Isaac Bashevis Singer and His Artists
By Moshe Mikanovsky
Shalom Toronto, September 1, 2010

This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the Ashkenaz Festival. The festival, a biennale event, boasts this year more than 80 acts and 200+ individual performers, is North America’s largest festival of Jewish and Yiddish culture. Traditional and cutting-edge Klezmer and Yiddish music, Sephardic and Mizrachi and cross-cultural music, plus diverse offerings in dance, theatre, film, literature, panel discussions, kids and family activities and the Ashkenaz Parade.

One of the events that captured my attention is the exhibit “Isaac Bashevis Singer and His Artists”. I called the festival artistic director, Eric Stein, who contacted me with the show co-presenter, Lindy Green of the Al Green Gallery, and the collection’s curator, Laura Kruger, from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, New York. 

Ms. Kruger is a specialist in contemporary fine art. She has been honoured with the American Jewish Distinguished Service Award for her work at HUC in bringing significant works of Jewish art to the greater community for the purpose of education and cultural enrichment. As creator of the exhibit “Isaac Bashevis Singer and His Artists” Laura will visit Toronto, and will discuss in a curatorial talk (Sunday, September 5, 3:30pm, Marilyn Brewer Community Gallery, FREE) the process through which she assembled this unique exhibition and reveal the fascinating stories of its unique treasures. 

On a phone call to New York, and via a quick email with some images from the show, I got a quick peek on this special treat coming to our city. As Ms. Kruger told me, this is the first time that anyone collects, and presents, the full collection of illustrations created especially for Singer’s books. Winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s (1902-1991) prolific legacy of books and stories are a pillar in the canon of Yiddish and Jewish literature. Of his many books and stories, thirty two have been illustrated. The visual interpretations given to his work by various artists reveal a fascinating variety of approaches, matching the authors own varying themes and moods. This unique exhibit features over 80 paintings, drawings and photographs created by 17 different artists for Singer’s books and stories. Exhibited artists include Larry Rivers, Maurice Sendak, Raphael Soyer, Roman Vishniac, William Pene Du Bois, Ira Moskowitz, Eric Carle, Leonard Everrett Fisher, Antonio Frasconi, Nonny Hogrogian, Yuri Shulevitz, Irene Lieblich and Margot Zemach.
  

Uri Shulevitz, cover from the book “The Golem”, 1982

The small peek here includes some representation of the diverse talent of artists and illustrators who conveyed Singer’s spirit in pictures. Most of them were declined meetings with the author, and never spoke with him. They were chosen by the publishers, based on their style and fit to the text. One is Uri Shulevitz, who illustrated two books, The Golem and The Fools of Helem. Both are not illustrated in traditional children style, but either elegant and timeless, like the first, or cartoonish and funny, like the later. Another is Larry Rivers (1923-2002), a significant American artist who considered by many scholars to be the “Godfather” and “Grand Father” of Pop art. Rivers illustrated one of the more expensive editions of “The Magician of Lublin”, by the Limited Edition Club, on which both author and illustrator are signed. He was so moved by the characters in the book, that it is attributed to say that he sees parallels in the story to his own life, how foolish he was as a young man, but lately was reading the Talmud.

Larry Rivers, “He had seen the hand of God. He had reached the end of the road” from “The Magician of Lublin”, Limited Edition Club, 1984

Ira Moskowitz, “Dance With Kerchief” from the book “Satan in Goray”, 1981

Two of the illustrators who actually met and knew Singer very well, were Ira Moskowitz and Irene Lieblich. Moskowitz, who lived within five blocks to Singer, was a close friend. In his illustrations to five of the adults’ books, he captured more than anyone the period of time that Singer is depicting. Lievlich was a Holocaust survivor from the same area in Poland where Singer was born and raised. They met at the Artists Equity gallery on Broadway, New York City, in 1973, where Lieblich’s art was on display, and their artistic connection was immediate. Lieblich illustrated two children books, including A Tale of Three Wishes.

