Poem Illustration

Being on a gap year has made me realise that slowly but surely good habits tend to wear off, such as self discipline or energy. Why am I forgetting to write in my blog every week? I have, therefore, set myself a few tasks in order to make the year without feeling utterly useless in my existence, amongst which I have taken upon myself to continue with art. The project has not begun, but on my trip to Barcelona earlier this Summer, I was enthralled by the variety of modernist architecture and was inspired by a guidebook I came across in Gaudi's Sagrada Familia's gift shop to begin a watercolour journal, in which I will paint quick watercolour illustrations of architecture all around me! Beautiful, no? HOWEVER, I cannot find any good art supply stores anywhere in the Holy Land's capital, which means I have begun a new sub-project in the meantime; illustrating poems for birthdays. This all begun a couple of years ago when I illustrated a poem for a dear teacher, 'The Bee', by Carol Ann Duffy, and a year later, a poem for another dear teacher. Both cut outs in penknife on watercolour backgrounds. For a dear friend, I was inspired by Kipling's poem 'If'. I've always thought nineteen is a slightly awkward age. Are you allowed to rave? Are you still considered a child/teenager? My friend turned eighteen a few days ago and at the beginning of the year, she lent me a couple of poetry books (which guiltily, I have just leafed through). One of the dog-eared pages bore Kipling's poem on hope and the future and existence. And I thought, what a perfect poem for any birthday! 'Yours is the world and everything that's in it.' A beautiful poetic verse, yet also non-commital and cliche enough to be appreciated by anyone. The idea of breaking free and becoming independent I illustrated in a ballpoint drawing of a swallow, soaring down the corner of a white page. Behing it, a trickle of crimson watercolour dots. The page is covered with the cutout of the words in circus-type/magic font, which I feel went well with the verse's general evocation and begind the white, crimson coloured card. Although it is not a difficult poem to be inspired by or to analyse, I am starting to realise that illustrating poetry is often an excellent tool to deeply understand the essence of a particular poem!

Art Tradition through the influence of Chagall

It has indeed been a while but honestly, who has time to write in a blog once one has had their interview at university, which is evidently what blogs are all about. Being in Israel for the past couple of days, after having spent most of the summer here made me realise something important about art in Jewish culture. I had always felt that art culture in Jewish tradition is extremely thin. One thinks of Chagall, perhaps, and is awed by his art. I was fortunate enough to visit his hand sown tapestry painting in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, for the second time this year. I was moved by his sensitivity towards Jewish history: three colossal tapestries, vibrant with colour, life and richness, which represented Jewish history's past, present and future. Scenes from the Bible along with contemporary situations intertwine in a maze of vitality and intense hues, which would cease to move only the coldest of hearts. Chagall is breathtaking, no doubt. However, even in his most emotional paintings, in which happiness and carefreeness is represented through surreal and trademark Chagall floating figures, the message is enhanced through images of Christ and the New Testament. My question is the following: people are so swayed by Biblical imagery, there is no doubt about this. From Rembrandt, to El Greco, to Damien Hirst and back to Chagall, the Bible extremely often plays a crucial role in visual art. Why, therefore, is there not a strong JEWISH art tradition?! I asked this question about a month ago to an art gallery owner in Tsfat, city of Kaballah. He paused and put all his weight on one hip while raising his eyes towards the ceiling as he considered his answer. Eventually, he pivoted on the soles of his feet and told me to look around. Judaism is about innovation, hence Rosh Jodesh, the celebration of a new month, Rosh Hashana, of a new year: the celebration of innovation and ceaseless motivation to discover the new. This is what is represented in art (finally) today: artists use controversial techniques, they take risks, they ave exhibitions in mediocre art galleries in Tsfat and they keep trying if they do not sell. Indeed, only minutes before we had witnessed a Tsfat resident working with glass, as she blew the hypnotisingly colourful fluid into a form, seconds before it dried. Chagall is all very well and good, but all Jews seem to care about, in all aspects, is innovation. Perhaps this is why they, of all people, choose to ignore Biblical tradition when seeking inspiration for art (in general, of course).

Cézanne

Hello art lovers and readers. Today we are going to talk about Cézanne. Now, I recently read a book, which I will definitely comment on in due course, obviously by Chaim Potok which deals with the concept of aartistic expression amongst other themes. Within it, the idea of the artist painter being misunderstood is expanded to include all artists: "I have never come across a happy artist. Except maybe Rembrandt." The narrator continues commenting: "Nobody could hide grief as well as Cézanne through his oranges and lemons." What do you think? Are all artists depressed and misunderstood? Do artist think, rethink and think over something petty? Do they see the world as ugly? Does 'happiness write white' in the works of an artist? I'm not sure I have an opinion yet, in my young and ignorant mind. Maybe soon I'll be able to form one, or maybe I'm not an artist at all! We'll see...

