Tree of Life: Aitz Chayim

 

This is the other commission I created, a gift of gratitude for someone who chaired a fund raising effort to benefit our community. Below is the explanation I provided.

Aitz Chayim, The Tree of Life is symbolic of so many things. Traditionally, it is a metaphor for Torah and also for knowledge and wisdom. In mystical Judaism the Tree of Life  demonstrates the essence of God ( as best we can understand ) and the manner in which the world was created.   

This glass plate  was inspired by a quote from the book of Proverbs (referring to the Torah) where  it says:

דְּרָכֶ֥יהָ דַרְכֵי־נֹ֑עַם וְֽכׇל־נְתִ֖יבוֹתֶ֣יהָ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ עֵץ־חַיִּ֣ים הִ֭יא לַמַּחֲזִיקִ֣ים בָּ֑הּוְֽתֹמְכֶ֥יהָ מְאֻשָּֽׁר׃

“Her ways are of a pleasant path, and all these ways are of peace. She is a tree of life for those who hold fast to her and all those who hold her are happy.”

New Commission for Great Grandma!

The base disc is pre-fired. A second tack fuse firing follows 

Each leaf bears the name of a grand or great grandchild! Once the tree is tack fused, the disc will be slumped into a bowl

I've had a bit of fun (and challenge) working on this latest commission. It is a 14" iridized cobalt blue bowl with the tree of life as its theme.

There are 27 leaves, each with the name of a grandchild (in green and red) or great grandchild (yellow and orange)

Depicted here are two of the stages before firing....the finished bowl will appear in my next post!