A Fresh Start

I have finished my final sketch and tomorrow I will finally shop for saw parts and the glass I need.
Jewish Arts Month planning has been all consuming and now it is time to get serious about my own art.

I have sooo much glass in stock and of course, the piece I need is the one piece I don't have!
Friday I will buy my challah instead of baking...and will spend the time cutting glass instead.
My plans are ambitious and hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of my progress.

I need to make a tough decision about my Chair Affair Project. It looks like the table idea I had is just too big to make it work this year. I will hold the table top in reserve and perhaps use it next year. With 2 art shows looming in the near future, I need to use my time wisely.

Pre-JAM Slam!

That's our name for the party.
Rumors are spreading that possible city dignitaries may attend.
Hmmmmm....wonder who they're talking about?

We'll be Jammin'

February 24th (time tba)....it's a party and you are invited! Mittleman Jewish Community Center Ballroom in Portland Oregon. This is our Kickoff event for Jewish Arts month.

Lots of artists, actors, musicians...and some special guests. Food, drink, entertainment........More details to follow. Stay tuned!

The NEA is part of our funding!

I was negligent in not posting that the NEA is a part of the generous grant awarded by the Oregon Arts Commission.  Jewish Arts Month aka JAM will begin our fundraising campaign Monday. Hopefully the faith these two agencies have in us will be shared by art lovers in Portland. We're working hard to make this a fabulous festival...and one that will return year after year.

Wendy Westerwelle and Renata Dollinger

Great news!
Triangle Productions will produce the one-woman play ROSE starring Wendy Westerwelle at the COHO theater here in Portland, April 1-25.
Jewish Arts Month (JAM) is proud to support this effort.
But wait, it gets better!
 Renata Dollinger will display her work in the lobby of COHO and she will also
join ORA artists at the Elements Gallery March 3-?.
Renata is an amazing artist , now well into her 80s. She paints vibrant pictures of shtetl life.
She has retired to Bothell Washington but is willing to bring her newest oil paintings to Portland where her fan base is extensive.
Look out Portland! The art scene is going to meet a powerful group of Jewish artists!

JEWISH ARTS MONTH GETS FUNDED!!!!!

It's official! JAM is coming to PDX.
Jewish Arts month is actually about 10 weeks long. Our web page will go up shortly.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal Agency.

We need donations to help fund this project. If you can help, please send a donation to the Jewish Community Center  5561 SW Capitol Hwy Portland Oregon attn: Beth Germain and be sure to say it's for JAM!!!!! This is a tax deductible gift!

THREE....yes 3 theaters will perform Jewish-themed plays. The Chosen, KinderTransport, and ROSE.
(More info later!)

Elements Glass will host ORA Northwest Jewish artists for a two week show.

Musicians will perform concerts in a variety of genre.

poetry slam

Drash Magazine presents Oregon Jewish Writers

Joanne Greenberg (author of I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN) will adult storytelling.

and the list goes on........and on!  stay tuned......nothing like this has been attempted (that we know of)!!!

Mizrach: facing east

In hebrew mizrach means east. It is a tradition in some households to mark the eastern wall of their house with some decorative element bearing this hebrew word. We face east when we pray, directing our energy toward Jerusalem.

I wanted to create a vessel. Something that could be wall mounted or dsiplayed on a tabletop. Something that incorporated the idea of a mizrach but would carry meditative prayers. I developed a prototype that I am pleased with. It's a little busy but I know how to proceed with the "real deal." In the mean time, I can use this Mizrach for my personal meditation practice....after all, practice is what this is all about!

This plate is asymmetrical and has two copper foil hands (chamsahs) fused between the layers of glass. The back is textured in a herringbone pattern which adds an unexpected warmth to the piece. I don't know if you can see it in the picture.

Gold ink was applied to the fingers. Each finger on one hand carries a hebrew meditation while the opposite hand carries the translations.  The shiny hebrew letters spell the word mizrach in dichroic glass.

I had a wonderful meditative session with it yesterday; filling the dish with water and floating candles.
I focused on shiviti and was able to clear the junk out of my head. Shabbat is almost here and I look forward to meditating with a second verse.

CHAIR AFFAIR 2010

I am pleased to participate again in the annual Chair Affair fund raiser for the Community Warehouse.

I picked up a large round piece of tempered glass....a table top at the warehouse a couple of weeks ago and this evening I went to IKEA to pick up some inexpensive legs.

Now comes the challenge..... designing an elegant table that will attract the attention of wealthy bidders willing to plunk down some big dollars for a most worthy cause.

The picture I have included is actually of a similar table top....being sold  on the web for $200!
(no legs, no chairs, no design elements)

Stay tuned......!

At SAM....Seattle Art Museum

A glorious morning was spent at SAM.

There were two highlights (ok...three!)

