Another sad story

Editorial for 'Thesis'- Student magazine of Tel Aviv's University.  I was slightly amused when I was offered to illustrate a not so amusing article referring to cases of student's suicides in the campus area. It seems that grief and loss illustrations have become my area of expertise.

Thought to this day I have never received the text, I've been told that it includes interviews with the victims' parents and friends. Trying to avoid big dramatic gestures this image came to mind.

Hanina Gallery

I'm currently participating in a group exhibition called Temperament. The selected works aiming to describe the four types of temperament; Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Sanguine and Choleric as it reflected in illustrator's personal work.

The opening was last Thursday so if you're around in the next month you are welcome to drop by.

Exhibition season- 3

A few months ago I was informed that my illustrations for the children's book "Oldshoes of Mr Minasa" won the special prize (fourth place) in Nami island international illustrations Concurs. I felt incredibly honored to be among this talented group of participants and winners (Iranian illustrators rock!!) but couldn't take part at the opening event.

This morning I was excited to receive a "winning package" (the administration's expression, not mine) that included a beautiful catalog, winning certificate, a trophy and a 24 karat medal. Needless to say that in my profession (and position) I'm not really used to royal treatment of this kind. Going through the stuff, the catalog and the video from the event made me admire the Korean appreciation and respect to art and culture. What a way to celebrate books.

Image courtesy of http://www.nambookfestival.com/ where you can read more about the event

Rooms

Few weeks ago we went for a short unplanned vacation (me) and business trip (him) to Zagreb and Vienna. The camera with all the documentary material from this experience and from many others was lost somewhere on the way. My black silent grief for what seemed to be one of the greatest loses of my life made me wonder about documenting, blogging, posting and capturing a moment, a memory. 

The whole experience of the trip was so harmonic in its simplicity and detached in it's being from my everyday life that with the absence of a concrete image seemed to me like an unreal dream.

The frustration and the longing for that "other" life led me to create this series of visuals that aim to describe one moment with nothing in between. This is where I've been, places with no address and no name, quiet blue forests where nothing can harm you, lacking banal action, drama or stress.

Exhibition season- 2

One of my illustrations is currently participating in World Press Cartoon exhibition, in Portugal. The World Press Cartoon aim is "gathering the best in the international production of humor drawings published in the Press every year" and I proud to take minor part in this project.

Image courtesy of http://www.worldpresscartoon.com

Process

Flickers

Independence Day about a week ago

Exhibition season-1

This month three different group exhibitions were launched which I'm participating in.

The first one that I would like to present is 'Alla scoperta de Israele  sulle ali della fantasia" in Venice, Italy. I'm proud to be presented amongst this incredibly talented group of people with my 7 pieces (one of them is a series) that were chosen to participate.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there myself and had to experience the whole thing through many photos. In one of them I spotted a group of little Italian kids sited around my work. Now I'm dying to know how they responded.  

Shame

Robert Walter entered his second career as a pastor about 20 years ago. About at the same time he Began to show interest in the topic of shame and 'wondered about lack of joy in the world, especially among Christians'. Robert researches the topic of shame as a self initiated project. He travels to train, coach, consult, and counsel leaders in the church.

A few months ago he wrote me about his project and commissioned a few illustrations for the presentations. In the beginning I had a few concerns considering the differences in our culture and religious views, but soon it turned out that Robert is sharp, perceptive and a fascinating person. I hope to see more about his research soon and until then here are some snapshots from the process.

Holiday

About a week ago me and some friends decided to pursue new destinations and hit the road. It didn't develop quite as we expected but we had a blast.

Natalie SchorZarfati is the talented photographer behind these photos. One of the things that I love about her is her positive and laid back attitude. It really seems that she loves and enjoys doing her thing and it really shows in her work.

The Rite of spring

Illustration for a Business card for my mom. With a great charm and charisma she runs all kind of fun activities and events, such as Laughter Yoga, body tapping and dancing. The fun part was playing with colors and shapes inspired by tribal dancing the less fun was all the rest.

Small Victories

For a special holiday edition of Haaretz newspaper I was asked to illustrate five short stories titled Small Victories. The deadline was pretty short and the stories (written by different authors) had nothing in common but still, it was an interesting process. I guess that my mood was changing rapidly from Introverted and reserved to complete chaos. It all began with my desire to describe still and small moments but at some point I lost any interest in doing THAT and started really enjoying myself.

Happy Passover

I was spring cleaning my computer and discovered a tremendous amount of illustrations. All forms and all kinds of sketches, unpublished work, long time ago forgotten illustrations, technique experimenting, previous life visuals and much much more. These tons of trees, eyes, colors and textures made me think that I deserve to retire completely or at least to get a year's period of fame and tomato breeding and nothing else. Unfortunately, for now I'll have to settle for a short break in which I'll share here some of my findings.

The two above are snapshots from a sketch for Einayim magazine (I believe that the article was cancelled)

Someone to fly with

I made this young fellow as a print for a friend to accompany these ladies. Originally I visioned the illustrations on a set of plates (since he is a great cook and host) but eventually decided to print it on a tee-shirt, front and back. 

Sense of spring

Rome verses Tel Aviv

Unpublished 7

Editorial for the cover of the holiday supplement for Haaretz newspaper. The whole issue was dedicated to shopping and consumerism, but was canceled at the last minute. Here are some snapshots from the process.

And the moon is the only light we'll see

Dead Sea - one of the most beautiful places in the world. I was introduced to the natural hot springs there a while ago and try to keep coming back at least once a year. Last Thursday some friends and I went south to celebrate my birthday and to gaze at the moonrise.

Unpublished 6

Editorial for Haaretz culture supplement for their weekly feminine column. Was made a few months ago and never reached print.

Another Birhday

Religion of information

Editorial for Haaretz weekend supplement. The article (written so accurately and precisely by Yuval Noah Harari) deals with the issues of information flow in modern age and reflected on the phenomenon in the future. Though the idea of the image was almost immediate, it took me some time to figure out the final details. I really enjoyed the intellectual challenge and the short lesson in accuracy. 

Book updates

Last week was Published the interview that I gave for 'ha-Pinkas' about the book Old Shoes of Mr Minasa. Ha-Pinkas it's an online magazine that deals with children's literature and culture in Israel. I have been familiar with this platform for a while, and always been fascinated by the content concerning the visual aspects of the sphere. Therefore, I felt honored when I was asked to talk about my work. In the interview you can read a bit about my working process and also view some of the sketches from the editorial desk (like the one above).

On the same matter, there is a short video with the author of the book Ronit Chacham, where she talks fondly about the illustrations. We had our first conversation only recently and I was immediately captivated by her warm and lively personality.

The last update (for now) is that the book has been chosen to participate in the exhibition "Ethiopia- The Land of Wonders" in Eretz Israel museum in Tel Aviv. You can read more about the event here. 

Wishing light

Maya turned 30 on the first week of September but she didn't get the birthday celebration she deserved. Last Monday we had the chance to surprise her on one of the roofs of the city and make this night unforgettable, for three of us. 

An Old Pair of Shoes

My first children's book was finally published in its first edition. At this point it will be distributed in all the kinder gardens across the country and later it will be published in hard cover and distributed in stores.

The book tells a story of Mr. Minasa who can't get rid of his old shoes that traveled with him from a faraway land. Each time he tries to throw the shoes away, they are returned to him.

The process was very intense and didn’t turn out quite as I planned but it nice to look at the final results.

Fake reality

In the New Years Eve I hastily promised my mother that this year I'll try and enjoy the little moments in life. So this is me in the morning after… trying

By the way, if you fancy the sandals drop me an Email- since they are one size too small (7).