Devotion

This project started with frustration, this is the slowest Etsy's been going on for me in ages, it's almost the middle of the month and I've only made 3 sales, it almost feel redundant to make more cups or tapas plates - there are so many of them in there already!

so, instead of giving up, and just getting depressed, I decided to make something new entierly, then a cutting paper mistake, led to changing what I wanted to make into this - a small art book illustrating a poem by Robert Frost:

Devotion
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean -
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.

Pattern

Every night the soul shutter to a million pieces
In the morning we weave back the pattern
over and over again.

Illustration Friday - Theater

The word of the week for "Illustration Friday" was Theater. I used to love theater in high school, I don't really like acting but I love studying the plays and history and going to the theater to watch plays.

One of my favorite theater genre is "comedia del-Arte" which is basically the root of all modern comedy.The characters are almost always the same, and the plots are very similar, the show doesn't really follow a script but just put up a story guideline that allow the actors to make fun and joke and improvise all the time.

In this illustration I wanted to not only show the characters of the play, but mostly to give the feeling of a theater - the way that theater is a little perfect world of it's own, and so I created a couple of shadow boxes made of paper showing a few of the characters from Comedia del-Arte.

There were supposed to be 4 pieces in this series, but, building stuff out of paper is a pretty fragile thing and one box didn't make it, so I had to change my plans. looking at the figures in the box made me think of those butterflies in display cases and so I decided to give this a shot as well.

Impossibility

So strange to blog 3 times in one evening after not doing it for so long, but I guess I'm trying to clear out my desk from all made but unpublished yet artwork. So, maybe 3 is a charm! which I think it is since while I was scanning those I had an etsy sale from someone who bought a tarot deck and a cup!

This is a 3 drawing series I made a couple of days ago, they are meant for illustration Friday, the word of the week was "impossibility". It's interesting to try and illustrate an impossible thing. I was thinking of what would be the most impossible thing to do, and I thought of my memories and my past and how hard (and actually impossible) it is to see reality as it is and life as they are, rather then through the filters of memory and emotions and old thinking patterns.

New Drawings

Those were done today as a sketch to a submission I want to make for a group show in a gallery I really like in Williamsburg, though the images I had in mind are totally different then those, it's still nice to see that the composition I had in mind works and so now, I can start working on a 4 times larger version of this (scary, but what can you do).

Those sketches were supposed to be a quicky drawing, in fact, I originally prepared 4 surfaces and not just 2, pretty positive I can finish all of them tonight, however, it turned out to be far more time consuming and detailed work then I expected it to be and so, only 2 done so far.

The past month of my life felt very dark with my father in law in the hospital going through massive cancer treatments and a stem cell transplant. Yesterday we heard the good news that he'll probably be going home after the weekend! I think that a part of what this drawing is all about is having this great ray of hope cutting though the darkness.

The Gym....

Ned goes to the gym almost everyday (unless we woke up too late or we have something better to do or he doesn't feel like it) but over all he's really good about exercising. I on the other hand, keep promising that I'll go back to yoga and never do anything about it...really, I'm so bad, that last time I exercised was before we got married.

I guess my only work out is carrying my backpack around with all the art supply in it. Ned calls it "my studio", and it's just getting heavier and heavier. right now it's got a couple of reference books, an old book which pages I use for paper, 2 packs of water color and about 6 identical pens, and of course the MP3 player so I can listen to audio books while I draw, also, at the bottom, there are a million other things who got lost in the back and just wonder around aimlessly looking for a why out.

So, while Ned is at the gym, I do my own gym time by going to one of my favorite cafes and drawing for a couple of hours till Ned finish his exercise and come to pick me up.

Instinct

This is a part of a 3 drawing series i made today for "Illustration Friday" the word of the week was "instinct" It made me think of the owl tattoo I got last week and how all my Tattoos aside of one are of Animals, because I feel they represent best different state of minds and massages I want to bring into my life.

The series shows the same model (Sierra) in 3 different state of minds, each followed by an animalistic inspiration of the moment.

Passing Time

This winter we've been spending so much time at home and having a pretty regular day routine, most if it would be within 2 or 4 blocks from the apartment and includes me and Ned spending a lot of time together and making a lot of art and stuff.

Yesterday we had a big meeting that require spending most of the day out, then today, we had to drop of a CD at a modeling agency, Ned went to therapy, and I went to buy my sister a birthday present, then we surprisingly met a friend and went out for lunch.
After that we rushed to the upper east side to pick up Ned's parent's car which we said we'll take to have the oil changed.

We dropped it of in some garage in Brooklyn that works till midnight and found ourselves having some really bad coffee and some really tasty doughnut at dunkin' doughnut, which is my favorite junk food. It felt like that was the first moment that day I got to sit down.

We set there for an hour, listening so some old guy bitching about Madonna, her husband, tattoo artists, celebrities, famous people who don't act nice, sports and how he can't smokes cigars in public anymore and just waiting.

