesterday! It's great to see her receive the recognition she deserves for her incredible work on Jewish Arts Month (JAM) this year with Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

The Song of Miriam Awards honor women who volunteer their time and energy to ensure the continuity and vibrancy of the Jewish community of Oregon and Southwest Washington.

This annual event is sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Round Table, which represents Jewish women in Oregon and SW Washington through their organizations and congregations, convening in the spirit of cooperation to recognize achievements in volunteering and collectively contributing to the continuity of Jewish life in the community.

We offer congratulations, and our sincere thanks, to all the recipients of this wonderful award.

A Bounty of Offerings

Yesterday we held our Jury of prospective guest artists for this fall's Celebration of Art show. The offerings were wonderful. Our applicants included a number of nationally/internationally known artists, which is very exciting. We've really come a long way, and this show is going to be beautiful!

Mark your calendar now... you won't want to miss this show!

Sunday, October 24, 2010 at Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

Don't Forget to Apply!

We've received a lot of applications for Guest Artist positions in this year's Celebration of Art show. The suspense is building, as we look forward to the Jury day on June 6th.

If you haven't turned in your application yet, now is the time! All submissions must be received by May 30th. For information and details, please go to this link: callartists2010
From there, you will be able to download the Application.

Good luck to all applicants!!

Call For Artists!!

ORA is accepting applications for Guest Artist positions in this year's CELEBRATION OF ART 2010.

This one-day Fine Art Sale will be held on Sunday, October 24, 2010 in the beautiful ballroom of Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

Art works by prospective guest artists will be juried on Sunday afternoon, June 6, 2010 at
Congregation Neveh Shalom.

Applications are due by May 30, 2010 to be considered on Jury day. Samples of art work may be submitted in person or by a CD of photos.

For information and details, please go to this link: callartists2010
From there, you will be able to download the Application.

Good luck to all prospective artists!!

SOLD!! To the guy with the chair...

All five of our members' contributions to this year's Chair affair found buyers, helping the Community Warehouse raise $125,000 at this year's event!

It's wonderful to a part of this good cause, and encouraging to know that there were buyers for each of our offerings.



"Button Up Your View"
by Laura Joy Fendel

"Zine Zone" by Gary Pearlman




"Chair Up There" by Robin Esterkin
"Love Seat"
by Esther Liberman


"Avian Spa" by Eddy Shuldman

Fiber Arts at the Japanese Garden

Our own Laura Joy Fendel has several pieces on display as part of a special art show and sale at Portland's Japanese Garden Pavilion. The show, entitled "Texture: The Art of Paper & Fiber,"
features works by 17 members of the Columbia Fiber Arts Guild.

This beautiful show will run April 10 - 18, with a preview opening night on Friday, April 9th, 5-7 pm. Come meet the artists, enjoy a warm cup of tea, and enjoy the art offerings.

Portland Japanese Garden

611 SW Kingston, Portland, Oregon 97205
(503) 223-1321

The show is free with admission to the Garden.

Chair Up There

Robin Esterkin's lovely painting, "Chair Up There" and Laura Fendel's fabric-framed mirror, "Button Up Your View" are featured on the Virtual Storefront of Community Warehouse's Estate Store. Click here to take a look, and scroll down to the entries for April 3rd and 4th.

The annual Chair Affair, which benefits Portland's Community Warehouse, will take place this Thursday, April 8th, and is totally sold out! So it's a pretty good bet that both of these beauties will be sold that night.

Other ORA artists who have contributed to this year's sale are Esther Liberman, Gary Pearlman and Eddy Shuldman. Click on each artist's name to see their Chair Affair offering. It's wonderful to be able to use our creativity to support such a good cause.

Chag Sameach Pesach!

Happy Pesach from all the members of ORA! Wishing everyone a joyous and meaningful holiday.

As we eat the 'poor bread' and use all the ingenuity of generations of Jewish cooks to fashion delicacies from humble ingredients, let us be truly grateful for the freedom to do so, and let us be aware of the higher meaning of that tradition.

Leslie Elder Exhibit in Seattle

Leslie Elder has an exhibit of about 17 paintings at a salon in Seattle called Essence a Chic Coiffure.

The exhibit opened on March 7th and will hang for 3 months. Leslie attended the opening, and got a great response. If you're in Seattle, stop in and see this one-woman show. And if you need a haircut, how about a day trip??

Ellen Shefi Exhibit

Ellen Shefi writes:

My art opening at MI FAMIGLIA restaurant in Oregon City was a lot of fun. Not only was the restaurant packed to capacity, many of my friends and patients came to enjoy the art and dinner. I received interest from a man eating dinner there - to buy one of my favorite pieces, and he returned again to the restaurant at closing. I sold some cards and 3 cutting boards which have my artwork on them. All in all - a wonderful evening.

For those who missed it - my artwork (17 pieces) will remain on the walls of the restaurant until June 1st.

Mi Famiglia Wood Oven Pizzeria
701 Main Street
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
503.594.0601

Exhibitionists

We have TWO exhibits going on right now. It's an embarrassment of riches!

