Renewal

Renewal

It happens
A magical trick of nature
Almond blossoms surprise us sparkling white in a bare landscape one sunny cold morning
Suddenly the charred branches of a ravaged forest swim in lime and emerald grasses and red poppies
And so caught unaware with pulsating life even after sorrow
We grow some new fresh green limb
We are embraced reborn

התחדשות

בוקר אחד, קר ושטוף שמש, קסם הטבע מפתיע אותנו עם שקדיות – לבן צח בנוף עירום . פתאום הענפים השרופים שוחים בירוקים ובכלניות.

כך חיינו לפעמים מפתיעים אותנו ביופי אפילו אחרי עצב. מחובקים אנחנו נולדים שוב רכים וירוקים.

When spring came to the Carmel after the terrible fire in 2011, the black branches of the scorched trees swam in riotous greens and fields of wildflowers. That was the inspiration for these works done in the spring and summer of 2011. Nature pulsates with life even after death.

For those of you who know my textile art, this exhibit may be a surprise but collage was a medium I used in the past

In early 2009, nine months after I had lost my husband Gerald, I missed his touch so much that I started a series of small collage and acrylic canvases made of details of photos I had taken of him over the years. I worked with photo and paint to struggle to reach some visual way to memory since my memories were blocked from me.

The nature of memory was a mystery to me. Does the photo tell the truth more than the paint? Or can the paint evoke the emotion, the texture of the times. Does the whole photo tell the story or can a detail be isolated and speak in a new direct way? That series led me back to collage. This technique of collage and paint helps me explore realm between what is seen and what is remembered, what is fact and what is felt.

February, 2012.