Irene Lieblich, “Old Man with Lantern” from “A Tale of Three Wishes”, 1976

For full festival info please visit http://www.ashkenazfestival.com or call 416-979-9901

The exhibit Isacc Bashevis Singer and His Artists will be presented on September 4-6,  at the Marilyn Brewer Community Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West , Toronto, FREE admission. 

Curatorial  Talk, Laura Kruger (New York) “Isaac Bashevis Singer and His Artists”
September 5, 3:30pm, Marilyn Brewer Community Gallery, FREE admission. 

The exhibit continues September 8-30 at the Al Green Gallery, 64 Merton St., 416-440-3084
Reception September 14, 6-8pm
Regular Gallery Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat – 12-5pm, Thu 12-7pm
www.thealgreengallery.com 

Moshe Mikanovsky writes for Shalom Toronto on Art matters in Toronto.  (moshe@mikanovsky.com, www.mikanovsky.com)

You can also read the article as published in Shalom Toronto:
 

I have been in August to a family trip/visit to Israel. Had some wonderful time with everyone, and of course, did some touring around!

So, I wanted to share with you some pictures of artwork I have stumbled upon… well, I was looking for it! Most of it is of ancient art, but I have been to couple of great museums - The Israel Museum in Jerusalem (that was just reopened after major renovation), and the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures of ALL the art I have seen…

Enjoy!

Beit Guvrin and Tel Maresha:

Beit Guvrin, Sidonian burial caves, Music Players, 2-3 Century BCE

Beit Guvrin, Sidonian burial caves, Elephant, 2-3 Century BCE

Beit Guvrin, Sidonian burial caves, 2-3 Century BCE

Beit Guvrin, Sidonian burial caves, 2-3 Century BCE

Masada:

Masada, mosiac floor from the western palace, Herod the Great, 37-31 BCE

Masada, detail from the mosiac floor from the western palace, Herod the Great, 37-31 BCE

Masada, mosiac floor from the western palace, Herod the Great, 37-31 BCE

Masada, mosiac floor from the Byzantine church, 5th and 6th centuries AD

Rosh Pinna:

Rosh Pina, menorah, Ben Dov, 1998Rosh Pinna, blue door

Rosh Pinna, Mannequin in the Banana Tree

From the Sharmanka & Cabaret Mechanical Theatre exhibit at the Eretz Israel Museum (Tel Aviv):

Keith Newstead, Fish Tank in the Sky

Kazu Harada, Banana Boat

Peter Markey, The Artist

The Junkas-Giles Agriplane

and more ancient mosiac floors from around Israel, presented at the Eretz Israel Museum:

The Bird Mosaic, Beit Guvrin

Another mosaic at the Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv

And finally, some self painting with mud at the Dead Sea:

Is this art?

and this? art?

What about now? art or not?

OK, this must make it art, right?

Oy yoy yoy, did I make any art?

Cheers

Moshe

Actors have Stage Names. Authors – Pen Names. Even wrestlers are known by different name, a Ring Name. So what is it about visual artists that does not make us change our names for the trade?

Historically, throughout the Renaissance period in Italy, some artists had nicknames that stuck. Like Donatello, who was born Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, Tintoretto whose real name was Jacopo Comin, or Boticelli – Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. Another culture that produced art names is in the East Asian countries, where Chinese, Japanese and Korean artists receives names based on their level of proficiency and experience in their trade. In the modern ages though, visual artists are not known to change their names in order to promote their brand.

Some of the reasons artists might want to change their name for could be:

• Uniqueness– My art teacher and mentor, artists Gary Smith, told me once: “I have a very bad name for an artist. But you have a great name”. Although a talented artist with unique style and an amazing art coach, Gary was worried that his name doesn’t help him to become unique, above the rest. But with a name like Mikanovsky, he proclaimed that at least that will help me stands from the rest…
• Privacy – Some artists prefers to keep their private life separate from their public life. Especially nowadays, with the Internet and data overflow, some people are anxious about putting their name out there (for different reasons that we could discuss in another post), so they might prefer using another name or a company name.
• Different styles – one of the challenges for prolific artists that developed more than one style or artwork is to keep their artistic portfolio consistent. Authors who write in different styles usually adopt a pen name for the different style. That could be a solution for some artists, but it might create a huge marketing headache.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – as a topic close to my heart, this was the reason that triggered me to think, and write, about this topic. One of the things that artists and marketers learn about SEO is that the keyword that mostly used to find them is their name. Imagine a contemporary artist named “Picasso”. Would we ever find him on the first or second page of Google? And what about my mentor Gary Smith? The combination of a common surname and given name brings many results that are not relevant for the search we are looking for. And another example, my friend, artist Myriam Levi. You might notice the spelling of her name, Myriam with “y”. Everyone who looks for her usually would search for Miriam Levi (with “i”), and therefore can’t find her. Would it better if she changes her name’s spelling?

