Luachot haBrit:Sapphire Tablets

Midrash tells us that the Luachot haBrit -- the tablets of the covenant, AKA the Ten Commandments -- were carved out of sapphire. My latest paper midrash papercut is based on this midrash, and I've used the "Star Sapphire" character from Green Lantern (and most recently seen in the "Blackest Night" series) to represent the sapphire. Her suit is of the pink sapphire persuasion, but she has a blue star sapphire in her helmet (you can see a few of them scattered throughout). I've got new AND old panels in here, so you comics buffs will have a lot of fun parsing all of the subtexts when you see it in person.

Here are two close-up shots so you can see some detail (look closely and you can even see the name "Ferris" in there -- extra points if you can tell me why):




And here are some shots of the original sketch and the work in-progress:





UPDATE

For those of you keeping track, this papercut includes pieces of comic book art by Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Nicola Scott, Greg Horn, Jonathan Glapion, and Pat Broderick.

Briskin commission:"Zeh dodi, v'zeh ra'i"

This is the completed Briskin commission, a gift from my clients to their parents on their 50th wedding anniversary. The verse is from Shir haShirim (Song of Songs) 5:16: "This is my beloved, and this is my friend." As it's a gift from their children, I've used a pomegranate branch to symbolize the fruitfulness of their union, and the Hebrew verse floats along the edges of the leaves and branches.

Briskin commission:In-progress photo 2

Briskin commission:In-progress photo

Grandchildren are the Crown of their Elders

This is a commissioned papercut I just completed for a friend who wanted a gift to give to his mother. He wanted something with Jerusalem imagery that celebrated her status as grandparent, so I found a verse from Proverbs to put in the center of the piece.

Hear, O Israel

Here's a smaller, simpler piece I made as part of an initial foray into a prayer/creation series. It's the first word of the Shema, and the first day of creation... called, "Shema." (Pardon the quickie low-res photo.)