Thursday, February 27, 2014

New Exhibition "Woman Woman"

Last Friday I traveled up north again.
I am participating in a new exhibition "Woman Woman" opening this weekend in the Chagall Artist House in Haifa. -http://www.ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=181
I am proud to be part of one of the many exhibitions opening this month, in honor of International Woman's day.
I will be exhibiting one oil painting, and two drawings from my nursing series.
Here is the invitation to the exhibit and opening


And here are the works being exhibited-







Thursday, January 16, 2014

Last Friday.....

Last Friday was the opening of the group exhibit I am participating in, at the Nirale Gallery, in Beit Lechem Hagalilit, and it was a beautiful sunny day to spend  in Emek Israel. 
When I think of the Emek(Valley of Jezreel) I think of Earthy smells,  Deep earthy colors of browns and greens,  and the paintings of Eli Shamir.   
Here are  few of my favorites:






If you want to read about this amazing Israeli artist, his connection to the Emek, and enjoy more of his paintings check out this site;
http://english.elieshamir.co.il/

Just being in this part of the country for a few days is pure serenity. The fact that my art was being exhibited there, made it even more special.
The exhibition is amazing( If I may say so myself) Thanks mostly to the curater Nurit Wolpe.  
She manages to give every one of the 13 Artist exhibiting the honor they deserve.
I truly feel honored to be exhibiting along with these artist.


The exhibit is called Couples Therapy. Every artist  giving their interpretation on the theme. Showing the hardship and beauty of being part of a couple.
Two Artist in particular that I would like to share with you.

Sharon Schwartz Boraks is a mosaic artist. She exhibits a  Structural Mosaic " Sleeping with separate blankets"



Check out her website -http://www.glassandmore.co.il/

Edna Piorko is a Ceramics Artist, and she exhibits her amazing sculptures



Her websites:
http://www.etsy.com/il-en/shop/ednapio
https://www.facebook.com/edna.piorko

Here are some picture from the exhibit ( First picture is of me and my paintings)











 All in all, It was an amazing day. Perfect even. I was surrounded by nature, color, beauty, and amazing people.
Here are some pictures I took later in the day. You can see how Eli Shamir does justice to the landsape.....
All the pictures were taken on my phone, so the quality isn't the best. Although, I'm not sure if that is my cameras fault or mine!
Don't be surprise if one of these turns into my next painting.










Wednesday, January 8, 2014

New Exhibit opening this Friday

Four of my paintings will be in this group exhibit opening  Friday 10.1.14 at 11:00am, in one of the most beautiful places in Israel - Beit Lechem Haglilit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem_of_Galilee)
Here is a link to the Gallery page with map of how to get there. https://www.facebook.com/niralegallery
If you are in Israel, I highly recommend a visit! Not only to see my art  and the others in the exhibit, But to visit such a beautiful place full of history and  beauty.
I will post pictures soon...

Thursday, July 18, 2013

New Exhibit- The Story of the Creative

I am happy to share with you the news of a new exhibit.
Three of my paintings will be part of an exhibit in New York this summer.
"The Story of the Creative" will  be opening next week at the "Angel Orensanz Foundation for Contemporary Art" in New York City. and will be showing until September 10th.
Here is a link to the event:
http://tmblr.co/Z9eICxoKkV27

I am also part of a competition to get into another exhibit, this time in Paris. If you don't mind going into this link and voting for me, I would be very grateful!
http://deena.see.me/atp2013

Thank you!!!

I hope your creative force takes you on amazing journeys as well....


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Online Studio

After my last blog confession, about not painting lately and feeling uninspired, I have decided to start posting more about the lessons I give in my studio.
 I have been very creative in my teaching lately and have had a lot of fun coming up with new and challenging ideas for classes. I know that I  love reading blogs with ideas for lesson plans, and from creative moms who post their ideas of what to do with their kids.

I have been teaching for quite some time now and have accumulated a lot of very successful lessons for all ages. All tried and tested on my lovely students! Before I started teaching I was inspired by the many creative ideas I found on-line and in books. I love and have always loved Art History. I collect art history books, and love to read about artists and how and why they do/did what they do/did!  I learned to appreciate a lot of different types of art which I didn’t always understand before. When my boys were younger, I wanted to share this with them and used a lot of online lesson plans and books to help me learn how to pass this on to my children. I found I was very good at this; probably because when you love something so much it shows through and is contagious! My kids use to (Ha! Did I really just use past tense!!!?? ) have lots of friends over and I noticed how much they enjoyed creating with us and learning about art. This was a huge influence on my decision to go back to school and not just learn art but become certified art teacher. I wanted to learn how to teach art to others.  I started to teach a small group of 8-10 year old girls in my home while I was still in school. It was so much fun!!

Since then, I have not looked back. I finished school and opened my own studio where I still teach not only kids, but all ages. My students range in age from  6 to 90. Every age has its challenge. I am very grateful for my classes in art education. You really have to know what is appropriate to teach for each individual based on personality, learning style, capabilities and age. I am still learning, of course. I learn from my students every day. But those lessons online really gave me the push to try with my own kids and then with others.

SO…My wish is that this new part of my blog inspires you to try some of my ideas at home. Whether you are a grown up or a kid, a teenager or an art student, I hope you will find something here. I will give lessons for all ages and examples of my students’ art (with their permission, of course). Feel free to use these ideas with your kids or students or if you home school, to add on to your curriculum.

