Three Squash, watercolor on paper
This coming week is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and it is traditional to put certain symbolic foods on the table (see my post from last year about the simanim). Yesterday I did this watercolor of three squashes (or simply ‘squash’ – looks like the plural can be with or without the ‘es’).
What to do with squash? One of my friends said she will make my squash into a delicious squash soup. Will she share the recipe? Hmm. I could chop up the zucchini and saute it with onions, fresh garden basil and a bit of tomato. The little pumpkin, I told my son, is too tiny for a jack o’ lantern, but I told him we could buy a bigger one for that purpose for Sukkot (holiday in three weeks). I will probably make a stuffed squash for Friday night.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my new “Websites for Small Biz” blog project. This morning I tried to put a fancy magazine theme on the new blog; the fancy shmancy theme crashed the blog, so I had to delete it. I will be experimenting with themes for a while on that blog. There are lots of details to fine tune on a new blog.
I am excited to have another guest blogger that I interviewed. She is from New Jersey, and she writes about: playgrounds! Come back on Wednesday to learn more.
Rosh Hashana is coming next week – for the Jewish New Year, Jews around the world are (supposed to be) preparing themselves spiritually for the day. I approach the upcoming holiday by exploring the simanim, the food symbols that we put on the table. Beets, pictured in the above watercolor, are one siman. More on the simanim next week.
Lee Avenue in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, illustration by Elke Reva Sudin How did you get started doing art?
I have always been an artist. It is a personality disorder that somehow becomes acceptable when channeled through pen on paper.
What was your childhood relationship to art?
Crayola
What is your training?
Growing up I had very little access to art or the artistic mentality. My parents are not artists and growing up in a religious school with no art program did not help either. I did what I could on my own but it was not until the age of 16 when I attended a pre-college program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) that I understood for the first time how representing subject through mark making could be such an enlightening experience.
College furthered what I had gotten a taste of in pre-college. Each of my 4 years gave me a deeper understanding of how any art is conceived, designed and constructed. I received a BFA in Illustration at Pratt Institute, an art and design college in Brooklyn.
What motivates you to do art?
Drawing from life. I enjoy the experience of translating one mode of experience into another. The illustration is an end product of my excitement to study and reflect without too much questioning during the process.
What in particular do you find difficult about doing “Jewish” art? Any conflicts?
The problem with “Jewish” art is that Judaism is built on the concept that God is infinite and we are contained within God. Therefore all our our earthly experiences are illusions because everything that we see as being separate, is really one unified entity. Whenever I attempt a “Jewish” art piece, it seems pointless to show material garments, ritual items and customs, because those only exist for us to find a way to connect with the ephemeral. It boils down and boils down until not even a blank white piece of paper to gives off true meaning. There is a reason we are commanded not to make graven images, people get absorbed in the image and not the meaning. I think this idea has helped Judaism survive for so long by the fact that no matter where we are in the world, we as Jews have no attachment to ritual as connected to physical things. The idea survives even when large portions of the population is wiped out.
My connection to Judaism is through action. So it is rather my process of creating the art, in which I connect to the infinite connections and acknowledging the spiritual path that it follows, that bring me to an end product which I feel is Jewish. Because there is no separation between my being and my artistic product, the product is inherently spiritual.
What would you suggest to someone who wants to learn art? Illustration?
The best advice I can give is to draw from life. Often times we draw from experiences, but our memories have a funny way of selecting what we remember, which is very limiting. Drawing from life opens up the artist to nuances and connections that would be otherwise hidden. Using our hands, we as artists have an easier time connecting to different parts of our brains, resulting in “happy accidents,” and allow us to take something physical and transform it into something representational and meaningful.
I studied illustration because it takes the principles of art and design and applies them in a more directed setting suitable for performing commercial work compared to what is generally taught in the contemporary fine art educational setting. Direction is important, because without focus artists tend to turn to their own desire to be admired by others, rather than contributing their abilities to the enlightenment of the public.
Can you tell us about the Hipsters and Hassids project?
I constructed an illustrated book titled “Hipsters and Hassids: The Youth of Williamsburg North and South.” It is an investigative illustrative study which discovers the surprising similarities these seemingly polar opposite communities have in common. I went inside the neighborhoods, with a strong focus on the Hassidic side, particularly concerning the women, to see first hand what life is like behind the surface is like. One of the biggest misunderstandings (and commonalities) is that both sides are so off-putting. On the Hipster side they sell their look and lifestyle as a product. Life is valued by the self absorbed fascination with the party, the outfit, and obscure references to music and culture, but lacking any meaning which had once held strong associations to those things. On the Hassidic end of things they are very protective of preserving their customs and way of life and outside influences are harmful in that respect. The truth is that people are the same everywhere, there will always be people open and close-minded, self absorbed and absorbed in other things, those of respect and those who bring shame to the human race, but the important thing is to remember the unity that all people share. We are all a part of this world for a reason and an obsession with particular fashions just aint it.
Traffic, Acrylic On Canvas by Jill Caporlingua, 2009
Jill’s painting of Traffic has been voted among 12 other artists’ work to be displayed in New Jersey. Beginning the week of August 17th, Traffic will be on a billboard on Route 9 at Ticetown Road in Middlesex County. Congratulations, Jill! Jill is my children’s art teacher and a friend.
Watercolor Effect Applied to Photo of Girl Walking in Creek
I took several photos of my daughter’s adventurous friend walking in the creek at Howell Farm in Mercer County, New Jersey.
Creek Walk with Colors, Photo taken in August 2009 at Howell Farm, New Jersey
I did this almost 6 years ago, when my daughter was one. It’s a combination of graphite, watercolor and crayons on paper. As I haven’t had a chance to do art lately (work, work, work –> keep that web work coming!), I love the opportunity to share this portrait with you.
I was looking at my daughter when I drew this. So I can’t say it is “of her” but rather inspired by her presence. When she saw it, she declared, “but I’m not purple.” She seemed to be OK about my posting this intense work of art. Executed in fine children’s crayons on old spiral notebook paper, it is available for the asking price of a mere $1,000. Should I add another zero to that figure? Any bidders?
Do you think it’s blog-worthy? Well, here it is. I had a hard week last week (family stuff: my father is doing well now, thanks), and I was concentrating on concentrating on doing my work (and that second ‘concentrating’ is not a typo: when life gets stressful, doing what one needs to do can take a lot of energy).
What do you do when life feels stressful? Do you write about it, talk about it, run around the block, play music?
My daughter painted this on Sunday afternoon. I only did the blue background, at her request, because she felt I would be more careful about not painting over the objects in the painting. I also did one darker green line, in my efforts to show her that if one adds a color in several different tones (say, light, dark and medium), one can achieve more of a sense of realism. My daughter wasn’t terribly interested in my words of wisdom, but she did request that I put this on the blog. She was looking at my geranium perennial when she painted this; I hope to post some photos of that lovely plant sometime in the next week or so.
Yes, it is another exciting episode of What Do You See?, brought to you by Leora and her daughter. The daughter specifically requested that this be put online. Any thoughts, ideas, ponderings about what is going on this drawing?
