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STANWOOD HOUSE

DEKEL PRESS PUBLISHING

stanwood house

Dekel Press Books

Once upon a time, cross-genre was the only genre. This continued through the Renaissance and into the Age of Enlightenment. Then came the Dewey Decimal System, and Madison Aveenue, and market segmentation, and algorithms. At Dekel Press, we publish on themes in books that combine prose, poetry, and art. Many of our projects that are presented in these books are long-term, sometimes more than thirty years. We are interested in history, architecture, poetry, art cricism, religion and culture, nature, and above all community.

American Scrolls

ISBN 978-0-9995958-4-8, paperback, 134 p., 150 illustrations, 8 1/2x 11”

Returning to America after many years abroad, artist couple Chaim Bezalel and Yonnah Ben Levy rediscover the country. Living and working in several regions including the Hudson River Valley and Catskills, birthplace of the American landscape, the Gulf Coast of Florida, the Sonoran Desert, and the Pacific Northwest, they have created a series of paintings depicting the breadth and depth of the American landscape. With descriptive passages and poems.

$30

(plus shipping & handling)

american scrolls

Click here to view an excerpt of American Scolls

Touching on Place

ISBN – 978-0-9995958-0-0, paperback, 6h x 9w in. 90 pp, 77 illustrations

Original Paintings and photographs of architectural elements in Israel with descriptions and some historical information. The book represents the culmination of a 25 year project of a husband and wife artistic collaboration documenting the history of Israel through architectural elements.

american scrolls

Click here to view an excerpt of Touching on Place

The Twelve Tribes

ISBN-13: 978-0-9995958-3-1 52 p., 50 illustrations, 11 x 8 1/2 in.

This book contains words and pictures relating to two different but related art collaborations, “Bowls of Blessing” (2011) and “Urim and Thummim” (1991). The bowls illuminate excerpts from Jacob’s blessings over his twelve sons, the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Regarding the “Urim and Thummim portion, nobody knows what they were physically. They served as an oracle through which the nation got direction and specific answers to their queries. The series consits of 12 panels, each with 12 images and surrounding illumination, after the pattern of the breastplate of the ancient high priest. Sometimes art steps in where language leaves off.

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Click here to view an excerpt of The Twelve Tribes

Objects of Veneration

ISBN 978-0-9995958-1-7, 86 p., 52 illustrations, 9 x 6 in.

The author and artist began collecting small carvings as a child in the 1960’s. Only later did he begin to research the religious and cultural meaning behind many of these objects. He began doing a series of paintings of these as well as objects in other collections. The objects, all by anonymous artists, span six thousand years. They are described and put into context as they migrate from their original cultic and religious purpose to their presence in modern day collections. Finally, the author addresses his own culture which traditionally disdained the veneration of objects but venerates words. Thus an essay called, “The Talmud, a Brief Travelogue” is included, which discusses history, the Bible, and religion in a contemporary and entertaining way. 

$25

(plus shipping & handling)

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Click here to view an excerpt of Objects of Veneration

Mandalas – Coming Full Circle

ISBN: 978-0-9995958-9-3. softcover, 8 ½ x 8 ½ in., 40 pages

Lifelong artist and teacher, Yonnah Ben Levy, presents her recent project combining art and poetry in this book containing 16 mandalas with accompanying poems. This series was painted over a year spent in Israel during the COVID virus as she depicted the succession of flowers and flowering trees seen in a nearby park, in her own garden, along the Mediterranean, or in Jerusalem

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Click here to view an excerpt of Mandalas – Coming Full Circle

NYC – Return for Redemption

softcover, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in., 68 pages

In 1975, Chaim returned to New York, city of his birth. He was 25 years old and had come to choose between a career as an artist or a stockbroker. Despite encouragement from a gallery, he followed a false lead from a brokerage firm. A year later, he began his training to become a stockbroker, ultimately leading him to Wall Street. Some of these paintings are from those slides taken at that time, but since then there have been other returns and paintings representing them, both individual and collaborative works.

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In Search of Beauty

58 pages, 34 illustrations, softcover

During the time of the recent pandemic, artist and poet, Yonnah Ben Levy spent time in her Ashkelon studio and home painting the succession of flowers as they came into season in Israel. She has paired these paintings with poetry which she has written over the past 30 years in Israel and America.

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Click here to view an excerpt of In Search of Beauty

Songs from the Territories

ISBN: 978-0-9995958-5-5 120 p. black and white illustrations, 9 x 6 in.

In 1988, a 38 year old ex-hippie, ex- stockbroker on the lam boards a plane to Israel, where he has never been, with a one way ticket and two suitcases. Two years later, during the Gulf War, he is drafted into the Israeli army reserves. This is his journal. “A timely, profound, and artful work which seamlessly weaves the strands of memoir and history, religion and culture into a beautiful tapestry.” -Kota Press

$20

(plus shipping & handling)

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Click here to view an excerpt of Songs from the Territories

The Bible is not for Children

ISBN: 978-0-9995958-8-6. 8 x 8 in.
Softcover, 86 pages with 38 full color illustrations

36 difficult Bible stories told in rhyming verse, each illustrated by a sculpture or painting, brings new insights to the Bible. The book is an in depth Bible study disguised as a simple picture book. “Witty poems and beautiful images bring alive the grown-up parts of the Bible for the modern reader. A feast for eyes and mind.” – John Barton, Emeritus Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oxford University.

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Public Works

ISBN-13: 978-0-9995958-2-4, 118 p., 53 illustrations, 9 x 6 in.

A cross-genre exploration of art and community. The book includes art, poetry, and essays on art. The author began the book while serving on the Planning Commission of his city, where he wrote poems describing the current agenda. He then went on to create an installation in various artistic mediums dealing with the subject. The incive essays on art and culture were written over a 20 year period.

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For Such a Time as This

54 pages, 7 x 9 in.soft cover

The entire Book of Esther relatred in verse with original illuminations, accompanied by the Biblical text.

$25

(plus shipping & handling)

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Click here to view an excerpt of For Such a time as This

Birds in Painting and Sculpture

56 pages, 11x 8 1/2 in.soft cover

Lifelong artist and bird lover, the name, Yonnah is Hebrew for dove. She has worked in bronze, ceramics, oils, acrylics, and watercolor.

$25

(plus shipping & handling)

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Click here to view an excerpt of Birds in Painting & Sculpture

11 + 1 =

MUSIC

My musical background began in the bathtub, when I  was a baby. My mother would sing to me, "The headbone's connected to the neckbone..." She had a collection of 78 rpm records of folk music, mostly from the 40's, when she had hung out with some of the artists. I was also steeped in classical music from the radio, as well as every other kind; you name it. As a teenager, I hung out in Greenwich Village, where I learned to pick guitar and listen to jazz. Yet, it wan't until I was middle-aged that I began to write my own songs. I spent 10 years in a string band and then assembled my own groups to record and perform. I have written about 50 songs to date.

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Location

9915 270 St. NW, Stanwood, WA 98292

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