I don't get to just pass time like that a lot. I don't like waiting, but after all this long day, it was actually nice to do nothing.

look inside yourself

I've finished this drawing last Monday, less then a week ago, I intended to make a couple of others and list them on Etsy, somehow, it didn't happened, I forgot all about it and the drawing stayed inside an Animal reference book I used to draw the birds.
The past week felt so long and so much stuff happened, that now I feel like this was drawn by a different person then who I am now. Like the drawing by now, is irrelevant and yet - like a massage from myself in the past to myself now.

Illustration Friday - Resolve

When I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic which is Resolve, I knew I wanted to make something about the war in Israel \ Palestine. I usually don't care much for political art, nor do I really do anything or very involved in what's going on. I just read the news far more often then I actually want to, worry and being sad. Non of my family lives near fighting is going on, which I'm grateful for, talking to people in Israel, it seem like everyone I know are just tired and sick of everything.

The art piece I wanted to do originally, were supposed to not take sides and just express "resolve it already" intending both Palestinians and Israelis to stop being stupid and start solving this problem instead of making it worse.

While thinking about this more, and thinking that honestly, it's very hard for me to take the Israeli side when I see photos of dead babies and that it also very hard for me to take the Palestinian side when reading about missiles and bombs landing on schools and kindergartens. This war is doing nothing but produce the next generation on enemies and terrorist - for both nations.

However, I am an Israeli, I can't ignore that, I'm frustrated being in Brooklyn and observing this from afar, and I'm sort of happy not to be involved. But I can't ignore the fact that Israel is my homeland and that, like it or not, I am a side of this. And so, I choose in this series of paintings to take the other side, I choose to draw the Palestinian suffering, hoping that maybe someone on the other side, on the Palestinians, know that I can see the suffering and pain of my so called enemies.

I do hope this ends soon, and that peace will be achieve in my generation.

If those pieces sale, I'm donating the money to Gasa Children in need.

clandestine or Staying undercover

This is a drawing of the spy Mata Hari who was executed for espionage at the end of world war 1. I love the fact that she made her spying carer while not trying to hide herself, but quite the opposite - becoming a performer and being a very public figure.

I've been keeping myself in hiding in the past couple of days, I decided after the last trunk show of the holiday season, that since it's not going to be much of a busy Etsy week, I'm going to take some time off and just rest and, well, do nothing. It's hard when you are working from home and when what you love doing is also what you work at to just stop. Also, because promoting is a big part of my work, taking time off meant, for me, not producing art or blogging or going on flickr or doing anything like that.

I'm not quite sure what the purpose was, I think I just needed a break without feeling bad about it. And so, I spend the last couple of days on vacation - I played Spore for a couple of days, then watched Ned play it for a couple of days. I've slept in strange hours, I've eat junk food and snacks, and the house is even more messy then usual, including a bunch of pots still full of food on the stove which, since I didn't pack - I will have to throw out. I didn't answer any e-mails, work of friend related and basically just been wallowing in my own body, even though I showered - I feel like a mess!

I guess sometimes I just need to slow down and do nothing, even if it means 10 hours of stupid computer games. I'm trying not to feel guilty, and I fail...

Opinion

My illustration Friday for this week (haven't done this in a while) I think it's still an attempt to process the whole being deleted from flickr thing.

The day of the week was "opinion" I've tried to figure out what my opinions are, surprisingly enough non of it had to do with politics, and most of it was about the type of person I want to be.

A day Off

After all the excitement of last week, the opening to my art show in Chicago, Ned's big shoot and then retouching and working on the images and being in transit for 2 days - taxis, planes and cars. It was really really nice to spend a whole day at home. It's super cold outside, past freezing temperature and windy. So today - I did nothing!

Well, it's not quite true, but it feels like compare to the action packed previous week, I did nothing.

I was tired, sort of sad, and I wore pajamas all day long! in that time I finished some Etsy listings that were long over due, made food and 4 new drawings, well, 3 and a half, to be precise, one of those I started last week, what now feels like last year, and finished today.

A visit to the zoo

Well, not really, because I don't like the zoo, it usually makes me feel sad about the animals and I hate having to deal with this strange imitation of nature.
However I do enjoy books of photography about animals when the picture is taken in their natural habitat. It makes me appreciate 2 thing - animals and how beautiful and free they are, and photographers and their patience and proficiency if getting the right shoot in the right moment.

I made a whole series of animal drawing for the fact and fancy store \ gallery in Brooklyn, and what was left is now in my store!

Late

I've incorporated this week "Illustration Friday" in a body of work I was working on this week for an Art show in Chicago next month. This is a part of the Queen Bee series - an emotional expression of my thoughts and feelings about Colony collapse Disorder (CCD).

Funny how sometimes "Illustration Friday" gets the right word for me for what's going on at the moment.