1. "Light" exhibit at Elements Glass Gallery
1979 NW Vaughn St, Portland
Open daily 1-4 pm through March 14th.


2. ORA exhibit in MJCC lobby
6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland
Open daily 9 am - 6 pm through March 12th

Isn't it fun to look at so much artwork?

A Dazzling Gallery Opening!

What a wonderful opening we had tonight at Elements Gallery! The space is big and impressive, the art was arranged so beautifully, the music was wonderful, the food was plentiful and the wine flowed. But most of all, the PEOPLE kept coming!

We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends in this community. It made us all feel so good to know that people support what we are doing. Thank-you to everyone who came to our reception tonight. Thank-you to Elements Gallery for housing the exhibit, and for their generous assistance. Thank-you to Laurie Fendel for heading up this whole exhibit, taking care of a million little details. Thank-you to Fred Harwin for his invaluable help in arranging all the art. Thank-you to George Fendel for the beautiful piano music. Thank-you to all the ORA artists for doing their very best to make this show a success!!

The exhibit will remain on display through Sunday, March 14th, with viewing hours daily from 1-4 pm. Almost all of the works exhibited are available for sale.

Elements Glass Gallery & Hot Shop
1979 NW Vaughn St
Portland, OR 97209

Come See the Light this Thursday!

Check out Eddy's amazing Jewish Arts Month blog for a full run-down of all the wonderful artists featured in our "Light" exhibit. http://jewishartsmonth.blogspot.com

And then come join our opening night reception for an uplifting evening of music, food, drink, and ART ! Enjoy art by 20 local artists who are members, guests or alumni of ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists.

Thursday, March 4, 2010
5:30 - 9:00 pm

Elements Glass Gallery & Hot Shop
1979 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.0575

(The show will run from March 4th through March 14th.
The gallery will be open daily from 1 - 4 pm starting Friday March 5th.)

Go Toward the Light !

Jewish Arts Month is off to a great start!

The Pre-Jam Slam on Wednesday was a wonderful sampler of music, art, poetry and theater, accompanied by food and drink in a beautiful environment.

The stage production of KinderTransport has begun, accompanied by a moving photographic exhibit by Fridericke Heuer. Everyone who has seen it so far has been unbelievably impressed. Be sure to get your tickets and see it... it's only here till March 21st.

Joanne Greenberg presented the most wonderful adult storytelling Sunday night at Oregon Jewish Museum, to a delighted audience.

And this Thursday, it's ORA's turn to "shine." Our art exhibit opens at Elements Glass Gallery with a first-Thursday reception from 5:30 to 9 pm. The theme of the exhibit is "LIGHT." Please come and see the beautiful art works on display by our members and special guests. There will be food, drink, music, and ART!! Come celebrate with us.

Elements Glass Gallery
1979 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.0575

New Members!!!

At last all can be revealed... we have four new members! I didn't post them sooner, because i wanted to get their web pages done first. But now, without further ado, ORA is proud to introduce our newest members. Click on each person's name to see their web page.




Tobin Floom - Fine Art Photographer and Portrait studio.

Gary Martel - Fine Art Photographer

Gary Pearlman - Contemporary Oil Painter

Ellen Shefi - Photography and Paintography

We're all very excited to have these new members, and sure you will enjoy their work. Come and meet them tonight at the Pre-JAM Slam.... it's fun and it's free! 7 pm at MJCC.
.

Who's in the JAM

Get a glimpse at some of the many artists & performers appearing in this years Jewish Arts Month (JAM). Check out the JAM blog for profiles of 20 wonderful artists!

http://jewishartsmonth.blogspot.com



There are so many wonderful art events going on all around Portland. Be sure to participate in as many as you can!

http://www.northwestjewishartists.org/JAMschedule2010.html

We're JAMmin'

Okay friends, here it is..... the whole scoop on everything happening during Jewish Arts Month (JAM). You can view it in two different formats.







1. Calendar grid which shows the dates & locations of all the events:
northwestjewishartists.org/JAMcalendar2010.html


2. Detailed schedule, including dates, times, locations, descriptions, admission prices and contact information:
northwestjewishartists.org/JAMschedule2010.html

Thanks to everyone on the JAM committee, especially Eddy, for tireless input and eagle-eyed tweaking of these pages. And kudos to Leslie Elder for the gorgeous painting "Fiddle Fantasy," which is the basis for this year's JAM poster.


Want more background information about JAM? Check out the JAM blog:
jewishartsmonth.blogspot.com/


See you all on Feb 24th at the "Pre-JAM-Slam"!!
.

Art Sale For Haiti

Here's a nice way to help the recovery process after the devastation in Haiti.

Come visit and support a special benefit Art Sale this weekend!

100% of proceeds will go to Mercy Corps for ongoing relief work in Haiti.

Dates: Friday February 5th 3 p.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday February 6th 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Location: Multnomah Art Center, main lobby
7688 S.W. Capitol Highway,
Portland 97219

Ceramics from 25 potters and more, priced to fly out the door.
Every dollar helps!

