Baile Rochel Tries A "New" Art Medium

 Since, as my sister says: 

"We're from a family of artists."

I'm always on the prowl, the intrepid searcher, for a new art medium which will make me feel like one of the clan. Luckily my cheerful, optimistic disposition hasn't given up the fight against PTS post traumatic stress from all the times my horrendously unsuccessful attempts to draw and paint got me nothing but clear unmistakable mockery and criticism.

Thank Gd, a few decades ago I discovered photography and more recently mosaics which are art forms, art media, requiring no drawing at all. Jackson Pollock got away with splashing paint all over the place, but early in his career he showed that he could produce stunning realistic images. The same goes for Picasso. They didn't go abstract because they couldn't draw.

A few weeks ago I found myself signing up for a two session Pottery Workshop. There were two things going for it. One is that the price is subsidized, though I'm still not sure what it will cost, and secondly I envisioned myself producing a beautifully designed and molded mug for my morning coffee to be photographed for my daily #morningcoffeehaiku and #cinquains. 

The Art Center is a short walk from my house, but of course I got there ridiculously early and helped the young woman in charge set the room up. As the other participants showed up, I realized that they were young enough to be my granddaughters. I had even been at the weddings of the parents of two and am friends with their grandparents. But I'm used to being the oldest... Of course I was also the only one masked, since I don't know...

We finally got started an hour or more after I had arrived*, and my eyes were shooting poison arrows at the teacher. While we had been waiting everyone was chatting, and some were noshing. The leader kept asking me to participate, but I was embarrassed to say that I'm waiting for my hearing aids to be ready. They weren't even at the age of reading glasses. I could barely hear them, so I kept tuning out.

I understood the instructions, but deja vu nothing I tried to form looked like it was supposed be. The clay I rolled into strings looked like a snake that had feasted on a few mice, rather than the perfectly identical diameter strings I was supposed to produce. After trying to make some sort of bowl, similar to others, I gave up. My attempts looked like the awful "worst in the group" blobs of my childhood memories.

I squished it all together and decided to go in a totally different direction, a "plate" for the Passover Seder. 

"A Seder Plate?" my classmates asked.

"No, just something to place the matzah on." I answered.

"Maybe you should make it more perfectly round" they gently suggested when I was almost finished.

"No, hand matzah isn't usually perfectly round," I replied with the confidence of a true artist.

The teacher has taken all of our "pottery" to dry and then bake in her special oven/kiln. Next week, Gd willing we'll get to paint our art before being baked again. 

*Gd willing, I'll expand on this in the future, since this story is long enough.

Crocheted Bags, My Latest Hobby, Update

I've been having great fun crocheting. These are my latest bags. 

The bag with the yellow and pink, lower right even has a crocheted button. It wasn't hard to do, but now I can't find the youtube I got the instructions from. 

Crocheting the bags is amazingly, yes, surprisingly easy. No, I don't use a pattern. I crochet, but I know nothing about the theory, the technique or names of stitches. I crochet by intuition aka guess-work.

I really enjoy crocheting with jersey yarn, about 95% cotton. Before I made the bags, I crocheted potholders and small rugs. The bags are much easier. Many times I had to rip out lots of stitches when making the potholders and rugs. Round crocheting is much more complicated. Too much increase and it's floppy, worse than pizza dough badly tossed. And if you don't increase enough you're stuck with a bowl rather than a plate.

The base of the bag is sort of an oval, and after that just crochet without ever needing to increase or decrease the stitches. You just have to be careful to switch colors in the same basic spot on a side. 

Finally I found an easy solution to the "button problem." A couple of years ago, when I bough all sorts of beads to bead necklaces with my granddaughters, I bought some large beads. I sewed one onto the bag and then added a "hook."

Crocheting is so relaxing. And it keeps me from eating.

Enjoyed Israeli Election Day, Grandkids, Baking etc.

photo by Yisrael Medad, yes, my husband

Yesterday there were elections here in Israel for the third time in less than a year. Of course I voted. I even managed to color-coordinate my outfit to blue and white, almost matching the election paraphernalia at the polling station. It's a good thing that denim is blue.

The weather was still pretty wintery, though my friend and I took a nice morning walk. Due to cold, damp winds, I decided not to do laundry, but I was busy with lots of other "domestic" activities.

For me the highlight of Election Day is that some of our kids still come to Shiloh to vote. I set up a table with all sorts of arts & crafts activities for the two cutest and most creative pre-school girls. They each left with a bag of pipe-cleaners, with which they could create even in the car.