1. A large glass case with lots and lots of beautiful coldworked glass....AND, calling my name was.... a stunning piece by Toots Zynski. If you've never seen her work, I recommend you visit this youtube site. Slender glass stingers (finer than raw angel hair pasta!)  fused together, then slumped. Fragile in appearance, the vessel is thicker than I would have guessed. Attractive from a distance...but up close, her work is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. ....sigh!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Y1jfirlFA
2. Alexander Calder. I was especially touched to see his portrait on display, taken by none other than Arnold Newman. Arnold Newman, of blessed memory was an amazing photographer and this portrait spoke volumes about Calder. As the mobiles gently moved, they cast ever-changing shadows on the walls.

3. A room featuring BEADS!!!!! I don't want to get started on my usual rant about how the Arts World has  seen fit to segregate "fine art" from "fine crafts". Fortunately SAM doesn't engage in that kind of thinking.

The bead exhibit was lovely and elevated the status of beads and bead making to its rightful place.

Sadly, it was time to go home so I didn't have time to visit the Michaelangelo exhibit.....but then, I have been to the Sistene Chapel. On display were a handful of drawings that somehow escaped going up in smoke. Apparently, he burned most of his drawings !

I will say that art is clearly in the eye of the beholder. There were pieces I wouldn't display in my garage and astonishing works that provoke humility and awe. What a gift to spend a few hours with such pieces!

Oh, the Calder piece below is small enough to rest on the palm of your hand! Thank you google images.

I hope it's not a copyrighted image...I just want y'all to know what I'm talking about!

Making the Jam!

Stay tuned.......We'll be jammin' soon!

It looks like more meetings are in my future. JAM- jewish Arts Month, was recently described as "an ambitious project" by a member of the Oregon Arts Commission grants jury panel.

We have more ideas than a month can accommodate but we have numerous organizations involved and lots of good people pitching in to help.

Done!

setting up for the show

thanks Sabina for sending me this shot!

The set up

Celebration of Art 2009 was a whirlwind of activity....set up to take down was precisely that.
I managed to snap off a picture of my booth before it was set up but of course was so busy doing other things (customer service, talking, more talking) that I never remembered to snap off some additional pix.
Hopefully someone else in the group did!

We had a great crowd of customers and it was so nice to see such a festive mood. Lots of hugging, laughter and talk! Some artists had better sales than others....the economy is an easy scapegoat. I felt good about my sales and even picked up a few commissions.

Some folks were new to fused glass so I had a lot of fun talking about the process.

And now, it's time to stop procrastinating....gotta put away everything and really finish the studio organization (again!)

Back By Popular Demand!

I have had several requests to bring back my Lamed- with heart plate.
The lamed is a hebrew letter- its name forms the root word for learning.
As a teacher, I am an advocate for life-long learning.
The lamed is made from copper foil and is embedded between turquoise iridized glass and clear.
The heart is a fused piece of hot pink striker glass with a second dichro heart.
I am smitten with the shape of the plate. It's called origami and it folds in interesting and asymmetrical shapes. The person who buys it will get a handout with information about the mystical meaning behind the letter!
Come see me at the J this Sunday for Celebration of Art '09!...specific address and times listed just a couple of posts below.

Learning to draw

Thanks to the folks in my critique group, Esther and I enrolled in a PCC class called:
SO you think you can't draw!
We meet for two hours weekly and although I can't claim any talent for drawing I can say with certainty that I am learning how to see and my drawings aren't mysterious marks on paper...they actually bear a resemblance to the objects I see before me. I am gaining confidence and am hopeful that I will eventually be able to apply my new skills to my glass work.

If you are interested in  my instructor's contact info...here it is!
Jill Jeffers Goodell
Monthly Newsletter: http://jillgoodell.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.jillgoodell.com/
Blog: http://notes-from-glastonbury.blogspot.com/

NEW...RETRO and FUNKY

Just playing around!

And The Sea Parted

This is my latest seder plate. Beautiful glass from Bullseye. Very little embellishment because the glass says it all.

The dichroic letters say Pesach (Passover in hebrew.) The six side dishes can nestle in on the plate or stand separately.

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.

Celebration of Art 2009!

October 25th at the Jewish Community Center 10:30-4:30!

lot's of amazing art.....some judaica, some not!

Come see the product of my labor with my new tools....

I promise to dress nicer that I appear in my picture!

JAM is coming to Portland!

There's a reason I haven't been posting....I've been busy!

JAM stands for Jewish Arts Month. With the grant writing talents of Helen Gundlach of the MJCC, we have been crafting a proposal to recognize the Jewish Arts in Portland....visual, music, theater, film, writing....(still working on a dance component)

Yes there are Jews in OH-ree-gone...

and they will make an artistic plash this spring.

stay tuned!