I finished this body of work last night! 35 pieces in less then a week! I really need some sleep now...

busy with Pottery

Been so busy this week!

My supply of round vases finally run out, and though I'm really sad that there are non left, I was really happy to do some more research \ shopping last weekend, and found some beautiful sake bottles \ vases in a cool restaurant supply shop in Bowery street. The store was so cool, I wanted to buy everything, but eventually I just got the vases.
Then a couple of days afterwards, an order came for 11 of those vases! so I did have to go again and get another one! how cool is that?! So, then I couldn't resist and I also got some sake cups and Japanese style tea cups.

But that was not the end...

Sadly, 4 of the old vases that were ordered broke in shipping, and I had to find other round vases, looking everywhere, the only place I could find something vaguely similar was IKEA. Ned and I took the bike to the new branch in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
I got 4 vases as replacement and then another 10 cups and one large vase (and a planter, but that's for the house).

Ever since, I've been trapped in the studio painting birds, insects and animals like crazy.

So - already done:
11 vases for a whole sell order
4 replacement vases for the one that got broken
1 Sake bottle and cups set with swans
4 cups \ planters \ vases with birds

I can just go on and on with painting those, it's so much fun! However, I need to get some stuff ready for Ned's mom trunk show and so, it's time for some sewing...

Party like it's 2009

I worked on this all week and I'm happy that it's finished on Jewish New Year's eve! It's a wall calendar filled with illustration of important and interesting historical events. I love useless trivia and this calendar definitely fit in that category...

I'm so happy with how it came out!

You can see it here

Bondage

A couple of days ago I got a really nice e-mail from a buyer who asked me if I still do bondage paintings, I thought about it and realized that I used to do a lot of those at the end of my last relationship, when I was very sexually frustrated and felt trapped in a life that just didn't seem right for me.

It's strange to think about how, at that time, the fantasy of bondage actually symbolized freedom for me. Accepting the fact that I can wants things that are not necessarily everybody's cup of tea, also, when bound, the burden of responsibility is almost magically removed - I can no longer do or act, I'm not expected to do anything aside of just be there, in my body, and though being kept in one position can sometime be physically difficult or painful, my mind just seem to calm down and float is this serene state.

I decided to try and make a few new bondage drawing, I made 4 small ones in a series.

The same day I made those drawings I had a dream about my ex, in my dream, I was single and back in Israel, I met him to talk about getting back together, but I didn't really want to get back together. He was really cynical and criticized me all the time. I said "If you are going to say one more nasty thing, I'm going to just leave" we went on talking, he accused me in cheating on him, and I said "No, I didn't" and I said "Do you realized that in the last year of our relationship we only had sex 3 times" I was angry and he said "Well, maybe that's for the best" As if me wanting more then that was somehow unhealthy or out of the ordinary and by avoiding sex and learning to control my urges I'm becoming a better person.

I turned back and started going out of the room. He asked me where I was going and I said "I told you that if you say one more nasty thing I'm going to leave" and even though he was calling me, I just walked away.


We don't live an SM life and bondage is a very small part from our sexual life, but just knowing I have a partner who I can express this side of myself with every now and then is really important to me.

Illustration Friday - Sail

I really like this week's word! sail is such a beautiful notion and it makes me think of running away and moving fast, I get sick on boats but if I hadn't I know I would love it...

Also, this week's word was dedicated to a woman who died of cancer. My father in law just started another series of cancer treatment, he's been battling cancer for years now, and it keeps coming back. I'm really sad and worried, he's one of the nicest people I know and I really hope nothing bad will happened. I'm angry that he's got to go through it all again. It feels so unfair.

You know how in movies, when some successful business man get sick and have to slow down, he learn to value life and family and understand what's important in life?! Well, he already done all that, and so by movie standards we shouldn't be having this sequel now. But it's not a movie, it's just life and in life people get sick even when there's nothing to be learn from it. He has been extremely positive through all this, and I really admire how he works so hard to keep his routine and not surrender to self pity and a sick state of mind.

I decided that when this series of drawing sales, I'm going to donate the money to the American Cancer society. I guess I just want to feel like I'm doing something and not completely helpless about his illness.

For sell here.

Vases and thought

We are having a difficult day, actually it started really well, I woke up feeling more healthy then I have in 2 weeks, and we were planning of submitting a PDF presentation I made the day before, Ned was making phone calls and sending it out in e-mails to a bunch of magazines.

Later we went into the city for a meeting and grocery shopping in a cool health store. When we got back, Ned went to the gym and I rested, feeling sick again. When Ned got back he was really sad and scared, this whole presentation thing made him really stressed out, he was laying in bed being sad and fell asleep. He's still sleeping now 5 hours later.

So I spend the evening alone, feeling sort of abandoned and lonely, I'm working on a new Suite of Tarot decks, but I just wanted to do something fun and unchanging so I made those little vases.