There are other reasons why performance artists change their names, like ethnicity, ease of use, relevance to the image they portray, ease of remembrance, family connections, and guild and association rules (read more about it in Wikipedia), but these seemed to me a bit less relevant for visual artists. But I am sure there could be other reasons that artists might want to change their names, or different ways to look at it.

So I’ll leave this open to you – the visual artist – would YOU change your name?

Cheers
Moshe

This article was published on FineArtViews blog on August 26, 2010

More articles for artists:

• List of 120+ websites for artists to build online presence
• Email Signatures – Make Them Work for You
• ROI – Do We Think Like Business People? 
• My First Art Fair Checklist
• My Art Fair Packing List
• Art Display Systems for Art Festivals
• for more, check out “Resources for Artists“

I recently completed the first course of my newly designed New Media courses for artists and one of the topics I taught was how to create an Email Signature and get it to work for you. While covering this topic, I realised how powerful signatures can be and how little artists know about them or utilize them. So I want to share some of this topic with you.

Many of us still consider emails to be the most common digital way to communicate with our contacts – family, friends, colleagues, business partners, and many others. Although Facebook, Twitter, SMS, Instant Messengers and other communication tools have all beaten their fair share from the electronic-mail pie, we still send, and receive, emails.

So why do so many of us neglect to use that easy and completely free tool, enabling us to promote what we do?

Here is how it works:Every email system has a way to create at least one signature, and in some applications, multiple signatures. If you use Outlook, the latter is the case. If you use a webmail, such as Yahoo mail or Gmail, you are limited to one signature. The signature is a text you write, which can include anything you want! So it’s up to you to include good information in it. Once you define the signature, it will be automatically inserted to every email you send out. Just think about the potential!

So what should I have in the signature? It is really up to you and you can change it any time, so think also about a strategy to make it work. For example – list all your contact info or list all the Internet addresses for the sites you have online presence in. Another idea is to change it on a weekly basis (or even more often) with an embedded image of your latest artwork or with a link to your latest artwork which you load to your Flickr gallery. You got the idea – the skies are the limit…

Here are some suggestions:

• Your name or even a scanned image of your hand-signature. Make sure it’s nice and crisp.
• Your title – don’t forget to call yourself an artist. If you won’t, who will?
• Specialty – if applicable. Are you a portrait artist? Say it.
• Contact information: email, phone. Why are so many artists afraid or forget to list their phone number?
• Website address
• Social sites addresses: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc
• Blog address
• Image of art – either embedded in the signature or a link to another page
• Other links – like latest painting, art show, promotions, articles about you, join newsletter, etc

If you can, use links: Having links in your signature is much more powerful than simple text. With links people have access to your sites much faster. There are two types of links you can include:

1.       Web addresses – just copy and paste the address of the site or page where you want to direct your reader. For example, if I want to direct mail receivers to my blog, I can add this line:
Visit my blog: www.mikanovsky.com/blog 

2.       Anchors – these are more friendly links. You write any text you want, and use Hyperlink, or “warp” it with the web address so that the user can click on your text to open the web address. So in this case, my direction to my website will look like:

Visit my blog

Now, the weirdest thing happened while I was writing this post. Until very recently (last time I checked was 2 weeks ago), Gmail didn’t support HTML enabled signature. That means that if you had a Gmail account, you could use plain text for the signature, but could not make any of your words clickable or embed images in the signature. So I researched and found few ways around it to include in this article, but then I decided to open my Gmail account (which I rarely use), and look again at the Signature setting.  To my surprise, it is now supporting HTML signatures! That was a big issue that many many users complained about and they finally fixed it, which is a good thing.

