Making Progress!

The studio is coming along, although the organizing of it has taken longer than I would have imagined.

I have moved shelving and racks back and forth and repositioned things like my frit and stringer collection. Taking off closet doors helped a lot. The desk was cleared once but is full, yet again....sigh!

I picked up some rubbermaid shoe boxes and this week I'll be packing and labeling various jewelry components. Sunday is kiln rehab day. After 2.5 hrs of Bar/bat Mitzvah tutoring, I will relax by vacuuming out the kilns and doing shelf maintenance.

A new commission as well as an order for a yahrzeit candle bridge purchased at the P'nei Or auction are awaiting my attention. But first, more studio work and then there's the Bullseye sale starting Tuesday. I will use restraint and only buy what I really, really need! Everything that comes into my studio must have a home! Those are my two new mantras.....only buy what I need and everything must have a home! If only saying this made it so!

New Fused Glass Judaica coming

Sigh....my glass studio is a wreck. I have ignored order and it bit back!

NO PIX....IT'S TOO EMBARRASSING!

So, I am creating new homes (with labels) for everything.

Today I cleared off my desk, set up a new case for full sheets of glass and stored all my frit.

Tomorrow I rehab the closet and Friday I tackle my work table.

A week from now I will be ready to start rehabbing the kilns.

In mid July I will go to the Eugene School of Glass to take a 5-day intensive with Patty Gray.

I am excited to learn some new skills and develop some new design ideas.

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned. I'll try to post in mid July during my class.

Seder Plate for OJM

The Oregon Jewish Museum in Portland will be hosting another fund raising auction in May. This is the new seder plate I made for that event. The glass is remarkable and a new experiment for me. The base is a new reactive glass made by bullseye glass. It is a clear iridized reactive glass. That means that when it comes in contact with copper, gold or silver it will cause an interesting reaction. 

I used copper foil to make the letters and decorated the plate with turquoise frit and stringer. The reaction was neat....turned the glass a speckled red in places and cast a reddish shadow in others. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show the reaction as well as I'd like.

The back of the plate is textured offering the plate a depth color (even though the plate is transparent). Six condiment dishes come with the plate. It's called Reactivity and Wandering. We were a reactive people as we wandered the desert trying to learn how to be Jews. There were spiritual and physical highs and lows. This plate brings a reminder to the seder table of our struggles and our successes.

Please come out and support OJM Sunday May 3rd. 

Check them out at http://www.ojm.org/

CHAIR-i-TABLE

Looking for just the right chair for this project, I realised that there are just so many chairs a person might buy. Why not create an un-chair for those who don't need one more chair in their home. I hate to iron so the idea of a wrinkle-free tablecloth held great appeal....and the Chair-i-table was born!

Glass top and glass shelf adorn this stool turned table. (See the before photo below)

It drew some interest at First Thursday at the Gallery. Let's see what happens at the Chair Affair Auction on April 23rd.

My Chair Affair Project

The Community Warehouse was kind enough to invite me to create a chair project for their annual Chair Affair. This is an auction that features rehabbed chairs. The proceeds go to support needy families in Portland.

I combed through the selection of old chairs at the warehouse looking for a chair that would speak to me. This sad little stool was once someone's precious craft project. It was painted green with white speckles....OY!

What would you do with it?

I'll share my "after" picture tomorrow!

JEWISH ART WEEK!

March 16-20 ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists will exhibit some of our works in the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Lobby! I'll have a few pieces of glass on display.

Admission is free.

We're very grateful to  the MJCC for providing us with this space. The "J" is the living room for the Portland Jewish Community.

Come see us, grab a nosch at the deli and consider the question: "What is Jewish art?"

Yizkor candle bridge

Here's a candle bridge style yizkor candle holder i made to honor my parents. 

Last Tuesday would have been my father's 100th birthday.

I've made a few other designs and am open to custom orders.

Going to Oslo!

A few weeks ago, Rabbi Leila Berner came to town. We spent shabbat together and I learned about some of the amazing projects she's working on. 

On her trip out west she successfully raised funds to purchase a Torah to be sent to Oslo, Norway where a small Jewish community has been making due without a Torah of their own.

The purchased Torah is actually a "rescued" Torah that was repaired by a sofer in Maryland!

A number of Torahs were hidden away during the holocaust to protect them from the Nazis. Several of these Torahs have been discovered and lovingly repaired. 

Rabbi Leila saw my Shemot themed Torah Adornment or Breastplate and asked to purchase it as an accompaniment to the Oslo Torah.

This is an honor beyond words. My father was a holocasut survivor and he spoke occasionally of his efforts to hide a Torah. In Pirke Avot we read: "You are not required to complete the task but you are also not free to withdraw from it." My father understood that. He couldn't complete the rescue of his Torah but he did teach me Torah. 

The Breastplate is made with a deep purple background. I cut the shape of two tablets representing the ten commandments...and then I smashed them with a hammer! 

The pieces were re-assembled and tack-fused them to the surface. Hebrew letters form the words "na-aseh v'nish-mah";  "We will do and then we will understand."  

When light shifts in the room, the dichroic glass changes colors. Looking at the fused shards of glass one should contemplate the story of the tablets. Moses broke the stone, but he did not break the laws he was given. We were a broken people and his duty was to reassemble us; gather us together and bind us to our covenant with Hashem. Even though the first set of tablets were broken, they were carried with us as we continued our journey through the dessert.

Na-aseh v'nishma.... often we have to practice a lifestyle in order to understand what we are doing. The small Jewish community in Oslo is new and when they receive their first Torah they too will begin a new relationship with God's words. They will do...and they will come to understand.

A little love in the bowl

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Eddy Shuldman and I've been working in fused glass for the past 5 years, focusing mostly on Judaic themes.

Glass has become a passion.

I invite commentary on my work as well as responses to the occasional questions that I'll pose.

Recently I was commissioned to create 22 blue bowls for a wedding. These bowls were all approximately 15 inches in diameter and featured the word Ahavah which is the Hebrew word for love.

Pictured above is a striker pink version; the letters have been crafted from dichroic glass.

I am proud to use Bullseye glass in my work and feel blessed to live in Portland, Oregon, so close to the factory.

I belong to an artists group named ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists.

Google us to land on our website....I seem unable to post the actual address!