Shanah Tovah!

The new year begins tonight at sundown; I hope yours is a sweet one. (You have to come up with your own snarky comments on this clip art I found online.)

On the cutting table: lots of rectangles

I haven't gotten around to photographing my recently completed "MaAriv Aravim" cut -- but I'm already working on my next piece. Here's a pic of it in progress on my table...

Lexie's naming certificate

Here's the naming certificate I made as a gift for a new cousin we formally welcomed to the tribe today (my wife, Shawna, performed the ceremony). Her name is Lexie, and she's so very sweet!

"Pillar of Fire" featured in Jack Kirby Collector #55

Just a little mention, but it's always nice to be included. Issue 55 of Jack Kirby Collector, a zine that celebrates the life and career of the "King" of comics, included a detail from my "Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire" papercut in an Adam McGovern-penned article on Kirby-inspired work: "Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik's minimal mosaics of biblical wonders and pulp fable special effects." Here's what the original cut looks like in its entirety (click to see it bigger):

Click here to see the article -- which also mentions one of my fave comic-inspired rock bands, Kirby Krackle.

(And yes -- I noticed that it's incorrectly titled "Burning Bush" in the article -- but it's the pillar, all right.)

Toronto Flora Ketubah

The Toronto Flora Ketubah is complete and in the hands of the happy couple that commissioned it; here's how it came together.

The design of the ketubah is based on conversations with the couple, with abstracted imagery drawn from the time they spend together “by the lake up north” in Toronto.

At the top of the ketubah is the constellation of Orion, visible in the night sky at this time of year. On the left, golden stalks of Bebb’s Sedge mingle and rise. At the bottom is a patch of Wild Ginger, its heart-shaped leaves emphasizing the love between bride and groom.

On the right side a twining Woodbine, shown with its autumn burgundy-red coloring, wraps around a traditional romantic verse from Shir haShirim (The Song of Songs): “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li — I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” The verse is particularly appropriate, as its initial letters spell out “Elul,” the month of the wedding. Within the Woodbine, at each end of the verse, can be seen the “R” and “T” from the wedding invitation, while the sinuous winding lines evoke the invitation’s script.

Above the ketubah text is an initial cap of the Hebrew letter bet, contained within vines of River Bank Grape; it stands for the first word of the ketubah, and for the couple's last name — and of course, grapes are a traditional Jewish symbol of joy and celebration.