Now for the important part…where do I setup my signature? Here are some directions for Outlook, Yahoo mail and Gmail. If you use another email system and have a problem finding it, try to check the settings or options areas, search in the help files, or let me know…I might be able to help.

Outlook: In the Menu, go to Tools and choose Options. Select the Mail Format tab and click on the Signatures… button. Here you can setup your Email Signatures. Add a new signature, name it, and put your text and links in the Edit Signature area. Once you have created your signature, choose it as the default signature for your New Messages and Replied/Forwards.

Yahoo email: Choose Options (in the top-right corner of the page) and then More Options from the drop down list. Select Signature from the list on the left and create your signature text on the right. You can turn on and off your signature for all outgoing emails. Don’t forget to save your changes.

Gmail: Choose Settings (top-right corner of the page). In the General settings, scroll down until you see the Signature area. Create your signature text in the designated area. Save your changes.

OK, so what is the bottom line? It is very simple – you use emails every day. You’ve got an audience. Use it to promote what you do.

Cheers

Moshe

PS If I bored you too much with things you already know or are too technical for you, I apologize. But if you got to read this message, that is probably a good sign, right?

PSS if you want to see an example of my signature, just send me an email  with the subject “Show me your signature” and I will reply with my signature.

This article was published on FineArtView blog on August 12, 2010

Are you interested in learning about my courses of New Media for Artists? Contact me for more details.

I had a bit of an online heated discussion with a fellow artist friend recently. It was via emails, so we all know how things can be misunderstood with a chain of emails and we are both Israelis, so it is in our blood to say what we think first, then try to win our case or meet somewhere in the middle. I want to share with you some of my thoughts about ROI and where do we, as artists, fit in. Part of me has some notion about what I think is correct and what is not, but in most parts…I need your advice! So here we go!

ROI, or Return On Investment, should be the ABC of every business plan. The math should be very easy – how much you spend on any given project should always be lower than how much you make from that project. Therefore you earn money. Isn’t that what the bottom line of business is?

So, if we take an example in our world, let’s say our next project is to sell in an outdoor art show (did I say I will not speak about this again?) . We have many expenses, including show registration fees, setup costs, vendor fees, the cost of the art we make especially for the show, framing, and other materials like packaging, marketing materials, transportation to and from, accommodations, food, etc. The total of all these expenses is our cost. Now we want to make some money, right? So if we sell enough art to break even, we don’t lose any money. But if we sell even more art, we covered our costs and make some earnings. Quite simple.

Now, there is the future earnings potential – clients following up on commissions or to buy some art at a later date, gallery owners find you and want to represent you at their venue, your resumé with that show on it gives you future entrance to other shows and galleries, and more. It is really hard to measure these against the specific investment we put in the initial project, the art show. So, we could say that some portion of our spending in the show goes directly to “General Marketing” of our art business, rather than directly to our show.

The percentage of this portion depends on how new you are to the business of selling art. Usually in the beginning, you have to spend more than later on when established. But the marketing budget is directly calculated from your net sales revenue, usually starting with 10%, then going down as you are more established. To me this is still tricky, mainly because in the beginning you have to sense your market…how marketable your art is. And with art I find it quite hard to know.

Anyway, assuming some portion of your project’s cost is dubbed “marketing expenses” for your business (not specifically for the project in hand), then we take that number off the project’s expenses to get to our project’s ROI. So far so good.

Here comes my point of argument with my friend. Since I don’t know if I will sell enough art to make money or even break even, at least I want to have the potential to do it! And not only from an art show, but from any opportunity. So if I submit a painting to a juried art show – if accepted I have to pay participation fees (on top of the jury fee) and the show will also take their commission if my piece is sold.  I want to make sure that at least I have the potential to make some money from that specific opportunity. If my art is sold for $250 and participating in the show costs $20 to be juried, another $150 to be part of the show and it will cost me another $30 to ship the art to the show or to schlep it myself over there (cost of transportation/gas) – then the gallery will take 40% commission when selling the piece — I basically lost $50 (not even taking into account the cost of making the art and framing it, assuming I had the piece from previous projects).