Yesterday we dined on my version of "orange" lentil vegetable soup, freshly made. It includes two types of lentils, orange and brown. Besides onions the vegetables are all orange, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. The only additional ingredients, besides water and some vegetable oil, are dehydrated dill, coarse salt and pepper. It was very easy to make; I just used one pot.



Besides voting and soup-making I baked. Between Purim and the next few Shabbatot, we're going to have to finish all this before Pesach. I used my standard recently tweaked challah recipe, which is very easy. I don't have a mixer. It was all hand-kneaded.

The cakes and cupcakes were a version of my standard basic simple one-bowl cake recipe, which I've been baking for almost half a century. This time I added mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Of course, I have almost always baked with brown sugar and whole wheat flour, nowadays 70% extra fine. And as I had mentioned earlier, I don't have a mixer. This was all mixed by hand with a large spoon, and the bananas were mashed with a simple low-tech potato masher.

New/Old Hobby or Baile Rochel Returns to Crocheting

"Baile Rochel" is my alter ego, or maybe she's the real me. Click "Baile Rochel" to read more of her writing.

Yesterday, when I was walking around the Talpiyot shopping aka industrial area, I found myself walking into a crafts store. I usually just walk around the Hadar Mall and then trek to Matan for a 12 noon class. But yesterday, I had been dropped off on a different street.

I love to window shop, always have, but suddenly I was attracted to yarn. It got a hold on me and pulled me in.

Before I realized what I was doing, I had picked out two packages of yarn and a crochet hook and announced to the salesman that I was going to crochet a scarf.

Of course, I've never crocheted a scarf before. I haven't a clue how to do it. The only thing I've ever crocheted has been hats and kippot (skullcaps.) There's a big difference between crocheting something round and crocheting something long which is supposed to have the same width all its length. Crocheting round things is very simple; it suits the technique.

Please don't tell me to follow a pattern, because I don't know how to do that either. I've always crocheted by "instinct" or common sense or just plain guesswork. And sometimes I've made a mess out of things.

There are two reasons I was pulled into this little/insane challenge. One is that I have a new jacket, the same dark blue as the yarn, and it needs a scarf. Two is I've been wanting to do something to help keep me awake and alert while at classes/lectures. Years ago, I did needlepoint pictures, but then I ran out of wall space. After that I kept myself happily busy crocheting hats. But after a few years I stopped wearing them. I prefer covering my hair with scarfs.

Of course, since I'm Baile Rochel, I didn't do any research, no google searches to try to find out any tricks to crocheting a scarf. I didn't ask anyone either. As the lecture began, I took the yarn and hook and tried to remember how to start. In all honesty, I was surprised at how long it took me to figure out what to do. And the start isn't exactly the same as for crocheting something round. But it's like what people say about riding a bike,You never really forget. Only crocheting is much safer. I wouldn't dare try to ride a bike after all these years/decades. If I goof up the crocheting, I can always undo the stitches or throw the mess out.

I crocheted a few rows and stayed awake during the lecture. That's good. There's no chance the scarf will be perfect, but I don't really care. As I tell my friends during my mosaics class, when they ask me what I'm making:

"It's the journey that's important."

What harm would it do to wear a crooked misshapen scarf, especially if the act of crocheting had helped me stay awake during expensive classes?

PS If you have some tips to help me crochet a scarf that doesn't look totally ridiculous, please write them in the comments, thanks.

Getting Ready for Retirement Year #2

This year I had a fantastic time between my mosaics in Shiloh, Matan and the Senior Citizens Program in Ofra, cheering Jerusalem Lions American Football team, plus having more time to see my children, grandchildren, other relatives and friends. I even knocked off a couple of nasty kilo which had crept back on while teaching.

Now I have to decide on next year. I'll stick with most of the same, but I want to find a substitute for the Ofra program. The two courses that attracted me to it in the first place won't be continuing. I don't want to travel as far as Jerusalem. I'm thinking of checking out Ariel. Does anyone have some ideas? It doesn't have to be for senior citizens. I'm, bli eyin haraa, not that old. It's pretty easy to get to Ariel from here, especially to the university.

Suggestions very welcome, thanks.

My Weaving Project, Finally in Use

Almost a full year after finishing my weaving project, I finally found something to do with it. You may notice that it has no name, other than "weaving project," because I never knew what I'd do with it. I just learned and experimented with weaving techniques. I hadn't done any real weaving since I was a little girl and made "potholders." 