Exhibit Update

We have several exhibits coming up in March... it's going to be a really busy month!






March 4 - 14 "Light" exhibit at
Elements Glass Gallery
1979 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.0575

March 7 -12 Exhibit in lobby of
Mittleman JCC
6651 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219
503.244.0111

March 17 Some of us will be exhibiting pertinent work at the Women's Seder at MJCC

Is it really possible to be several places at one time? We'll see!!

This Show Will Be HOT!

Have I told you yet? ORA is going to have an exhibt at Elements Glass gallery in NW Portland! This is such an exciting opportunity for us!
It will take place in March... there will be a First-Thursday reception with wine, food, music, and art!

The show will feature a theme of "Light," and will hang for several weeks. We're all busily working on new pieces for this exhibit, and we're sure you're gonna love it! It's not just glass... all of our ORA media will be represented.

I hope to have exact dates to post here very soon, but for now reserve the evening of March 4th for our reception.

Elements Glass Studio/Gallery/School
1979 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.0575

Maria Simon on TV

If you didn't catch OPB's piece about Maria Simon on Art Beat Thursday night, be sure to tune in this Sunday night, January 10th, at 6:00 pm. Maria is an incredible sculptor, and a dedicated educator, and we were honored to have her join us as a Guest Artist at our Celebration of Art this past October.





"Breitenbush Reverie"
by Maria Simon

Party of the Year!

Mark your calendar: it's the PRE-JAM-SLAM, and you really want to be at this party! We're going to jump-start Jewish Arts Month (J.A.M.) with a big party at Mittleman Jewish Community Center on February 24th.

It's FREE, and we'll provide a sampler of the events featured in this festival celebration. Meet local actors, directors, writers, artists, musicians and more! Have a nosch and toast the success of this ambitious project. We'll probably begin at 7 pm... watch this blog for details as they evolve!

Jewish Arts Month is a joint production of Mittleman Jewish Community Center and ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

ORA is Growing!

ORA will be welcoming several new members this month. Stay tuned, as we will reveal their names very soon. And here's a hint... to quote Bruce Hornsby... there's gonna be some changes made...

Seeking Perfection?

My artwork has generally been very precise, usually symetrical, with an emphasis on perfection. I am very picky about the quality of stitch, thread tension, color palette, bead quality, etc., and I tear out stitches any time I'm not satisfied.

So it was a big leap out of my comfort zone when I took on "free-form sculptural" beadwork. I love it, it's fascinating, it's exciting to do. But I still take a perfectionist approach, and tear out sections I'm not satisfied with. Is this an insistence on quality, or just anal-retentiveness?





How do you approach your art? Is it precise, or is it more casual? Can it be both? Talk to me!

Announcing Jewish Arts Month 2010 !

More is better.

More than a month full of exciting Jewish Arts, all over P-town! Theatre, music, dance, visual arts, storytelling, and more! Exhibits, performances, classes, discussions, and more!

It's more than March 2010. There's so much happening, it wouldn't all fit into one month! So it's February, March, and April! Keep checking back often for more details. Soon there will be a separate website with all the information.

Jewish Arts Month is a joint production of Mittleman Jewish Community Center and ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

More! More! More!

Studio Time

I just listened to a podcast about promoting your artwork. One thing discussed was dedication to consistent studio time. Are you an artists? Do you consider yourself a professional or a hobby artists? How much time do you spend in your studio creating art?

Discuss.

Channukah Card

HAPPY CHANNUKAH from Sharon Segal, and all the members of ORA!

Here's wishing you a season of light and gladness to warm the winter days and nights.

Hannukah in "the Couve"

ORA made some new friends today. Four of us participated as vendors at Vancouver Chabad's Hannukah party. We (Diane, Eddy, Esther & Rosana) brought our wares to the Hilton Hotel in downtown Vancouver, and joined the Chabad group after their menorah-lighting outside. Inside, it was warm and friendly, with lovely people, terrific live music, latkes and sufganiot.

Did we sell a lot? Nope. But did we have fun? Yup. And we all sold something, so it was okay. Meanwhile, we gained some new exposure, both for ORA and for the Vancouver Chabad group. It was one of those adventures on our journey, and we're glad for all of those!

Happy Hannukah

Happy Hannukah to one and all!

It's about freedom, but it's also about sticking to your beliefs, even when it's hard.

Wishing everyone strength to meet that challenge...

Memories Revisited in Salem

Recently some of our members parcipated in a Holiday Gift Sale at Temple Beth Sholom in Salem. This was the old stomping grounds of our painter, Sharon Segal.

Sharon writes:

Many of my old friends are still involved in the Temple. They came by to visit and it was so good to rekindle old friendships. Many people were very impressed with my art, because they didn't know that I was an artist. When I lived in Salem, I had just had a new baby and any extra time, I was working in our store.

There were 16 artists in the show. Many were craft people and a few sold Judaica. All in all, the show was not especially lucrative, but the experience, for me, was excellent.

Sharon Segal