True, it will be great to have on my resume. And true, this will go into my future marketing.

But still, don’t I have to think about ROI for every project I am getting into? I thought I should. My friend thought I shouldn’t.

I think most of us don’t think in these terms. We just do it. We are artists, thinking with the right side of our brains. Creativity is all that we care for. But at the bottom line, we have to think business to make it a real success.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

Cheers

Moshe

Note:  The investment world has some complicated scientific formulas for calculating ROI and comparing different investments to each other using these calculations. I have tried to simplify things here for the sake of discussion. By all means, I am not a financial adviser or accountant who can help you make these numbers work. I need one myself…

This article was published on FineArtViews blog on July 29, 2010 

Check out also all the amazing comments posted at FineArtViews…

I recently wrote about artist Sarit Assaf, who ventured from Israel to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit, to show and sell her unique crocheted jewelry. I met Sarit personally at the show, and had some great time chatting with her and seeing her amazing creations.

I received a request for help from Sarit. With all the hectic and excitement time she had at the show, she misplaced and lost one of the Credit Card slips that she used to charge her clients. She hope now that the client will somehow figure out that it was not charged, and try to contact her to check why.

So, I am trying to help Sarit by posting this request here. If you are the honest client, who bought a necklace and a bracelet for around $800, on Saturday morning, July 10th, at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit (Nathan Phillips Square), please contact Sarit at saritassaf@netvision.net.il You can also contact me through my contact page.

Sarit Assaf in her booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit 2010

I know how stressful it can be to prepare for an art show, and make sure everything is working it. On top of that coming from a foreigh country just add to the total stress and things to remember. And at the end of the day, our efforts as artists are to make a living honestly and be proud about what we do. I hope Sarit will be able to resolve this issue.

Cheers

Moshe

Related posts:

• Israeli Jewelers at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE)
• My First Art Fair Checklist

I thought that my last post (at FAV – MM) would finalize the series on venturing into art fairs and festivals but in the last few days I couldn’t stop thinking that something was missing. Well, maybe not just one thing, but it occurred to me that I cannot simply close it off by the DIY display systems. I have to give a stage to the more professional ways available out there.

So I decided the best way to present it is by quoting one of our constant readers and frequent commenter, Sandy Askey-Adams, who, throughout the entire series, continues to remind us of the importance of being professionals, invest in proper display systems and canopies, by speaking from her own experience of over 28 years doing art shows.

On outdoor art shows:

“Listen to those with the experience of doing the outdoor art shows for many years. They do know what they are talking about because of their experience. They were also once starting out and know the pitfalls of a less than right set up.”

“It is possible to make a living at this. Why do you think so many do it? At one day art show I made $10,000 before noon time. That amount is unusual in that short of a time, but I have heard of other artists making from $20,000 and up (in a weekend with two or three day show).”

Some websites for outdoor art shows:

• ZAPP (www.zapplication.com)
• Juried Art Services (www.juriedartservices.com)
• Sunshine Artist Magazine (www.sunshineartist.com)

On display systems:

“You will not see them using less than quality display systems. THEY know what attracts people to their booths…besides the art.”

“If an artist wants to break into the art show circuit, do not cut corners. It shows and takes away the importance of the overall art work and professionalism.”

 “If one goes half-way (some go less than even half-way) on setting up a display system then you will not get into the higher quality art shows where an artist can, and most do, make a good income. The better art shows are better advertised and more people with money to spend on art attend them.”

“One should take pride in not only their art, but the way they display it. When doing the outdoor art shows, that display is just as important.”

“Maybe for anyone thinking of starting the outdoor art shows, they will know now that they may have to put some of that extra money aside to use for racks and a decent canopy (if one can find extra money with this economy).”

“The best investment is in a great professional and attractive looking display system and a canopy for proper protection of your art work.”

“Make your display system as presentable and inviting as possible. Hang up photos of your working process.”