'Still Life with Apples' by Post-Impressionist genius, Paul Cézanne. 1990-Oil on canvas

'The Chosen'

Hello fellow readers/ art lovers! I do appreciate that it's been a while-school has been intense as always. I found the time, though, to blog about a recent piece of prose I was recommended, called 'The Chosen', by Chaim Potok. Now, most of you may have known this author, some simply because he's a bestseller, others because he is a conservative rabbi who studied psychology and writes beautifully, and others that he is an anti-orthodox Jew. Whatever your opinion on this controversial genius, I would like to highlight the fact that his work is outstanding. 'The Chosen', a story on friendship and the hardships of religious conflict deals with youth and adolescence in such a beautiful manner...It led me to tears. For a book to draw out powerful emotion is quite something. I think Chaim Potok is so unbelievably talented. Please read the book, if you have time. If you're a history lover, because you'll learn so much on the history of the Jews in the late 19th century and early 20th, if you're a romantic because of Danny's inclinations and Reuven's confusion, if you're a zionist, if you're a lover of the Jews, if you're a hater of the Jews, if you like to read, if you're bored, if you're a boy, if you're a girl...just read the book, regardless of any trait you might have. It's really something. Stay tuned for more incompetent comments on art and literature.

'Start Up Nation'

Whoever thought that non-fiction was aso an art? I always thought it was a recollection of articles commenting on a certain thing, maybe a tad of editorial, but that's pretty much it. Recently, I started this book, 'Start Up Nation', because I was fretting over the fact that quite frankly, I was quite ignorant when it came to a theme many people associate me to, and that theme is Israel. 'Bombs and men beating their wives, you don't wanna go there.' Something I've heard over time. Well, yeah, 'x' stereotyped average human being is so wrong, but why? Israel is a great place: it's a coalition of opposing forces concentrated into one tiny nation-the size of New Jersey. It's an area of a dense, rich, thick flow of EVERYTHING: art, engineering, religion, sex, identity, creativity, pragmatism... It's THE place if you want to pursue something you've only just recently discovered and find out more about, for example, yourself (?) But that's all I have to say. For those who ask the legitimate 'How' and 'Why', I can't properly explain. 'Start Up Nation' does exaclty that. It helps you to explain the 'whys' and 'hows' of Israel. It's basically an entire editorial, complete with fun, witty annecdotes on chapters explaining the Israeli mind set, their social hierarchy, their battlefield techniques, their gumption. I have not finished it yet-it's one of those books which has a lot of ideas you can ponder over and come back to in due course. A recommended read, especially (and evidently) if you're interested in this little country's whereabouts and brief history. Or you want to become a leader/develop your leadership skills in a few hours; it's the perfect book, honest. Keep reading, my children.

The French Lietenant's Woman

The only book I've read by the (pedantic?) John Fowles. I found that the novel was, surprisingly, a modern, ironic intake on Victorian fiction, where Fowles lightly sprinkles a critical vision upon typical Victorian characters and literature. Delving deeper into the story though (no spoilers), the theme of the novel is truly that of appearance and reality, like so many other authors have chosen to interpret through their writing. It is the way in which we view ourselves, and the way in which we deem others and therefore, the way in which we consider others to either fit into our hibitual realms, how they as 'foreign elements' would fit into our norms of life, how we can mold ourselves to fit into theirs and, most importantly, whether it is necessary or whether we should merely continue with what we know and are comfortable with. Such is the case of Charles, Ernestina and Sarah, This peculiar love triangle, amidst a dense boast on how Fowles is so extremely talented and culturally educated, is what leads the reader to understand the deep and meaningful theme. It's true, Fowles is an extremely talented author-as far as I've read (my Fowles literature, as mentioned before, does not go beyond this novel). He proves it to us by taking a mundane theme and twisting it till the very end, where he offers us three possible endings to the story. None of this was truly impacting, but the way in which Fowles chooses to criticize the Victorian mind set and simultaneously create a work of literary art is quite wonderful.

The Golden Ratio

I had to mention it somewhere. The Golden Ratio is what defines the scientific and artistic balance in nature and even more so, in ourselves. Here is a mediocre definition: the Greeks sought the way in which nature could be so 'perfect', and they discovered a rectilinear, perfectly in proportion triangle which repeated itself often in their surroundings. As a consequence, they used this geometric polygon with beautiful proportions in their architecture; the Parthenon, the Venus of Milo, and later on, used in French architecture from the 12th century in the Notre Dame Cathedral amidst its gothic intake. Da Vinci incorporated it into his Mona Lisa, the modern masters realised it was the spotless subject in common when painting and drawing human figures. It remained that this beautifully proportioned rectangle was nature's cheat sheet. Apparently, it all started with the pentagram, which held mathematical proportions equal to the eventual ratio when taking two consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci series (where each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two, beginning with 0 and 1). One comes to realise that the ratio between the numbers begins to settle, and arrive closer and closer to the number 1.61... or Phi, also known as The Golden Ratio. A piece of information, when a ratio is 'golden', this means that the ratio of a to b is the same as the ratio of of b to the sum of a and b, in other words:
a : b = b : a+b
Beautifully complicated, right? But something still used today-we are influenced by Egyptian architecture, the Pyramids. They date back to the 1st Century BC. This has to mean something. Anyway, when it all comes down to it, everything is a hybrid of science and art. The Greeks knew it, the Egyptians knew it, and now the greatest thinkers, architects, artists of our time know it. And it will stay known. And I hope to find a more sophisticated definition of it someplace!