When you arrive in Jerusalem for the first time, you can’t help but feel the overwhelming
emotion that arouse all your senses. You absorb a great variety of distinctive cultures,
all of which exist side by side, blending into the same landscape, some of which has remained unchanged for thousands of years.
When you actually see Jerusalem artwork, whether in a small gallery, at a street fair, or hotel lobby, you will, most likely, experience that same evocative kind of feeling, seeing so many variations of the same theme. Many people feel a tug at their hearts from a very deep connection to the land and that which is depicted in the pieces. As a result, many paintings and other artifacts find new homes the world over, when purchased by tourists and visitors to this magical, mystical city.
Jerusalem is the city of a thousand faces, referring to people from so many different ethnic origins, who all live in the same place. Regardless of the current time line, Jewish themed art is timeless, not only because it is an integral part of traditions handed down from generation to generation but each original work of art is one of a kind.
Jewish Themed Art
Any creative work with a Jewish theme, be it candles symbolizing Shabbat and Holidays, chalices, traditional foods and the like, strikes the viewer on a very visceral level of identification, even igniting a distant yearning. Drawing on inspiration from the very ground he or she walks on, the artist brings forth the light of his or her spirit to the canvas.
At the end of the day, what makes one design be more desirable than another? It’s not only the talent and skills of the artist, or the medium with which it was created, nor is it what any one individual can appreciate and evaluate. Ultimately, the value is what meaning the observer finds in the piece.
How many landscapes have been painted, depicting the same terrain, while at the same time, the people who actually live there, have the most advanced technology? Countless artists depict Jerusalem from their own perspectives and all the results are breathtaking. It is simply impossible to see any hint of Jerusalem without being awakened.
Jerusalem’s unrivaled majesty is prominent and everlasting. Modern mediums and methods only help to emphasize that glory in Jewish art. The availability of a range of acrylics, stable, long lasting, oils, brushes, mediums and the like, make it possible to create diaphanous images, gilded scenes and brightly colored pictures to uplift any spirit.
The artist who adopts new techniques and styles is not disloyal to tradition. Quite the contrary, he or she is making a place for traditions and history in every age. When there is so much steel and plastic, a canvas, adorned with stroke after stroke of a long handled wooden brush with oils, is comforting. It speaks to all, it says home, familiar, cozy, love. Every human being identifies and responds to those feelings.