Peace
My mother, who was born Jewish, went to elementary school at Sisters of Mercy Convent in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. This was right before World War II and her experiences became the major challenge of her life. I was very lucky. When I was old enough, I joined her in her search to find God.
At a very young age (8) I learned the catechisms next to the Torah and as I became a teenager joined the Self-Realization Fellowship and began a long journey into Eastern religions including having yoga night at our home with my parents, grandfather and 4 siblings. When I got married, my home becoming an ashram for two different Gurus. I also studied the mystical schools of the Rosicrucian's and Kabbalists, as well as the Sufis and Essenes. I was proclaimed the artist in my family and throughout my history as a Creative Being I have always been attracted to the philosophies and rituals of every religion.
When I reached a degree of fame it was for the symbolic and ritual quality of my art. I have always wanted to imbue my art with light and Inspiration. Long before I knew of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, I was creating art and bringing awareness to Jews and Muslims that we truly are brothers and sisters.
I am honored to have been invited to participate in their virtual conference, November 15th, as an online vendor and have redesigned my art shop focusing on this Peace Initiative.
Gates of Tsfat - 32 Paths to Wisdom
"The idea of using my own personal Tsfat gate photos to create an image that evoked a journey through the Gates of Wisdom was a collaboration with my grandson Samuel Alexander and a ten-year dream realized."
Gematria, Letters as Numbers
"This clock is a homage to Jules Oliski. Creating a clock allowed me to incorporate color with numbers to illustrate that Israeli clocks still use letters for the hours, to this day. Gematria is the same concept of letters having numerical value. Aleph to Yud represent 1 to 10; Chaf to Tzadi = 20 to 90; Kuf to Tav = 100 to 400. The numbers are figured in the same way Roman numerals are combined, as IV equals 4 or LXX equals 70."
Genesis Day 7 Study A
"I started to play around with the images to see how they would best tell the story of Shabbat, the Day of Rest. My first confirmed concept was the lit candle, which represents male and female. I wanted the flame to fade into the setting sun. I knew I wanted it to appear it was the setting sun and make the symbols secondary to the light. I was also playing with the sunset colors. Rich hues of reds, oranges and yellow. To tie color into the whole series I added blue to the setting sunset. The next challenge was going to be where to put the setting sun and its size relationship to the grapes and wheat."
Shalom Candlestick
For this piece of ritual art the letters of Shalom are arranged from top to bottom. Shalom is the traditional greeting and farewell salutation as well as the word for Peace. "After the lighting of the Erev Shabbath candles my family and guests embrace one another with the joyful wish of Shabbat Shalom. Try it, you’ll like it."
I strongly believe Peace will come after more women are in leadership positions to further, through compassionate and empathetic conversations, a much needed prospective.
If you would like more information on the conference it's available for you here
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