When I was 12 years old my grandmother taught me how to sew, she said "a girl with golden hands will never be left without bread on the table",
My grandmother survive financially during world war 2 in Turkey by going up and down stairs with her sawing machine, she bought her own house in Israel from a client that she was making clothing for, promised her to make her clothing for free during the next year after the purchase.
For every artist there's the clean shiny PR text that you can easily
reach on Google, curriculum vitae, or should I say Ridiculum vitae… that show
everyone our lists of goals achieved, list of exhibition and prizes. But what
it doesn't show is the dirty hands that can't stop working, the bustling brain
that can't take a rest. A busy messy studio that you can hardly find your hands
and legs inside but it's impossible to throw anything away as it might be the
only missing thing for our next project.
Let me introduce you to an artist I admire, I meet her in the street of
my Kibbutz, look up to her thinking someday I want to be just like her, hiking Chinese
mountains with sport sandals at the age of 80, and searching the beach sand every
morning for a new and inspiring textures for my next art.
Lea Livne born 1935 in Israel. Member of Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael. Took
art courses in Haifa, oil and water colors with Haim Naor. Completed studies at
Avni Institute, with emphasis on etching under Touvia Beeri.
Art training in Paris with painter Jean Clarte of Heiter art.
Through the years, Lea developed innovative printing techniques and
different ways to express them.she combines modern technology and more
conventional printing methods cartons.
Recently, Lea has been using a specific etching technique; drawing on
paper, combined with printing ink on different types of rollers.
With the introduction of internet sites in the art world, Lea has become
associated with art centers, museums and artists associations, not only in
Israel, but around the world.
Lea exhibits her work primarily in international group shows.
As I was working toward my upcoming exhibition for Joya Barcelona jewelry design week, a dear friend of mine said " Hey, I can get you any model around the globe to model for your postcard"
it did sound like nice fiction, but then she just made it happened...
Yael Hertzog, B.O.D graduate of fashion design at
"Shenkar" prestige fashion collage (2003), started her designing
career from "Wizo France" high school at the department of fashion
design.
During
her studies at Shenkar, she chose to specialize in costume design for all
Performing Arts. Since completing her studies, she designed costumes and set
for some of the leading best artists and theaters all over the country.
Illustrating
was a talent she began to develop on the early age of 4.
Since
then through her career, illustration was always a great part of her work.
Since
2012, she leveraged her talent by taking advanced graphic courses and even
developed a unique illustration technique on Photoshop
today
she specializes in fashion illustration for designers, boutiques, and fashion
houses all over the world. For clothing, accessories, shoes and jewelry,
her services include: sketches and technical illustrations to a complete
illustrated catalog or a magazine ad.
you are more then welcome to visit Yael at her own web site for more information.
Field of Jeans, CatalyticClothing at Chelsea College of Art. Image credit: Jon Daughtry
What would you say if I tell you that your pair of jeans can purify the air?
That we can walk around and purify the air that we breathe just with the
help of our very own clothing… sounds like science fiction, right?
Well not any more…
Artist and designer professor Helen Storey and scientist professor Tony
Ryan have been collaborating on this amazing project that explores how clothing
and textiles can be used as a catalytic surface to purify air.
The scientific key is adding Titanium dioxide to the fabric (best used
on denim), that, when exposed to lite and air – it reacts and naturalizes
harmful pollutants around it.
The idea is that virtually anyone will be able to use this formula on
the clothes they wear, by using a laundry additive that is now in development in our own laundry machine,
that way we will soon be cleaning the air around us as we walk…
Helen Storey and Trish Belford making 'Herself'. Image credit: Aoife Ludlow
I think it is so interesting that in some places around the globe,
artists and designers are collaborating with science to improve
their abilities and collections, in an effort of bettering the environment and the atmosphere
around us.
So I guess I was right about textile being the key to saving the world
after all…
As a textile designer
by profession, I am always looking for ways to apply textile patterns and techniques
on metal.
For example when I was working in
collaboration with fashion designer Adva bruner for duende for the TLV fashion
week runway show, we looked for a way to make tie -dye textile colors over
metal jewelry parts. That's how I discover the patina, an antique Greek
handmade coloring technique that actually resembles the tie- dye technique in
textile design, Adva was looking for ways to create waves in knitting and I was
searching for the look and feel of treasures drawn from the ocean.
