Teaching Papercutting at Camp Newman, 2012 (Part 3)

Ah, the penultimate installment of my Camp Newman posts. Tonight is the annual "Mark and Peachy Levy Hagigah Arts Festival," which will feature works from all of the workshops the campers have been involved in for their four weeks at camp: painting, sculpture, street art, drama, songwriting, creative writing, papercutting (of course), and more.

I thought this was a good time, therefore, to share some shots from the  papercutting sessions. I'm not sharing as many out here this year; there are more on my Facebook site, for the campers and their friends to check out if they wish. But here are some, so you can see what we were doing for those two weeks.

Teaching Papercutting at Camp Newman, 2012 (Part 2)

The second project we worked on at Camp Newman this summer was "paper midrash" — the campers were to use their new papercutting skills to tell a story from our tradition.

I worked individually with each camper to find a story to which they felt a connection; related to their Hebrew name, or from their bar mitzvah portion, or just something personally meaningful. And then they got to work! All of the campers in the yetzirah group were able to complete a paper midrash piece. Since we had much less time, not everyone in the hizdamnut group was able to complete another piece.

The yetzirah group had one more project as well... coming up in part 3. For now, here are photos of the campers' paper midrash projects. (I supplied the titles based on the subject matter.)

The Spies

The Four Species

The Rose

To Grow

Day and Night

David and the Spider

The Rescue

In the Garden

I had one camper in Hagigah this summer who made a butterfly papercut, based on a design in a book of Chinese folk papercuts. She mounted the cut-out butterfly on a sheet of lavender paper, and called it done. Then her friend took the paper she'd cut the butterfly out of, and put some colored papers behind it — resulting in matching papercuts, one positive and one negative.

Teaching Papercutting at Camp Newman, 2012 (Part 1)

Every summer I spend two weeks at Camp Newman teaching papercutting to high school-age campers. They're in "Hagigah," a four-week session devoted to Judaism and the arts. The campers choose from a variety of "majors" (two hours a day) and "minors" (one hour a day) that either last two weeks or four weeks, getting to sample painting, drama, creative writing, dance, sculpture, and other art forms. Including, of course, papercutting.

 These two weeks are probably the hardest I work all year. For the other 50 weeks, I've got my job and my family and my papercutting (not necessarily in that order) and they keep me occupied and happy. And busy, for sure. But I think I'm good at all three, whereas teaching? Tenth graders? That's something that takes a lot out of me.

It's worth it. I get a real sense of accomplishment from seeing what the campers are capable of — kids who start out unsure about their talent, uneasy with the tools, and unconvinced they can make anything worth hanging in the end-of-session festival. They learn quickly that they are capable of making wonderful works of art, and are proud to show their friends what they've done — dragging in other campers to say, "look what I made!"

The first project we work on is a mizrach — an ornamental wall plaque used to indicate the direction of prayer (east) in Jewish homes. We make mizrachs in both the yetzirah (major) and the hizdamnut (minor) groups. We start off by brainstorming ideas for imagery and structure, and then the campers apply their developing cutting skills to making their individual project. For the backgrounds we used colored papers and bits and pieces of comic books, provided gratis by the wonderful folks at Brave New World Comics.

I'll be posting a "part 2" later this week with details about the "big" project — paper midrash.

Back from Camp Newman

I'm back from my two week's residency at URJ Camp Newman, where I've been leading papercutting workshops with high school kids as part of the Hagigah session, which is focused on the arts. I'll be posting details and photos soon, but here's a sneak peek at some details from the kids' work.

New ark doors at Adath Jeshrun feature "Burning Bush: Flame On"

As you can see in the image above, the design of the new ark doors at Congregation Adath Jeshrun in Louisville, Kentucky, is based on my recently completed papercut, "Burning Bush: Flame On."

The doors were made by Todd Deetsch of Interior FX, Inc.; he adapted the design into a three-color application in cooler colors, having been directed by the congregation to avoid warmer colors.

Inspired by the first chapter of the book of Shemot (aka Exodus) in the Torah, in the papercut I tried to convey the sense of wonder and awe that Moses felt upon encountering the Burning Bush in the desert and hearing God's voice speak to him from its midst. The background is made up of cut-up comics (including quite a few variations on the Human Torch, from the Fantastic Four), but also a bit of a Chumash that was destined for the genizah. And of course, just to the right above center the eponymous words, "Flame on!"

Todd tells me that the gold colored lead is Dutch metal, and that he used both standard gilding and a "broken gilding" technique to create the different values of gold. The blue-colored leaf is actually real silver leaf that is hand-dipped into an acrylic resin, and the silver-colored leaf is actually aluminum, also done in a "broken gilding" technique. You can see the colors nicely in this detail of one of the doors:

The papercut will be on display (and available for purchase) at my upcoming show this fall in Northern California; I'll have details here on my blog later this summer.

Completed commission: "Psalm 150"

Here's my latest completed commission: "Psalm 150." This papercut was commissioned as a gift for a local musician who is an accomplished pianist, conductor, orchestrator, composer and vocalist. It's based on the words of Psalm 150, written by King David, and urges the praise of God through music:

Halleluyah!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him for His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with blasts of the horn;
praise Him with harp and lyre!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let all that breathes praise God. Halleluyah.

The papercut is built on the word which appears at the beginning of many of the poem’s lines: 
“הללוהו – Halleluhu – Praise Him.” Within those letters are the psalmist’s words for each of the instruments. Surrounding the letters are swirling patterns of line and shape that evoke those instruments: the curved neck of a lute, the narrow waist of a drum, the plucked strings of a lyre, and more.