“I do hang up a lot of my art work because I have a lot of work; and I do this for a living. Some say hang work sparingly…well, you follow your ‘gut feeling’ of how and what to hang. Do not listen to anyone who tells you to hang less work. It depends upon HOW you present the work, be it a lot or not. You do what works best for you.”

“There are shows that jury your set up too (besides your art) which includes the look of your display system and canopy. Do keep that in mind. You will eventually need the right panels, the right look to get into those types of juried shows. Those are usually the shows with the biggest crowds and the most sales also… Hmmm, and the highest entry fees. And very, very professional looking display systems. You will not find Home Depot stuff there.”

“I had done one of the largest and the oldest outdoor art show in the U.S. at Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. It is high professional, juried work and displays. Tough show to get into. That display system means a lot in the jurying too. Points are deducted if not right and those points that are deducted can keep you out of the show.”

“As far as the display panels go, if I were just now buying panels, I would invest in the ones that look like they have carpeting on them, they are the best and are gorgeous and come in different colors.”

Web sites for display systems:

• Graphic Display Systems (www.graphicdisplaysystems.com)
• Armstrong Products (http://www.armstrongproducts.com/) – this one has coverings that look like carpeting and make a gorgeous presentation.
• Flourish mesh panels (www.flourish.com)
• Pro Panels (www.propanels.com)

On canopies:

“Do not buy the EasyUp tent because it will not hold up to the high winds or heavy rain. When and if they do, consider yourself fortunate.”

“Yes, it is easy to set up, but in a very heavy and serious rain storm, it could collapse. I have seen many, many of that type of tents collapse. About a year ago, there were about 7 tents like that set up in a row and all but one totally collapsed. Leaking? Yes, but collapsing is also a good possibility. Why do artists continue to buy this type of tents? Because they are cheap and easy to set up. They are fine if the weather predicts an all sunny forecast.”

“I have the TrimLine Canopy (from Flourish – MM). It has skylights and awnings which I can put on the front or on the sides when I hang work on the sides. My canopy is a 10’ x 10’ that can re-adjust into a wonderful 10’ x 15’. They also make 10 x 20′s. When I get two spaces (which are usually 10’ x 20’) I use the 10’ x 15’ with room to set up my table on the side.”

“Sometimes you can find one of those type canopies for sale at a good price by an artist who does no longer want to do the outdoor art shows. Keep an ear open.”

Web sites for canopies:

• Flourish (www.flourish.com)
• Art Display Central (www.artdisplaycentral.com)
• Sunshine Artist Magazine’s –  Tents and Canopy Services  

About dress code:

“When you dress successful, look successful, you become and are successful. A successful look breeds success and look much more impressive than a white t-shirt and shorts thrown on.”

“I have seen men artists at shows dressed very well and they really have been among the most successful. It carries through.”

 
I want to thank Sandy again for all the valuable comments! Thank you Sandy!

And instead of signing with my usual “Cheers, Moshe”, I will sign this time ala-Sandy-style…

Moshe

This article was published on FineArtView blog on July 15, 2010

Related Posts:

• Art Display Systems for Art Festivals
• My First Art Fair Checklist – Follow Up
• Riverdale Art Walk 2010 Pictures
• My First Art Fair Checklist

 

Look at the surprise my wife made for me yesterday! She created this amazing YouTube video featuring my 7 Days of Creation artwork. She told me for long time that I should get on the YouTube wagon, but I never had the time to do it. So she just decided to surprise me, and made me this video.

Thank you Hagit for this amazing gift! You are the best }{

Now she is working on some new videos…

7 Days of Creation 

Cheers

Moshe

Related Posts:

• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – Sixth Day
• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – Fifth Day
• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – Fourth Day
• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – Third Day
• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – Second Day 
• 7 days of creation watercolors artwork – One Day 
• Contemporary Jewish and Israeli Art in Toronto
• Explaining My Squares, or Close As I Can Get to Artist Statement

Here are some of my favourite artists from the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit 2010 that just finished today. It was a great show with many amazing artists, but I didn’t have enough time to see them all… so here are just some of my picks. Few of the artists that I really love don’t have a website, which is a shame!  They are basically loosing now some great links to their site… oh well, hopefully they will get on the wagon soon enough. After all, if you are not there (wild wild web) you don’t really exist

So enjoy the following list, visit their sites to see some more of their art, and maybe even buy one of their artworks.

