Shabbat Tapestry.

Through closed eyes, flames dance
Prayers are sent heavenward
Sabbath peace descends
Toby Goldsmith


Lynne Feldman grew up on Manhattan's upper west side. She attended the High School of Music and Art, New York University and has a master's degree in art education from Columbia University. Her formal art training began at the age of 12 at the Art Students League of New York where she continued to study drawing and painting there for the next 15 years.
It was not until 20 years into her career as a painter that Ms. Feldman began to explore Judaic themes in her work. What began as an expression of emotion in response to her grandparents' death became a passion, a profound need to convey Jewish culture on canvas.
Her work has been reproduced in Moment magazine and on the covers of Hadassah and Lilith and Tikkun magazines, and has been used by the United Jewish Appeal, B'nai B'rith and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Her painting "Purim Dance", commissioned by Temple Beth David in Westwood, Massachusetts, was featured in the recently published book The Jews in America: A Treasury of Art and Literature.
Ms. Feldman's work has been shown at the Skirball Museum in Cincinnati, the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, and many galleries, universities and JCC's around the country. In 1992, she was award the simon Rockower Award for Illustration in Journalism. Ms. Feldman lives in Rochester, NY with her husband and two children.

Shabbat Shalom.

Shabbat in the Sukkah...

Every time I think I have exhausted my ability to find a new artist I surprise myself with a novel discovery! Lynne Feldman of Rochester NY was an oil painter but the proximity of her studio to a Fabric Store inspired her to dabble in Fabric Collage. Thank goodness for LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!! Lynne describes her process: I begin each piece as I would an oil painting by stretching canvas over wooden stretchers strips. The entire composition for the work is then drawn onto the canvas in charcoal. Fabric is then cut and pieced to fit into the shapes of the drawing as well as painted with acrylic paints. I layer the work back and forth with fabric and paints until the surface of it is thick and rich in color, pattern and texture. When the collage is completed, it is removed from the stretchers and sewn onto a colorful fabric backing. Tabs (much like those on curtains) are sewn onto the top and the piece is suspended from a brass rod. The finished piece can be suspended from a ceiling or loosely from a wall. The effect of this kind of display is a gentle undulation in the fabric as in more conventional tapestries.

And for your Sukkot reading pleasure buzz on over to J. to read a story about Jews, Bears and why the two should never meet in a Sukkah (which reminds me if you have not read Once Upon a Shabbos you really need to do so).

And remember: Honey, honey. Sweet as Shabbos!