The background of this papercut features the tones and textures of musical instruments, in blues and browns and gold and silver, alongside snippets of cut-up comic books and a medieval illustration of King David himself, playing his harp. There are numerous surprises to be found in these backgrounds, including one space left intentionally blank as a nod to the pauses between notes which, as one famous musician said, is where artistry lies.

Mazal tov!

Here's the happy couple signing their ketubah — mazal tov to Michael and Michael!

"Ahavat Olam" in online auction to support Temple Ahavat Shalom

I've donated a signed, framed giclée print of my "Ahavat Olam" papercut to support the 2012 Temple Ahavat Shalom Gala auction. It's a 16x20 giclée print, and you can bid for it online right now; just follow this link.

"Ahavat Olam" is from my Paper Tefillah series, which features 16 papercuts that represent the major prayers of contemporary Jewish worship. It's a prayer about God's gift of Torah to the Jewish people, and I've represented it as the Etz Chaim (Tree of Life). The leaves and branches are Hebrew letters and the background is made up entirely of cut-up Superman comics and pieces from prayerbooks and a chumash that had been destined for ritual burial in the genizah.

More details -- and ONLINE BIDDING -- here. Bidding will continue at the gala at Temple Ahavat Shalom on Sunday, June 24 -- gala details here.

Completed commission: "Visions of Johanna"

It's Bob Dylan's birthday today, and what better day to share my latest completed commission: "Visions of Johanna," a portrait of Dylan couched in the metaphor of the story of Jonah — they have both been called reluctant prophets, and they both have their visions.

The visions of Jonah came as he sat in the belly of the big fish which swallowed him. He had saved the fish from its destined death by the Leviathan, and midrash tells us that in return the fish took him on a journey through time and space — showing him the origin of the oceans, the path of the Israelites through the Red Sea, the beginning of breakers and waves, the pillars of the earth, and much more. These visions are represented by the textures and shapes within the big fish of this papercut, while it is behind these lines that Dylan’s visions are shown.

Represented through various salvaged papers, photographs, and textures, including pieces of The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, are representations of lyrics from Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna” — a handful of rain, the ghost of electricity, small talk at the wall, infinity up on trial, jewels and binoculars, the nightingale’s code, whispering and muttering...

There are fragments from the book of Jonah from a volume of Tanakh originally destined for ritual burial in the genizah. There are glimpses of album covers of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” and “Blonde on Blonde,” from which the song “Visions of Johanna” is taken.

There’s a piece of sheet music and handwritten lyrics scattered through the waves. There’s a bit of Dylan Thomas (from “Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait”), from whom Dylan took his surname. There’s a map, constellations, a reference to Woody Guthrie, a miniature figure of the prophet/musician himself... and more.

It is a raucous, wild, portrait of the artist through the metaphor of Tanakh and midrash, designed to illuminate Dylan’s character and encourage exploration of his lyrics and influence.

Latz-Simon Ketubah: Mt. Rainier, Victoria Falls, and Metzada

 

This week I finished my latest papercut ketubah, and I've just heard that the couple received it... so now I can share some pictures here on my blog!

As with all of my ketubot, I spent some time talking with the couple to get a sense of who they are and how to represent them at this time in their life together. They told me about their love of travel and their love of Israel, about where they've been and where they're going.

The entire ketubah is sheltered with a stylized hupah of the Seven Species, and under the text are three "heights" that represent their lives: Mt. Rainier (lower left), Victoria Falls in Rhodesia (lower right), and Metzada (directly under the text) -- you can see close-ups of the landscape images below. The backgrounds are composed of handmade textured papers, maps, some old science and nature books, and -- of course -- some comic books.

And what a great coincidence that this ketubah -- for two fine Jewish gentlemen -- should be completed the same week that President Barack Obama declared his support of marriage equality!

As always, click on any of the pix (above or below) to see them larger.

Lettering a ketubah

I'm at work lettering a ketubah right now, and thought I'd share a photo of my work table and tools. I always enjoy seeing another artist's workspace; I hope you enjoy seeing mine.

"Luachot HaBrit" papercut donated to support local synagogue luncheon

I've donated an original papercut titled "Luachot HaBrit" in support of the Temple Ahavat Shalom Early Childhood Education Center Luncheon. That means you can bid on it and walk away with some of my art! And yes, it's already framed. What an opportunity!

The piece is a representation of the Tablets of the Law -- the Ten Commandments, that is -- and it comprises the first ten letters of the Hebrew alphabet (the "aleph bet") set against a warm background of art papers. And the frame? A warm, natural wood.

Find out how you can get a shot at this papercut (and a new iPad... and lots more!) -- and how you can attend this fun event on Sunday, April 22: on Facebook, or on the Temple Ahavat Shalom website.

Teaser image from a completed commission: It ain't me, babe

Finished up a papercut commission yesterday, and though I won't be posting pix until after I've delivered it, I can't resist sharing a little something out here in the meantime. A not-very-subtle clue about the piece, really — but that's the sort of treat you get out here on my blog.

Water on the table

At work on a commission that involves a big fish, but still in the drawing stage; here's a teaser photo from my cutting table.

Working hard (as opposed to blogging)

I've been working pretty hard lately -- four commissions at present, and preparing for a show this September in San Rafael, California. And also getting ready for my oldest daughter to become a bat mitzvah ... so yeah, pretty busy. I'll be posting some photos soon -- and sharing info on the show as well. In the meantime, I hope you're stocking up on gefilte fish and horseradish... Pesach is almost here! Here's a photo of a Passover-themed commission I completed last year as a portrait of baseball legend Hank Greenberg, "The Hammerin' Hebrew." (You can read more about it here; you can find out about ordering an archival giclee print by emailing me at isaac[at]nicejewishartist[dot]com.)