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.

New Crocheting Project, A Bag

I crocheted a bag of sorts. Once I realized that I had pretty much run out of recipients for my hotplates and potholders, I heard that people use the Jersey yarn to crochet bags. So I thought about it.

Of course, I can't follow crocheting patterns. I just do what makes sense to me and rip it out if it doesn't look good/right. So, to be honest, I hadn't a clue not only how to crochet a bag, but what it would look like.

A few weeks ago, when checking out different stores to buy yarn, I saw a crocheted bag and took a "good look." That gave me a bit of an idea.

Next I asked friends who'd be interested in a crocheted bag, colors and dimensions. One friend said she was interested, so I started the project. Soon I realized that I'd need some sort of button to close it. I looked in the "things" in my house, but didn't find anything suitable.

That meant that I had to go button hunting in Jerusalem. I asked on facebook for recommendations of which stores would have a nice selection of buttons. The first couple of stores I went to were closed up, out of business. That wasn't expected. Both had been around a long time. I used to buy needlepoint thread in one of them and that was decades ago. So I found myself exploring and bought buttons.

I finished crocheting the bag. Of course, I realized that I had made a stupid mistake, but my friend accepted the risks, knowing she was the guinea pig.

Next bag should be better, Gd willing.

First Trip Out of Town Since Corona COVID-19 Pandemic

I ate delicious Orange Soup in Piccolino

I must tell you the truth. If I hadn't had a dentist appointment this morning, I never would have left Shiloh. But our dentist is in Jerusalem, and the appointment had been postponed for long enough. Corona COVID-19 Pandemic or not, I masked up and got on the bus.

It took a lot of self-control, but I decided that I wasn't going to confront anybody not wearing a mask. Though I'm debating whether or not to report the bus driver to the authorities. Most of the passengers on the bus wore masks, at least most of the time and other parts of their face. Davka, in Jerusalem the compliance rate of mask wearing was better than in Shiloh, especially on public transportation.

First glimpse of Jerusalem!

Of course I had to take off my mask at the dentist and at Piccolino. The dental staff was suited up in disposable suits looking like characters in a science fiction movie.  Aren't we all?

Besides the bus from Shiloh to Jerusalem and back, I traveled in the lightrail and a couple of other buses. The city seemed a bit less crowded than usual. Restaurants and stores seem to be suffering greatly. There are very few customers.

Before returning home, I bought more of the "jersey" or "t-shirt" yarn to crochet more small rugs, hotplates and potholders. When I had stocked up a few months ago, I was certain that I had a supply that would last me a few years. Zooming has gotten me crocheting a lot, and my family and friends are happy the get the results of my hobby.

The only little "incident" was on the lightrail when a woman began yelling at another one for not having her mask on. A few others joined in taking sides, but I had promised myself not to "make waves." The unmasked woman put her mask on eventually, after she finished her phone call.

May we all be healthy, and may this Corona COVID-19 pandemic end soon, Gd willing.

Helpful reminders to clean and mask at Piccolino.

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.

Decorated New Phone Case

Yesterday I went down one of the main commercial streets in downtown Jerusalem looking for a case for my new smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi A2. But it was a waste, because they haven't gotten any nice ones in.

So far the worst thing about the phone is that it's black, and nice colorful cases for it haven't been marketed here in Israel for it. Apparently, it does come in other/nicer colors, but the store I bought it in only had black.  I need a simple case, since I carry it in my pouch/fanny-pack. All I could find was clear or black.

It occured to me that I could decorate it with stickers, and I envisioned pretty colorful flowers all over the freebie case that came with the phone.

So, this morning I went into the local toy etc store for stickers. They didn't have what I wanted, so I spoke to the owner who pointed to special stickers, davka for phones. Of course, I hadn't had a clue there were such things.

The total price was NS8, or just over $2- and a few minutes of cutting and pasting.

Granted I don't have the phone case of my dreams, but I'm happy with it, B"H. It's certainly fine for the time being.