Christina Beelaerts van Blokland - www.christinabvb.com 

Christina Beelaerts vanBlokland, 5 Apples in a Bowl, 2009, oil on board

Miyoshi Kondo - miyoshikondo.com

Miyoshi Kondo, Houses on Hills, 29"x21", gouache on paper

Mark Stebbins - markstebbins.ca

Mark Stebbins, Division, acrylic and ink on wood panel, 16″x16″

Esther Simmonds-MacAdam - esthersm.com

Esther Simmonds MacAdam, Street Paver, oil on canvas, 60"x40"

Nirit Dekel - www.niritdekel.com

(I also wrote about Nirit in my last article at Shalom Toronto)

Nirit Dekel, Ballerinas necklace, glass

Stewart Jones - www.stewartjones.ca

Stewart Jones, Toronto Alley

Christopher Hayes - christopherhayes.ca

Christopher Hayes

Joe Calleja - www.callejaphotography.com

Joe Calleja, Delineation, photograph print on aluminum

Joseph Chopin - oxbolab.com 

Joseph Chopin, Floria, Spider, Space

Deborah Gibson - www.gibsonart.ca

Deborah Gibson, Near North, oil on canvas, 24"x28"

Adam Colangelo - adamcolangelo.carbonmade.com

Adam Colangelo, Class of 2009 36"x36" Flamed copper, chemical treatment, resin

Ray Cicin – raycicin.com

Ray Cicin, Five, Bees wax , pigment and chocolate

So Yeon Michelle Kim – soyeonhong.blogspot.com

So Yeon Michelle Kim, drawings

I hope you enjoyed. I sure did!

Cheers

Moshe

Related posts:

• Israeli Jewelers at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE)

Israeli Jewelers at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
By Moshe Mikanovsky
Shalom Toronto, July 8, 2010
ShalomLife.com, July 10,2010

Now in its 49th year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE) is one of the largest, if not the largest, juried art festival, featuring contemporary fine art and craft that takes place on Nathan Phillips Square every July. This year, more than 500 selected artists will gather July 9, 10 and 11 to showcase their contemporary artwork, in all media and styles.

Amongst them will be two Israeli artists who focus their artistic creativity and career to the art of Jewelry making. For Sarit Assaf, it is the first time showing in Canada. With her will be Nirit Dekel, whose 2008 TOAE success made the decision easy for her to join again this year.

I interviewed both Assaf and Dekel over the phone and emails, just before taking their trip to Toronto. Both were excited for this opportunity, and they shared with their background, inspiration and hopes.

Sarit Assaf confessed that growing up she didn’t have any hand in making art. But while on her studies to become a special education teacher, Sarit realized that it wasn’t for her, and she looked for something different. After some trial and error with many different design courses she studied at Omanit College in Jaffa, encouragement from her teachers, and some apprentice work with another Jeweler, Sarit started working at the management of the museum store of the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, where she works till today.

The store manager, Aviva Ben-Sira, pushed Sarit to become more professionally savvy with her work. But the breakthrough came about 7 years ago, when AIDA, the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts was created.

Charles Bronfman, and his wife, the late Andrea Bronfman, with their friends Doug and Dale Anderson, were so impressed with the level of artistry and creativity in Israel, that they decided to start the association as a way to support Israeli artists in areas of ceramics, design, fiber, glass, and metal & jewelry. The support is mainly achieved by helping the artists find new worldwide venues such as art shows and galleries, educational programs and scholarships in leading art schools abroad, and museum and galleries exhibitions.

Sarit was one of the first artists to join, and since then had the opportunity to show at the Philadelphia Craft Show, which led to representation at stores and galleries in the USA. But more than that, the experience she was exposed to through AIDA pushed her to become even more professional in all she does – her designs, products’ quality and business endeavors. She is so grateful for AIDA for sponsoring her in this trip to the TOAE.