I'm calling this new part of the website/blog "Online Studio" Please feel free to stop by and create with us!
Sending creative energy your way,
Deena

Friday, May 24, 2013

I haven’t been writing much lately (as you probably noticed). Actually, I have not been so great with my painting lately either! That is hard for me to admit; maybe that is why I haven’t been writing… my guilt of not creating? How can I write about creating and trying to inspire others when I can’t inspire myself?  But, I suddenly realized that that is not true. I do inspire others! Everyday! THAT I have been doing. In my studio. In my classes. Wow! I do that EVERYDAY. What a realization! So, no- I haven’t really been painting lately. I can now openly admit that. I have been sketching a lot and drawing in my journal. But that’s like meditating. It’s for me-to help me focus. But, everyday I teach others. Everyday I get to have people in my studio, my amazing students, whom I hopefully inspire, but who definitely inspire me. That is a blessing. I am so lucky.
I am sharing today some personal pages from my journal. I hope they will inspire you to draw or paint or even doodle as I do sometimes. These are not paintings. These are pages from my journal that I usually start my day with. Like I said, to me this is like my morning meditation. I start my day with my coffee and my journal and just start drawing whatever comes out. Sometimes it’s words, sometimes images or just doodles. I have seen online, that there is a name for these doodles now, called Zen doodles. It makes sense, since the process of doodling like this is very meditive. The process is like meditation where you are super focused on the shapes and images you are creating and in such, you relax your body and soul.
If you want to create and don’t know where to start, this is a great way to start. It gets the creative juices flowing in a very non- threatening way. Anyone can do it! Even my 7 year old has started to do these! 







Enjoy. Create. And have fun!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Let's get back to the spirals, and how it all began…




I have written before that I have doodled spirals since I was little; in school, while on the phone, when I was bored…I loved to doodle. There is something very calming in drawing a spiral.
But my real connection to the shape and my more conscience connection happened in art school.
It was in one of my art education classes on teaching art to people with special needs. The course was a combination of academic text reading and writing papers, and art therapy exercises we did on ourselves. Then we would practice what we learned in working with others. I loved that class!  The teacher was very insightful, and I learned a lot about myself in that class, which has helped me as a teacher and artist. I remember that in one of her classes, the teacher talked about the spiral mandala. This was the first time I had ever heard of a Mandala. I don’t remember if she taught us of the different religions that use the Mandala;  I just remember her talking about the difference in drawing a spiral starting from the outside to center or from the center out. If you start at the center, working your way out in spiral motion, you are spreading your strength out into the world; where as if the spiral is drawn from the outside toward the center, you are collecting your strength inwards. I loved that! All of a sudden this shape I had been drawing since I was little had meaning. This wasn’t only a shape; it continues endlessly and repeats itself. The importance is in its strength.
After that, the spirals started to appear in my art work. At first, it was in exercises in that class. We had to draw an instinctive drawing of our family and I drew myself holding all my children in my arms, my arms spiraling around them, holding them close. In another class, we had to draw a peaceful moment. All I could think of was that moment in the morning when I first got up, before everyone else in the house. I always set my alarm 15 minutes early, so I could have a cup of coffee in peace and quiet before I started my day. I loved those 15 minutes! It was, in those days, the only time I had to myself. So I painted my coffee cup from above, the way I see it every morning.
And again the spirals... Now remember, this was an exercise and not a fully developed painting, but an idea, a concept, a connection was starting to come together in my art  and in my head.
At first the spirals were chaos, a whirlwind of emotion going through my mind that never shuts off….but then…in the cup of coffee…in those 15 minutes every morning. Gazing into my mug of sanity, I saw my spiral. I saw my calm, my serenity.
I am sure it had everything to do with what was going on in my life at that time.
This was the same year my daughter was born and my mom was battling breast cancer.
And now this shape, that I instinctively have always drawn, was starting to develop a very deep meaning to me. It was not only a doodle. It was giving me strength and eventually it helped me put myself back into the world where I could. The direction of my spiral changed as my life did. I became more aware of this shape, shaping my life.
I started to use this shape more concisely in my art.  The first time was when I sat down to paint my belly cast from when I was pregnant with my daughter.

I casted my belly at the end of my pregnancy and the plan was to paint it after she was born. After we had met her.
I have written before of the influence on my art during this time, but this really was the beginning. This class that I had taken, and the connection I was starting to develop with this shape, would shape my art and my emotions. It started here in this work of art. It isn’t my most beautiful piece, but it is one of my most meaningful. I put all my emotions from the pregnancy and after into this sculpture. The spiral is here. It was starting to speak to me and make sense. I could express my feeling of the pregnancy through the colors. For some reason, throughout that whole pregnancy, I was in pink/purple mode! Now you have to understand, I am NOT a pink/purple girl. I am a more green/brown girl, so these colors that were in my head, and had come through in my paintings during the pregnancy, had to be on the cast. And the spiral- It started at my bellybutton, where I had been giving her life and moved out from there.
Her name and birth date are in the center moving out with the spiral, going out into the world. And my hands are on the top - resting on my belly like all mothers do during pregnancy; feeling the movements of their unborn child, talking to and connecting with this child even before he or she is born. While we still hold them inside and protect them.
We give our children life, and  bring them into this scary world. We are the beginning of THEIR spiral. Our job (as I see it) is to give them the tools to continue on their spiral path through life. At first we protect them, we are their everything; but slowly they develop into themselves, into their own spiral. Still gaining strength from us but learning to move out into the world.
You can see how the spiral started to influence my art and thinking. I started to see everything this way. And when I started to learn more about the spiral in literature, science and religion it made even more sense to me. But let’s leave that for another blog……..