Mosaic Havdalah Plate in Use

Since I have a pile of abstract mosaics waiting to be given as gifts or whatever, I began making purposeful mosaics in the senior citizen craft class I go to. The last one I completed before the Passover break is a שבוע טוב Shavua Tov, Good Week for my son-in-law, to be used for the post-Shabbat Havdala ceremony.

I was so happy when they sent a photo of it in use!

Mosaic Havdala Tray

After making too many useless abstract " It's all in the journey" mosaics, it finally hit me that mosaics is a great craft medium for Judaica.

What do you think of our new Havdala Tray?

Mosaics Rough Edges

My latest mosaics projects are still in need of finishing. Polishing and ridding rough edges are harder than any other stage for me.

I am happy to have discovered Judaica for my mosaics theme.

Beading Fun

I wanted a necklace to go with this shirt. So I placed poured beads of "matching" colors on top of the shirt. 

And then I created this necklace.

What do you think?

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.

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.

Last Mosaics for a Month

Retirees don't get "vacations," but our "activities" do. So, very sadly, the next few Sundays I won't be enjoying my "arts & crafts" with the other "senior citizens." Yesterday I finished off one mosaics project and started another one.

Besides using two shades of green, this one has a lot of strong solid colors and is very different from my others. 

I really like the oval shaped wooden boards the best, but we've been all out for quite awhile. That's why I had been doing round ones. But then yesterday, I couldn't even find a round board, so I started a square. That's a very different challenge.

The colors and the shape of the board give me inspiration, and I found the square very disorienting. Because I'm not used to dealing with all these straight lines, I decided to frame the outside edges first. When working on a round or oval board, I frequently start from the middle, then frame it and finally fill it in. This time I really felt that I was starting from scratch, like when I did my first couple of mosaics.

I'm not very happy with this one. It's missing something, and I hope that when we resume sessions, in about a month I'll solve the problem. What do you think?

More Mosaics

It never occurred to me that I'd have so much fun doing mosaics. I'm so glad that it is the main craft we do in our little "senior citizens workshop" once a week. There are a couple of reasons for this. We have a couple neighbors who can lead it, and one of them is a retired teacher, so she's good at explaining what to do. she's available most weeks.

And of course, we love doing mosaics. I'm having an absolute blast. It's definitely a new favorite art/crafts medium. All of our work is a bit different. There's no "right" and "wrong." And I don't have to make my "projects" look like anything in particular. I let the colors guide me.

After next Sunday, we're on "summer break." I'll miss the fun creating something. I do still have a small weaving project to complete. It's home, so if I feel the need to do something artsy, I won't have to go crazy, like "withdrawal."

Here are my two newest projects, that already have the filler, and they're home.

And here's the one that isn't finished yet. I have to paste more colored pieces and then when it's fully dry, after the summer break, add the filler/sealer.

As you can see, I vary my work, depending on my mood and how the colors "want" to be. There's a certain dynamic in it that I have no control over...

and Another Mosaic Begun

Yesterday was another chance for me to do mosaics with the "senior citizens." OK, I'm a senior citizen, golden-ager, alte kocke or whatever term you prefer. I started a new project. Here it is:

PS Please don't ask me what it is. OK?

Weaving, "It's all in the journey..."

My weaving teacher pulled the whatever off of the loom for me and did some finishing on it.



So, now I have to figure out what to do with it.

I was getting pretty annoyed, or stressed from everyone asking me, so I began answering:

"It's all in the journey..."

Sounds flaky, but it's pretty accurate. In all honesty, I get more out of the creativity in the weaving, in figuring out where the colors should go and how to shape them, and then discovering techniques on my own. Besides that, it's very exciting to discover that there are art forms, art media that my particular talents can excel in after hearing how I'm "not talented in art" throughout my childhood. I feel like I'm making up for lost time, wasted decades and worse.

"Old age" is a "second chance" in a way. It's also a last chance, because we don't live forever. So I really enjoy and appreciate that now I can participate in the senior citizens activities on Sunday. And even more, I am so grateful that we get two hours of crafts. It's like a dream come true in many ways.

My new weaving project is very different. It is much smaller. It's round, and I'm using threads I donated from what's left after I had crocheted hats. And, of course, I'd prefer you not ask me what this is going to be, thanks.