Because of the spontaneous, unplanned patterns I had fun creating, I ended up with a strange shape, rather than a rectangle. And as it "settled," it became even less of a rectangle. One of the enjoyable things about weaving was that I could even take it home as I worked on it. It didn't leave a mess, nor did I have to change into clothes that could get messy.

This year, cleaning for Passover and trying to get rid of things, I even thought of giving it to my son's dog. Yes, I was that desperate. One of the reasons I didn't give it to her is that she's much bigger and wouldn't enjoy or fit sleeping on it. Then, also as my pre-Pesach purge, throwing things away, I decided to dump our two bathroom mats. That's because every-time I laundered them dirt would clog up the washing-machine filter. So instead of either buying another mat or using floor rags in the bathroom, I decided give my weaving project a purpose.

What do you think?

Now I really have a reason to smile!

What can one do with a work of art like this?

Removing the "work of art" from its loom.

Granny/Savta/Grandma Project With The Kids

I'm one of those annoying grandmothers who tries to keep the kids "busy" and "productive. The idea of just hanging around the house drives me crazy. 

You may remember some of my other "projects," some successfully done when they come to me, like soap-making and jewelry making.

As you can see in the pictures, I decided that painting on sweatshirts would be a great idea. I got the idea, because I have all these "souvenirs" from my time working at Yafiz, where I had to wear shirts and sweatshirts with the logo. Since I'm not the most talented in the artistic realm I thought that I could get my grandchildren to paint over the logo, so I could wear some of the clothes.

There ended up being just a couple of problems with it.

1. It's not cheap.
2. Only the youngest one out of the four grandchildren I was visiting even bothered trying to decorate/paint their new clothes.

At least she was enthusiastic, as you can see. She painted my old shirt, her mother's, father's and her own.

I left the special fabric markers with her and hope that she has fun decorating more clothes. Why not? She's named after an aunt of mine, an artist who had studied textile design.

Too bad the older kids weren't interested. Maybe they'll paint their clothes when I'm not around...

Back to Mosaics

Last week our "senior citizens" crafts activities resumed after a short summer break. We are still doing more mosaics than anything else. I'd love to find someone to help us with beading. I don't know enough about the finishing and the clasps etc. I guess I'll just have to bead at home and hope that I finish my work better. Also, I'm not crazy about the beads I've found so far. I need better sources. 

I now have two more mosaic "hot plates" to give as gifts.

There are also tissue boxes, picture frames and jewelry/"treasure" boxes which can be covered with mosaics. But somehow I just keep on taking the boards. The boxes also need to be painted in order to be really finished nicely.

My mosaics are very different from everyone else's projects. I only do abstracts. I let the colors speak to me and control me. Yes, I admit it sounds very flaky, but that's what I enjoy.

Craft Kit Rip-off

 You may have read my post from a few days ago about the lovely work, design and assembling, my not yet seven year old granddaughter had done with the beading supplies I had picked up in a Jerusalem Hobby supply store.  Not only had she chosen the beads I had bought for her teenage sisters, but I had looked forward to making necklaces from them, too. There was nothing at all childish in her taste and designs.

When I went over yesterday to spend time with the kids, I thought of bringing the bag of beads and clasps along with me, but since they have an arts & crafts supply closet at home, so I didn't.

I found a "necklace" kit, which had never been opened/used.

It wasn't quite as creative as the variety of beads I had purchased, but it looked interesting. So we opened it and checked the possibilities. We carefully followed instructions, and she used up all the usable* supplies making necklaces. We pasted what needed to be pasted with the enclosed glue and left everything to dry.

No surprise of course the glue didn't stick, and everything just fell apart. It did keep her busy for awhile, but that is all the kit accomplished. I just have to get more supplies from the regular hobby places. And while I'm there, I'll look for projects to suit her cousin, the young manicurist, too.

*One necklace clasp didn't work, glitter glue had dried out, and there weren't enough backings for the tiles.

Beading and More at "Camp Saba-Savta"

As my friend Debbie wrote, here in Israel it's very common for grandparents to conduct what are known as Kaytanat Savta, Camp Grandma to help entertain the grandchildren over the summer. When we do it, my husband also helps, so I'll call our camp "Camp Saba-Savta," Camp Grandpa-Grandma."

Even before my husband was retired from work, he had been working part-time and has been going weekly to be with the grandkids in Ofra, which is more than I'd managed the past few years while I was working in Yafiz and then teaching in Yeshiva Tichonit Ahavat Chaim. When they come to us in Shiloh for our "Camp Saba-Savta" both of us do things with the kids.

