Yahrzeit Candle Bridge

 A dear man passed away. He was, among many things, a gardener and a cultivator of roses.

This Yahrzeit candle bridge was commissioned and crafted for his wife in his memory.
Every spring his roses will bloom and his memory will be honored. Each year his yahrzeit will arrive and his memory will be honored.

The Fabric of her Life

Three completed memorial candle holders

I am completing an order of five Yahrzeit candle bridges to honor the memory of a beloved wife and mother.

Rainbow iridescent cobalt blue glass and dichroic glass letters are used in my  traditional design.

raw glass in the kiln resting on lava cloth

What makes these different from other bridges I have made is the texturing on the bottom.

I fused these on textured lava cloth which imprints a fabric pattern (herringbone) on the bottom. Because the glass is transparent you can see the faint texture showing through.

herringbone texture on the back

My father was a tailor and my mother knitted. It isn't a surprise that many of my art metaphors have emerged from an early exposure to the fiber world. This family is close....and their lives are intricately woven together. I had the pleasure of knowing the Mother who passed away two years ago. She blessed this family with love and a deep sense of connectedness. She maintained the "loom" and weaving a tapestry of family gatherings, celebrations, and more.

Blessings to her family as they observe this second anniversary of her passing. As they light their candles, they will recall the many blessings she bestowed on them.  The letters zahyin and lamed are abbreviations for zichro livracha: May her memory be for a blessing.

Memorial stones

 It is our tradition to leave a stone at the gravesite.

I make glass stones that can be personalized (names, dates, etc) for use at the cemetery or for use when lighting a yahrzeit candle.

 After cutting base glass and clear glass squares, each piece is washed in warm soapy water and carefully dried.  I use a wire colander to help with the process. Dirt, oil, and generic schmutz (yiddish for dirt of all kinds) are the enemies of glass fusion. Even a fingerprint will show up in perfect detail if the glass isn't cleaned well!  
           

Using a Kemper Pen and gold ink I write the names of loved ones on clear glass. Writing on colored glass is nearly impossible because the ink is hard to see. Even writing on clear is a bit of a challenge since the glass acts as a lens and tends to give the illusion of double vision!  Look at the picture below and I think you'll see what I mean!                          

When the gold is dry, I cap the black base glass and place the squares in the the kiln. The squares are fired to a top heat of 1450°f.
The square points will contract and the squares will take on a rounded stone shape.  As I post this, the squares are rounding up in the kiln.

I'll post the finished products along with the yahrzeit candle holders
when everything has cooled!

Yahrzeit

In German Yahrzeit/Yiddish translates to "year time" or "time of year." It is the time we light a candle and memorialize those in our immediate family who have died. During Yom Kippur and again on Shemini Atzeret we have Yizkor which means "to remember."

Remembering my Mom and Dad, I continue to work on my yahrzeit candle bridges. This newest style involves using a kemper pen and gold ink to write phrases from the yizkor service. I plan to have several on hand at the show next Sunday (MJCC, Oct 25 10:30-4:30)

Dad's yahrzeit is only a week away. I miss them both.