Paper Tefillah series: "Yotzeir"

Here's a photo of the completed "Yotzeir" papercut -- part of the "paper tefillah" series I've created for a show this January in Memphis. It's structured around the ten sefirot (סְפִירוֹת) -- according to Kabbalah, the ten attributes of God through which the universe is sustained. These sefirot are often described in metaphor as vessels of light. Here's an excerpt of the text of this morning prayer:

Be praised, Adonai our God, for the excellence of your handiwork, and for the lights You created: may they glorify You.

Back with comics (as is the rest of the series), you can see some Firestorm, some of Frank Miller's Ronin, Peter Gillis' all-digital graphic novel Shatter, some Kirby krackle, and plenty more -- but you'll have to wait for the show catalog to see the entire listing.

A Thanksgiving Treat: Batman with Eve

From Elseworlds 80 Page Giant #1, of course.

Paper Tefillah series: "Ahavah Rabah" papercut

I've completed my "Ahavah Rabah" papercut -- part of the "paper tefillah" series I'll be showing this January in Memphis, Tennessee. (Details about the show are forthcoming.)

The "Ahavah Rabah" prayer focuses on the love God shows for us by giving us the gift of Torah and the mitzvot (commandments). The pomegranate represents the mitzvot -- it's said that it contains 613 seeds, the number of mitzvot in the Torah. The prayer mentions the four corners of the earth, which is a cue for worshippers to gather together the tzitzit (which have knots also representing the 613 mitzvot) at the four corners of their tallit and hold them together, so the four corners of this piece are backed with salvaged pieces from genizah-destined prayerbooks that reference the prayer, the mitzvot, and tzitzit.

The pomegranate is backed with comics that reflect the rich juicy color of the fruit, and there are quite a few goodies hidden in this one. It's best seen in person, but until the show you can enjoy these close-up shots. And as always, you can click the pix to see them larger.

 

613 circles

My "paper tefillah" work is coming along nicely -- here's a shot from my cutting table of a piece I've been working on this weekend. There are about 613 circles in all...

Designing a new website

Pardon the dust, faithful  readers -- I'm in the midst of a site redesign that will (I hope) unite this blog and my primary site (NiceJewishArtist.com). I promise to continue to provide photos of my work in progress as well as of completed pieces... and soon, a whole lot more!

UPDATE

OK, this page is coming together and my redirect is in place... and so it begins.

Art Submission Rules

Recently perused the guidelines for submitting artwork to a certain private institution -- realized that the guidelines (though fair, given the venue) eliminate most work that I would consider art, so ... I'm not going to submit. Here's an excerpt from the guidelines:

• Content cannot be sexually explicit, harassing, or suggestive, or contain nudity
• Content cannot promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons, any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political or religious agenda or message
• Content cannot be obscene or offensive
• Content cannot contain trademarks, logos or packaging owned by others without permission
• Content cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without permission [this is the one that eliminates most of my current work -- I won't bother arguing with the venue about appropriation and fair use]
• Content cannot contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission