PAINTING • SCULPTURE • CERAMICS • PUBLISHING • WORKSHOPS

STANWOOD HOUSE

CHAIM

Chaim Bezalel was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, NY. He received a B.S. in Radio, TV, and Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After graduating, he spent several years on his own photography, working at a variety of jobs, some of them for photo-essays. In 1988 he moved to Israel and established Bezalel-Levy Editions which published his and his wife’s work in various media under a combined signature of Bezalel-Levy. He has published ten books, four in collaboration with his wife, which include his artwork and writing. He currently works in painting, ceramics, photography, film, and music in mixed media. He is a published poet.

Objects of Veneration

An artist’s homage to the anonymous artisans of the past. As a boy, I collected handmade objects from all over the world. Only later did I begin to learn the meaning of these objects within their culture or religion. Many of these paintings are from objects in my own collection and some from artifacts I have seen in other collections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB9n9HiWT00

Objects of Veneration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB9n9HiWT00)

Facial Ossuary I (4000 BCE)

gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012) Painting of a section of a 6000 year old ossuary (burial urn) found in the Galilee in northern Israel.

Facial Ossuary II (4000 BCE)

gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012) Painting of a section of a 6000 year old ossuary (burial urn) found in the Galilee in northern Israel.

Facial Ossuary III (4000 BCE)

gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012) Painting of a section of a 6000 year old ossuary (burial urn) found in the Galilee in northern Israel.

Facian Ossuary IV (The {The Planets)

gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 1/2 in.

One Kid

gouache on handmade paper, 28 x 20 in. (2013) “Had Gadya,” Aramaic for “One Kid,” is sung at the end of the Passover seder.The goat head was seen in the outdoor market in Jerusalem in 1988.

Santo Angel (19th Century Philippines)

gouache, charcoal and chalk on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2012) This 4 inch wood carving of a guardian angel in has lost its arms and wings (which were affixed through a hole in the back.

Terracotta Figurine

gouache on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2012) This is a miniature clay nude that my wife did in a live modeling session. It resembles ancient fertility figures.

Crucifix (1600’s Guatemala)

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) Painting of carved wooden Jesus from a 400 year old crucifix with glass beads. In my wife’s collection.

Memsaab (Puppet Head)

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) Painting of the head of an Indian puppet from the artist’s collection. My one regret is that I did not purchase the companion piece as well, Sahib, a white European in a pith helmet.

Relic

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) A portion of a large wooden mask that was in the studio of a fellow artist who believes it to be from Central America.

Three Ancient Chinese Terracotta Zodiac Figures

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) Seen in the Seattle Asian Museum, 3 of 12 zodiac figures

Hathor

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2014) The Egyptian goddess was both mother and consort of the sun, thus the bronze mirror on her head.

Netsuke I

gouache and charcoal on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) private collection. Painting of Japanese ivory netsuke purchased by the artist in Tokyo in 1965. The head revolves on a socket to reveal another face. He is playing a biwa.

Santo Virgin

oil pastels on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2017)

Don Quixote

mixed media with crayons, gouache, and soft pastels on handmade rice paper, 26 x 18 in. (2020) The small carving was a gift to the artist.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2022) This arrangement was in the home of a woman who then gave me her extra Sancho carving.

Antique Brass Chanukia (Chanukah Menorah)

gouache on handmade paper, 26 x 20 in. (2020) 19th century Polish brass menorah seen in the Israel Museum

“Insomnia” (Nail Fetish, Congo)

gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) The artifact is in the collection of Dave Cassera, collector and dealer in tribal and ancient art.

The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

gouache on handmade paper, 20 x 25 ½ in. (2020) painted from a 15th century oak carving seen in the National Museum of Scotland. Painted during Covid, St. Sebastian was believed to be an intercessor against the Black Plague.

Peruvian Mask.

mixed media with encaustic wax and oil pastels, 31 x 21 in. (2022)

Southwest Indian Mask

encaustics on handmade paper, 25 ½ x 20 ½ in. (2023) The clay and feather disc is 4 in. in diameter and is in the artist’s collection.

When I See the Blood (I will pass over)

gouache on handmade paper, 34 x 20 in. (2020) Painted in Israel during the COVID pandemic. ” ‘I will pass through the Land of Egypt this very night and slay every first-born male in the Land of Egypt, from human to beast…” from the Passover Haggadah

Neolithic Ivory Carving

gouache and crayon on handmade paper, 34 x 16 in.(2022) The background is the Milky Way.

African Carving My Mother Gave Me

gouache on handmade paper, 28 x 21 in. (2020)

Imagination (from Hisham’s Palace, Jericho)

oil pastels, graphite, chalk on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2016) Artifacts from Hisham’s Palace in Jericho. A composite image painted from the collection in the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem

Homer’s Wine Dark Sea,

mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 26 x 20 in. (2020) ancient Greek shards seen the Cambridge Museum of Classical Antiquities

Ancient Pottery Shard II

oil pastels on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2017)

Heaven and Earth (Philistine Temple Model)

oil pastels and crayon on handmade paper, 26 x 20 (2015) private collection. Ancient Ceramic temple seen in the HaAretz Museum, Tel Aviv

Eros

gouache on handmade paper, 34 x 20 in. (2020) Eros is the Greek name for Cupid, one of the Greek pantheon who had wings. This ancient statue was missing a leg.

Ancient Coins

mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2017) A friend of a friend in Israel found many of these coins in the sea.

The Golden Calf

oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 25 ½ in. (2020) A small, silver plated calf and its ceramic housing was found on the coast of Ashkelon, Israel

Water Carrier (Burma)

oil pastels on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2021) the 5 in, carving is in the artist’s collection

Twenty-four Buddhas from a Stele

mixed media with encaustic on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2014) The image of the Buddha is from a stele in the Metropolitan Museum.

Petroglyphs (Columbia River)

oil pastels, graphite, chalk on handmade paper, 26 x 21 in. (2016) The similarity of petroglyph designs around the world is astonishing.

Carved Baroque Angel

crayons and gouache on handmade paper, 36 x 24 in. (2020) The carved angel is approximately 5 inches tall.

The South Seas

oil on burlap, 27 x 14 x 3 in. (2020) The wooden carving from the collection of Dave Cassera, a major collector of tribal art.

South Seas II

mixed media with gouache on handmade paper, 33 x 24 in. A painting of the statue seen in the previous cell.

Siamese Dancer

mixed media with gouache, 25 x 19 in, Behind this 5 in. tall carving in the artist’s collection is a woodblock for batik. Siam is now Thailand

The Cult of Domesticity (Woman on a Pedestal)

pastels on handmade paper, 32 x 24 in, (2024) Small wooden carving in the artist’s collection.

Netsuke (Kabuki musician)

The background is from a block print of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai. Gouache on handmade paper. 22 x 32 in. (2023) This is the other face of the netsuke seen in the previous tile.

Ivory Horse with Miniature Screen

oil pastels, gouache, and gesso on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. (2017) A gift to the artist from his father who brought it back from Japan.

Fertility

mixed media, gouache and charcoal on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. (2012) Three clay figurines from ancient Syria. Seen in the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem

Riders from a Persian Miniature

gouache on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2013) from a 2×4 in. section of the miniature which I purchased from a friend in Jerusalem who once had an antique store in Tehran across the street from the US Embassy.

Procession from a Grecian Urn

mixed media on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2014) This is a montage of figures seen on an urn in a museum in Jerusalem.

Siren Pitcher

mixed media with epoxy (nail polish) on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2014) The pitcher is from ancient Greece. The sirens were creatures with the body of a bird and the of a woman. They lured sailors to crash against the shoals, by singing.

Northwest Native American Rattle

gouache on handmade paper, 22 x 32 in. (2013) This rattle, in the artist’s collection, is used in dance ceremonies which can be seen at powwows.

Eskimo Effigies

oil pastels on handmade paper, 21 x 28 in. (from the collection of Jacques Lipchitz now in the Israel Museum)

Ancestor Reliquary

gouache and epoxy on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. Seen in an antique store in Seattle, this figure contains a drawer into which prayers or imprecations might be deposited.

Turtle Carving

gouache, pastels, graphite on handmade paper, 22 x 29 in. My father brought this 2 in. carved turtle back from the Philippines in WWII.

Ram

encaustic and oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 30 in. A lot of texture, just like the actual sheep I helped a friend shear. An ancient breed called “Jacob’s sheep.”

Rimmonim (Finials for Torah staves)

oil pastels on handmade paper, 21 x 32 ½ in. “Rimmonim,” which means pomegranates in Hebrew, is what these are called. The high priest in ancient Israel wore a robe fringed with silver .pomegranates and bells.

Mimbres

mixed media on handmade paper. The Mimbres were a prehistoric North American people who lived principally along the Mimbres River in the rugged Gila Mountains of what is present-day southwestern New Mexico,

Pre-Columbian Mayan Miniature Masks

gouache on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. Terracotta miniatures, 1-2 inches each

African Masks

mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 19x 27 in. (2016) I bought several of these masks, some as gifts, from a man outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Male and Female Figurines from Ancient Lebanon

mixed media, pastels, colored pencils, chalk on handmade paper, 18 x 26 in. (2020)

Housepost

gouache on handmade paper, 21×29 in.(2021) from the Eagle Clan, Bella Bella, BC,

Herd Boy

oil pastels on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in., (2017) This wooden sculpture in the artist’s collection is from Formosa (now Taiwan). The Chinese legend is that Herd Boy (a mortal) and Weaver Girl (an immortal) fell in love. A literally star-crossed story.

Elysium or Bust

mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 27 in. (2017) Roman funerary busts

Tableau from a Chinese Chest

gouache on handmade paper, 20 x 30 in.(2023) from a set of ceramics and paintings all taken from scenes from a carved wooden Chinese chest in the artist’s collection.

Bird’s Head Haggadah

mixed media with oil pastels, charcoal, and graphite on handmade paper, 20 x 26 in. (2020) the oldest surviving illuminated Ashkenazi Passover Haggadah, from Germany in the 14th century. The Hebrew partial phrase refers to the part where “They left Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to prepare any food except the bread dough made without yeast.”

Broken Vessels

pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 30 in. (2021) Two objects in our collection. The cup is a remnant of a 3000 year old Philistine bi-chrome cup and the 2000 year old Roman flask has two holes, probably made intentionally to be used as a burial item.

Ancient Pottery Shard with Bull

mixed media with oil pastels, crayon, and charcoal 20 x 27 in. on handmade paper, (2017)

Shard III

oil pastels on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. (2017) The shard is in the collection of the Ashkelon Technical college.

Cherub

pastels on handmade paper, 22 x 28 in. (2024) a stone cherub seen at a plant nursery in Washington State

Netsuke II

gouache and sumi ink on handmade paper, 20 x 29 in. (2022) A tiny ivory netsuke of a man with a basket that I bought in Tokyo in 1965.

NYC – Return for Redemption

In 1975, at the age of 25, I returned to New York, the city of my birth, to decide whether to become an artist or a stockbroker. I had been living in California with a woman who would become my first wife. On a road trip to Chicago, too late to attend her father’s funeral, we had argued and she had let me out of the car in the middle of the night in the middle of Wyoming, a mile from the Greyhound station. I decided to take the first bus, east to New York or west to L.A. The bus brought me to L.A., but after a short visit I decided to return to New York. I was broke, and the city was experiencing a crisis, facing the prospect of bankruptcy. I did become a licenced broker, a job which I pursued for ten years. In 1988, I left the United States for Israel with two suitcases. Ten years later in New York, I came into possession of several boxes of slides which I had taken in 1975. These slides served as subject material for a series of paintings which I began in 2019 and which is a continuing body of work. Also in this exhibit art paintings by my wife, Yonnah, and also our collaborative works.

https://youtu.be/wEH7QcRSJow

5 1/2 minute video of paintings by Chaim, by Yonnah, and by our collaboration accompanied by original song, “You Can’t go Home Again” and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

1975

Balloon Man

oil on paper on panel, 22 x 30 in.

East River

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.

Gorman’s Hamburger

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 21 x 27 in. 8

Interior of My Cousin’s Apartment Building

oil pastels on handmade paper, 18 x 23 in.

Brooklyn Navy Yard

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.

The News

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.

Subway Station Newsstand

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.

The Photographer

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 20 x 29 in.

Queensboro Bridge

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 18 x 28 in.

Snackbar, Midnight, Grand Central Station

oil pastels on handmade paper, 18 x 23 in.

Times Square

gouache, crayon, and sparkle on Fabriano paper, 19 ½ x 25 in.

Waiting Room, Grand Central Station

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 18 x 27 in.

Homeless

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 20 x 28 in.

Lincoln Tunnel through the Rearview Mirror

pastels, 18 x 24 in.

Next Stop Penn Station

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in.

View from a Window

crayon, 19 x 25 in.

Williamsburgh Savings Bank Clocktower

oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in.

Twin Towers

oil on linen, 30 x 22 in.

TIMELINE

Paintings from time-stamped photographs taken by the artist and used as subjects for paintings done in 2020.

Bar at the Brooklyn Museum (5/23/18, 2:10 p.m.)

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in.

Lexington Avenue Express

pastels on handmade paper, 17 ½ x 45 in. (3/27/10, 12:12 p.m.)

Flatbush Avenue

mixed media with oil sticks and oil pastels, 30 x 22 in. (4/14/17, 11:36 a.m.)

Reflection, Glass and Steel

oil on canvas, 25 x 33 in. (3/31/18, 3:41 p.m.)

My First Grandchild at Far Rockaway Beach

oil, sand on paper mounted on panel, 17 x 23 in. (9/7/17, 4:37 p.m.)

Saint George and the Dragon (UN Plaza)

oil on paper mounted on panel, 17 x 23 in. (5/29/18, 9:27 p.m.)

Third Rail

oil on linen, 18 x 24 in. (5/24/18, 12:49 p.m.)

Study in Red (Upper East Side)

gouache on paper, 28 x 22 in. (5/29/11, 12:49 p.m.)

Wonder Wheel, Coney Island

oil pastels on paper, 30 x 22 in. (4/15/17, 9:50 a.m.)

125th Street Station

oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in. (time unknown)

Apartment Buildings

soft pastels on handmade paper, 14 x 20 in. (4/7/05, 7:09 a.m.}

Wall, Coney Island

oil stick and oil pastels on handmade paper, 34 x 24 in. (4/15/17, 9:35 a.m.)

Sideshow, Coney Island

crayon and colored pencils, 19 x 25 in. (4/15/17, 4:38 p.m.)

NYC, Moon at Daytime

soft pastels and polychrome crayons on handmade paper, 14 x 20 in. (5/27/18, 4:19 p.m.)

Lobby, Brooklyn

mixed media with crayon, 18 ½ x 25 in. (5/23/18, 11:23 a.m.)

Hudson Line to the City

gouache, gesso, and graphite on Fabriano paper, 19 x 24 in. (1/12/11, 4:23 p.m.)

Intersection, Queens

oil pastels and oil stick on paper, 22 x 30 in. (11/17/19, 12:23 p.m.)

Coming in for a Landing at JFK

oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. (11/16/19, 4:12 p.m.)

Midtown Skyline from the Astoria Ferry

pastels on handmade paper, 12 x 33 in. (11/20/19, 12:40 p.m.)

Roosevelt Island from Astoria Ferry Dock at Hallet’s Cove, Queens

oil pastels, 18 x 24 in. (11/20/19, 11:54 a.m.) private collection

Yellow Cab Refraction from a 5th Avenue Window

oil pastels on canvas, 28 x 21 in. (5/3/21, 11:43 a.m.)

Henry Hudson Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx

oil on canvas, 22 x 30 in. (7/14/13 9:52 p.m.)

View from the Museum of Modern Art

acrylics on canvas, 18 x 25 in.

Queensboro Bridge from the E 62nd and York

crayon, 21 x 28 in. (10/5/2021, 7:25 p.m.)

Liberty Under Construction

oil on burlap, 26 x 14 in. (from a photograph of Lady Liberty with scaffolding from the studio of Bartholdi)

collaborative

Grand Central Station, 8:11 a.m.

mixed-media with acrylics on paper mounted birch, 22 x 39 in. (2011)

Vestibule, Grand Central Station

acrylics on paper on wood panel, 42 x 27 in. (2018)

St. Patrick’s Day Parade from the Steps of the Metropolitan Museum

mixed-media with water based oils on paper, 11 x 25 in. (2002)

4th of July Fireworks over Manhattan

mixed media with acrylics on linen on board, 15 x 43 in.

Central Park I

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.

Central Park II

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in., private collection

Central Park III

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in., private collection

Central Park IV

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.

Central Park V

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.

Central Park VI

mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.

abstracts-by-Yonnah

View from the Window I (1982)

watercolor, 20 x 16 matted

View from the Window I (2019)

acrylics on canvas on panel, 34 x 27 in.

View from the Window II I(1982)

watercolor, 20 x 16 matted

View from the Window II (2019)

acrylics on canvas, 34 x 27 in.

View from the Window III (1982)

watercolor, 20 x 16 matted

View from the Window III (2019)

acrylics on canvas on panel, 30 x 22 in.

View from the Window IV (1982)

watercolor, 20 x 16 matted

View from the Window IV (2019)

acrylics on canvas on panel, 36 x 24 in.

View from the Window V (1982)

watercolor, 16 x 20 matted

View from the Window V (2019)

acrylics on canvas on panel, 24 x 36 in.

Sculpture

World Trade Center

ceramic sculpture with fired in laser decals of brand mascots, 14 x 17 x 13 in. by Chaim

Two Skyscraper Steles

ceramic sculptures, 24 in. and 18 in. high by Chaim

Skyscrapers

raku fired clay by Yonnah

Lady Liberty

raku fired clay

Assemblage and Installations

My grandmother, whom I loved, was neurotic about dirt, and for my first five years we lived nextdoor. So it is appropriate that I began my scupture career in such a way as to keep my hands clean. I rolled out the dryest, whitest porcelain on a slab roller and tore off pieces, to which I affixed laser slide decals to be fired in permanently. It was only after several years that I took the plunge and mixed a pail of wet, sludge clay with sawdust, getting it up to my elbows. This cured me to work with clay as clay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3voFlKBSj_U&pp=ygUPY2F0d2FsayBiZXphbGVs

Catwalk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3voFlKBSj_U&pp=ygUPY2F0d2FsayBiZXphbGVs)

1 minute video of a kinetic sculpture with a soundtrack from a televised fashion show broadcast in New York City.

matchbooks

My Grandmother’s Matchbook Collection

porcelain tiles with fired in laser decals

Chateau Madrid

oil on linen, 40 x 28 in.

Chateau Madrid II

mixed media with oil pastels, gouache, and encaustic wax, 30 x 20 in. (2024) I thought the other Chateau Madrid was lost so I painted another version. Then I found the first.

A Royal Welcome

mixed media with oil and sandpaper on canvas board, 20 x 16 in.

Ohio Blue Tip

watercolor, 20 x 16 in.

Kaddish

oil on glass in antique frame

Starlite Roof

oil on canvas board

Treat Yourself to the Very Best

mixed media with encaustics and glass on wood

american-icons

Americana

mixed media with fired in laser decals and found objects in 7-UP crate

Stars and Stripes

mixed media in soda crate (collection of City of Seattle)

Hello Strongman (antique carnival object found in the executive suite of J.P. Morgan)

oil on burlap, 26 x 18 in.

Brown Liberty

raku fired ceramics

Liberty Under Construction

oil on burlap

On the Road – 1975

ceramic tiles in soda crate (private collection)

American Skull

encaustics on bone

Duende and Transfiguration

Encaustics on Jawbones, Upper: Chaim, Lower: Yonnah

World Trade Center

ceramic sculpture with fired in laser decals of brand mascots, 14 x 17 x 13 in.

The End of the American Frontier

porcelain tiles with fired in laser decals, 12 x 23 x 2 in.

Self Reliance

assemblage with porcelain tiles and fired in laser decals with antique wrench, 15 x 15 x 3 in.

Totem Bowl

ceramic plate with fired in laser decal

Crazy Quilt

irregular ceramic tiles mounted on wood, 20 x 20 in.

I Want You

watercolors on canvas, 20 x 16, by Bezalel-Levy

chinese-chest

Scene from my Father’s Chinese Chest

gouache on handmade paper, 20 x 30 (2023)

Hanging Tiles and Beads

ceramics, driftwood

Dragon

driftwood, handmade beads and tiles, 2 ft. x 6 ft. (2023)

Mounted Tile

high fired ceramics, 16 x 16 in.

chinese-bowl

Chinese Bowl

high fired ceramics, 12 x 12 x 3

Chines Dish

high fired ceramics, 7 x 7 x 2 in. (2024)

Brown Stele with Chinese Impressions

high fired ceramics, 17 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (2023)

White Stele

high fired ceramics, 16 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (2024)

Public-Works

Roadwork-Monoprint

Roadwork-Monoprint-II

Roadwork I

printers relief ink and tar on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in.

Roadwork II

printers relief ink and tar on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in.

Thames Water

Monotype (utility covers, Basing, England) 120 x 12 in. (2013)

Sumner-Iron-Works-Platter-I

Sumner Platter II

saggar fired clay, 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 3 in.

Sumner-Painting

Sumner Iron Works #2

mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 20 in.

Water & Sewer

gas fired ceramics, 28 x 21 x 3 in. (the set)

Sea Form

raku fired clay (private collection)

Tractor Seat

high fired ceramics

Storm

saggar fired tiles mounted on handmade cedar box, 27 x 21 x 5 in.

Back to School

raku fired clay (Bellingham Herald, August, 1949) private collection

caveware

Caveware Platter #1

Caveware Platter #2

Caveware-Platter-#4

Old-Growth-Altar

Creation-II

Creation-I

Old Growth Tree Rings

ceramic tiles in a cedar box

Hanging Petroglyphs

pit fired ceramic tiles

Hanging-Petroglyphs-detail

The Invention of the Wheel I

ceramics, wood, twine, and steel

The Invention of the Wheel II

ceramics, wood, and twine

Necklaces

Stelae

Horned Stele

high fired ceramics, 17 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.

Antler Vase

high fired ceramics & antlers, 22 x 11 x 6 in.

Incense Bowl

pit fired ceramics, 7 x 6 x 6 approx.

Lidded Jar

pit fired ceramics, 5 x 6 x 6 in.

Religion

What me Worry Beads (The World’s Great Religions)

Religionone

Impressions of early Renaissance paintings

Shaker Triptych

Hands to Work, Hearts to God (Shaker epigram)

First there is a Mountain

zen koan (private collection)

Crowns

Crown of thorns, crown of heaven, crown of Buddah’s head

Decade

Twelve impressions of Mary

other-stuff

Catwalk

Classical-Motifs

Cloud-of-Witnesses

Elements of Classical Culture

press molded clay in a shadowbox

Mini Masks

saggar fired clay posted in a soda crate

To a Hammer Every Problem is a Nail

mixed media with clay, iron stake, and fruit boxes

Winter Forest

terracotta clay with fired in laser decals, steel, and wood

Imaage-Shadow-and-Artifact

Time and Tide

mixed media

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

raku fired ceramics with fired in laser decals

Will the Circle be Unbroken

private collection

Shipworm

Pixilated Pine

Pit fired tiles in a fruit pickers box, 25 x 17 x 3 in.