Of course, one of the big reasons is that our pool has separate swimming hours, male and female. That means that I take our granddaughters, and my husband takes our grandson. And when the females are at the pool, the "men" have to figure out something fun to do. I always look for a nice craft to do with the girls when the "men" are enjoying the pool. I must say that the three girls all swim well and absolutely love the water.

Two years ago my next door neighbor gave me soap molds to use, so we grated bars of soap and made fancy gift soaps. They remember it well.

This year I decided to do a beading project with them. That's how I ended up buying the nice red, black and white beads to make myself a new necklace. I set all the equipment up on the dining room table with a lot of plastic plates so the beads wouldn't roll all over the place. And the plates were also used for planning the necklaces.

I must admit that I was impressed at the speed, design-making abilities and how quickly the going to the 2nd grader caught on to the instructions. She ended up making two necklaces! My oldest granddaughter, who's about to enter high school, also had fun with the beading, though I think that I didn't buy the right style beads for her. None of the beads inspired the second one to even try. I have so many beads leftover... I guess I'll be doing more beading. Stay tuned.

Kids Fun in Center 1

There was a time when you could barely bribe people to enter Center 1, the "mall" near the Central Bus Station, at the corner of Yaffa and Yermiyahu. It was very "dead." Businesses didn't do well at all. But in recent years it has gotten very popular, especially with chareidim, probably those in all of the new housing developments within walking distance. It's also a short walk from the "Chardal" stronghold of Kiryat Moshe. I always see it full of families and lots of children.

This area between the orginal part of Center 1 and the addition added a few years ago is used for all sorts of temporary sales and events. During Hebrew Book Week, it was full of books. And now that it's that difficult time of summer vacation when the camps have closed, and the yeshivot are on breaks, too, they have children's activities. It is mobbed, but everyone seems to be having fun.

I Bit The Bullet and Beaded Myself a Necklace

At the wonderful TU B'Av Micholilot Bacramim celebrations at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, early last week I ended up buying myself a couple of new necklaces. It's not that I don't have any necklaces. It's just that my necklace collection was inherited from my mother and is rather old-fashioned. I was getting awfully bored wearing them. I've been attracted to the funky ones you can see here to the right. I also got a simpler and less expensive one from a different crafts stand.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew that I had to start making them myself. A few years ago a friend had put together a little workshop one afternoon for some of us, and I had a great time. I'd even been trying to get her to do it again, but it hadn't worked out.

Then last Wednesday I found myself in Jerusalem with time to "kill," and I didn't want to go near my favorite clothing store. Also, I needed to plan a project for when the big grandchildren come to visit. I found myself near "Hobby," which is a craft store. I decided to take a look, and before I knew it, I had bought all the equipment needed to make necklaces with my older granddaughters. I also found beads in just the colors I wanted for myself.  Yes, the picture on the left.

Somehow on Friday before Shabbat I just couldn't resist making myself a new necklace. It took me just a few minutes. I was rather shocked that I bought exactly the right amount of black and white beads necessary. I didn't measure anything except to count the six red beads. And I debated with myself whether to make it symmetrical or asymmetrical.

The clasp had me most nervous. I was terrified that I wouldn't remember the salesperson's instructions, or it just wouldn't work right. It pays to be a remedial teacher, because I kept repeating the instructions putting it into clearer and more simplistic language. I found a logic in it, too, which helped me remember.

To save money I didn't buy a special tool to close all the parts of the clasp insisting that a tweezer that doesn't grab the hairs well could do the trick. It was a risky gambit for sure.

I also only bought one type of string, even though I had chosen a number of different types of beads. I think they called it fishing line. It's stiff enough as to not need a needle.

First you tie a knot at the end, and then you somehow get the smallest of those three parts on the knot. Make sure there's at least an inch, a few centimeters of line; it helps to control the knot. Squeeze with tweezers.

Then put the middle-sized piece, close it with the tweezers. Maybe I should get stronger reading glasses just for this fine work.

I got "screws" instead of "hooks." They were recommended and look nicer, especially on the thin string. The last step is to attach the clasp and close it well with the tweezers. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised that it was easier than I had expected.

From beginning to end, making this necklace only took a few minutes, and remember that I had never done a complete one before including clasp. Of course I knew exactly what I was going to do with the beads. They had been bought in the exact quantity needed.

What do you think?

Now I have to find better places for buying beads, since I wasn't all that impressed with the selection at Hobby, though I like beading as my new hobby.