This lead to
the patina collection, in Sparkling blue and natural green colors like
treasures lurking at the dark.
The
role of color in sculpture and decorative arts was significant from the very
beginning.
In
ancient times, metals that were most resistant to the changes resulting from
heat and the surrounding atmosphere, were actually considered nobler, and were
used for the more important artifacts,
however, the
inheritors of those traditions had a revived interest in the artifacts of
earlier periods that had the natural patination, produced mostly from long
burial. These objects were collected and studied.
The
growing interest in classicism such as in renaissance Italy and the Chin dynasty
in china, resulted in the desire to imitate the natural patination that was
associated with a prized artifact, this led to artificial patination being a
finishing process in its own right used on contemporary work.
Most
of the basic processes of metal work involve the use of heat, which results in
changing the metal surface into oxides. With just the touch of heat, air,
oxygen or any other chemical materials, even from our own kitchen supplies can be
used into making a beautiful color to wear.
For instance, putting metal next to
vinegar fumes in a closed box for 24 hours will result in a green patina layer,or bury them in a plastic bag next to a rotten egg.
Color
might be considered less important in the making of sculpture or craft, as it
is a separate process applied to the object after its making, but in many cases
it's actually a key factor in the visual coherence of the object, and there for
it is of great importance.
It
is also interesting to think of color not as an added layer, but as a surface and a material
on its own, with growing life and emerging colors that keep evolving and
changing and growing on the surface.
I've
met Kiff Slemmons at the Norton Art Museum in West Palm Beach Florida last
month,
And
I am the proud owner of her book: "Kiff Slemmons & Arte Papel
Oaxaca"
That I would love to share with you.
The
book, just as meeting Kiff in real life doesn’t begin to explain how great an
Artist she is… Kiff herself is the most generous, quiet and modest artist that
I've ever had the honor of meeting.
From
the book:
Kiff
Slemmons Joined the "arte papel oaxaea" a project founded by the
artist Francisco Toledo.
It
is a facility for making paper, located in the mountain village of Vista
Hermosa in Mexico.
The
idea of this project was to revive past technologies and provide work for the
local people.
The
project was based on a dependable local resource of water which were crucial to
the process and renewable fiber of local plants grown in the area.
Artist
invited by Toledo, worked with the artisans to create both traditional and
innovative uses for the handmade paper.
Kiff
Slemmons was invited to contribute her knowledge of jewelry.
She
took on the challenge of designing in paper rather than metal, and came to work
with the local artisans to create paper jewelry that they can reproduce. Focusing
on solid production that could provide income for
the artisans.
After
having a small local exhibition in the institute of graphic arts in Oaxaca,introducing
the activity of the workshop to the community, Kiff kept returning for 2-3
weeks a year, creating a strong working relationship with the woman, built on
trust, mutual respect and the true pleasure and pride in the making of
beautiful and unusual jewelry .
Their
combined efforts and skills enabled such innovation in unusual circumstances
and limited resources
.
I was
more than proud standing next to artists like Kiff in the "BIJOUX"
exhibition at Norton art museum, as a textile designer I am fascinated with the
fact that we can use our design skills to help to improve other
I would like to introduce you the a wonderful artist singer that I had the
pleasure of working together to create my new Journey collection video,
Noa Bentor ,thank you for amazing song that made my video touchable
and emotional, just the way I pictured my emotional journey while making this
collection line.
Seriously I could talk forever, but I rather just let you listen to
her wonderful songs
Noa Bentor :Singer- songwriter
Indie-rock with influences of folk music. Her music is considered
heartfelt
and edgy, mature and poetic.
After spending most of her youth between Melbourne, Australia and Israel
she moved to New York at the age of 21, where she earned her degree in Music and Poetry and performed around the city.
With a graceful voice, Noa has managed to gather a constant
following.
Her music is well respected in Israel and she performs regularly at
the
most prominent venues around the country. Noa’s songs also play on
a variety of Israeli Radio stations.
In 2005 she released her debut album “Waiting
on a shelf” with producer Assaf Spector and musician Gilber Gilmore
During the summer of 2009 Noa was the opening act for Suzanne Vega on her Israel tour.
Her second album “Modern Grace” came out summer 2011 to rave reviews and a lot of radio airtime in Israel.
Noa was invited to SXSW and the Toronto music festival in 2012 and toured as the opening act for Asaf Avidan.
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