Hanging-Doodads

The Bible is not for Children (Sculpture & Paintings)

In 2020, we were staying in our second home in Israel, when, due to the pandemic, we could not return to America for 15 months. However, we made good use of our time. I joined a ceramics workshop in the neighborhood and was inspired to begin a series of small sculptures of Biblical characters and scenes each accompanied by a poem depicting some of the difficult parts of the Hebrew Bible. The project became a book, “The Bible is not for Children.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRLo88sWO3c&t=30s&pp=ygUldGhlIGJpYmxlIGlzIG5vdCBmb3IgY2hpbGRyZW4gYmV6YWxlbA%3D%3D

The Bible is not for Children (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRLo88sWO3c&t=30s&pp=ygUldGhlIGJpYmxlIGlzIG5vdCBmb3IgY2hpbGRyZW4gYmV6YWxlbA%3D%3D)

Video of 3 poems read aloud

The Firmament

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. – Genesis 1:3

Adam and Eve

…and they knew not that they were naked – Genesis 3:7

The Dove

He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground . – Genesis 8:8

The Tower of Babel

Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven – Genesis 11:4

Abraham and Sarah

Now Sarah and Abraham were old – Genesis 18:11

The Ram Caught in the Thicket

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns – Genesis 22:13

Lot’s Wife

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. – Genesis 19:26

Lot’s-Wife-Sketch

Jacob’s Ladder

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. – Genesis 28:12

Jacob Wrestles with the Angel

And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. – Genesis 32:26

Pharoah’s Cup

Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand. – Genesis 40:11

The Seven Lean Cows

And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: – Genesis 41:20

The Divining Cup

Is not this in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? – Genesis 44:5

Passover

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you – Exodus 12:13

The Brazen Serpent

If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived – Numbers 21:9

Balaam and his Ass

What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? – Numbers 22:28

Deborah the Prophetess

… until that I, Deborah arose, a mother in Israel – Judges 5:7

Jephtha’s Daughter

Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. – Judges 11:31

Samson

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood – Judges 16:29

Hannah and Samuel

So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. – I Samuel 1:23

David and the Head of Goliath

David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head. – I Samuel 17:51

The Ghost of Samuel

Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? – I Samuel 28:15

Samuel-Risen-from-the-Dead-

The Queen of Sheba

And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold. – I Kings 10:10

Jezabel

Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I:will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. – I Kings 21 :7

Elijah and Elisha

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. – II Kings 2:11-12

She Bear

And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children. – II Kings 2:24

Jehu

And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head – II Kings 9:6

Isaiah

The vision of Isaiah – Isaiah 1:1

Jeremiah

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears – Lamentations 9:1

Hosea

Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms – Hosea 1:2

Jonah

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. – Jonah 2:1

Ruth

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz. – Ruth 2:3

By the Rivers of Babylon

We hung our harps upon the willows – Psalm 137:2

Job

Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall return thither. – Job 1:21

Song of Songs

I am black, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. – Song of Songs 1:5

The Preacher

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. – Ecclesiastes 1:2

Kohellet-(The-Preacher)

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour… – Ecclesiastes 2:24

Life Masks

These are all life-masks. The wet clay pressed against my own face and then takes on a life of its own. Here is a sampling of the many masks I continue to make whenever the mood strikes.

https://youtu.be/RqYiW5Z-8XY

1

Striped Mask

2

Gorilla

3

Friendly Rodent

8

Pinocchio

4

Ancient Mask

5

Lion

6

Rhino

7

The Witness

9

Fido Dido

10

King

11

Mud Man

12

Bird

13

Moon Face

14

Here Comes the Sun

15

Raptor

16

Porcelain Mask

18

The Scream

19

Oedipus

20

Philistine Warrior

17

Deer

21

Sentient Tree

22

Ram

23

The Muse is Fleeting

24

Wooly Bully

25

Horse

26

Face of Summer

27

29

Rabbit

30

Comedy and Tragedy

28

Leonine Mask

31

Cheshire Cat

32

Female Visage

33

Blind Homer

34

Grizzly Bear

35

Masked Avenger (Masked Mask)

36

Some Kind of Bird

37

Small Mammal Mask

38

Toothless Lion

39

Ape Mask

40

Crown of Thorns

41

Woman Mask

Encaustics

I work with encaustic wax, sometimes with other mediums such as pastels or even crayons.