Sarit Assaf, knitted bracelet, silver.

Sarit’s creations are painstakingly made by metal thread knitting. Some of the metals are precious, like gold and silver, and some are not, but all retain their metal colors, with no additional colors or stones added. Sarit does play with the juxtaposition of the crocheted metal, with its complex perforated look, with smooth metal that lies next to, or peeks from within, the knitted areas. Her works are not small, but they are making an immediate impression. She said it is very much fitting her personally – clean, organized, focused, subdued color palette.

Sarit Assaf, knitted rings, silver, gold-filled, coloured copper

On the other hand, Nirit Dekel’s glass jewelry bursts with colors. Also a member of AIDA, Nirit loves returning to Toronto and the TOAE again. She had an amazing experience two years ago, and can’t wait to come again. 

Nirit started her career with couple of degrees in Social Studies which then changed to working in the hi-tech industry. But when she saw Chihuly’s 2000 art installation at the Tower of David in Jerusalem, she felt her wakeup call, like an alarm clock just woke her up and showed her real life calling. She immediately started taking glass beading workshops, and completely immersed herself, after quitting her hi-tech job, in the work of glass beads making.

In the beginning her beads were “perfect” and “by the book” – round, colorful, dotted, a complete change from her personal style of black and grey outfits. During the following years, and since these days, Nirit developed her beads in many ways. The Ballerinas, with their countless “legs”, who dances and play pure sounds, like tiny bells. The Containers and Pomegranates, which are not closed, ball-like beads, but open at some sides, with design and interaction between the outside and inside, showing and hiding from different directions you look at them. Then there are the flat disks, two dimensional beads. Only their gathering together on the string made them into a three dimensional object. Her latest work includes bead-less beads – their shape is created by the heating process of the glass, but they do not have a pinhole for the thread to go through like beads usually do.

Nirit Dekel, Ballerinas necklace, glass

For Nirit too, AIDA became the catalytic in launching her international career. She participated at SOFA Chicago, the International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art, Philadelphia Craft Show, Boston Craft Show, and is selling at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. “The most important thing for me was the feeling that I joined a family, and like any family they take care of you and want you to succeed. Their support and encouragement throughout the way, my desire to improve in order to fit the North American standards, and the constructive criticism only pushed me forward. Each show that I have been in, with all the preparations involved, contributed to my development and professional advancement. The work towards this type of show frees the functional thinking and allows creative freedom.”

Nirit Dekel, necklace with disk, container and pomegranate beads, glass

I also asked Nirit what influence her work as an Israeli: “I don’t know if my pieces can be define as “Israeli”, but I am sure that the place I am coming from, living in Tel Aviv’s centre close to the Mediterranean, the weather and the Israeli sun, all influences in one way or another who I am, and thus on my creations. I think that the colorfulness, boldness, humor and lack of ancient tradition in glass allow me to break many boundaries.”

Appreciating Dekel’s and Assaf’s unique jewelry through pictures is one thing. Seeing it in person is a whole different story! I hope everyone from our community will show their support and visit Sarit and Nirit this weekend. They will love to see some friendly faces! Below is the information on the show, opening times and where to find Sarit and Nirit.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE), July 9, 10 and 11, 2010, Nathan Phillips Square. Friday and Saturday 10:30 am – 7:30 pm. Sunday 10:30 am – 6:30 pm. Rain or shine. Free admission. www.torontooutdoorart.org

Sarit Assaf will be at booth 615 in the Yellow section. You can also contact her at saritassaf@netvision.net.il

Nirit Dekel will be at booth 531 in the Turquoise section. You can also contact her at nirit_dekel@hotmail.com or through her website at http://www.niritdekel.com/

AIDA, the association of Israeli’s decorative arts, can be reached through their website at www.aidaarts.org

CIC, the Canada-Israel Committee, are also sponsoring Dekel’s and Assaf’s visit. http://www.cicweb.ca/

Moshe Mikanovsky writes for Shalom Toronto on Israeli Art matters in Toronto.  (moshe@mikanovsky.com, www.mikanovsky.com)

You can also read this article in English as was published at Shalom Toronto:

English Article