Inspired by Light & Tradition
Inspired by my love of photography, cyanotype, and the beauty of Shabbat, I create handmade cyanotype artwork featuring the Hadlakat Neirot blessing. Each piece is one out of only 10 art prints created.
My work starts with an original, handmade cyanotype. Cyanotype is an almost 200 year old camera-less photographic process that creates rich cyan-blue prints using the sun and two light sensitive solutions. The subjects I choose come from my garden, my hikes, sentimental floral gifts and objects, or from photographs I have taken. They are chosen based on their shapes and level of transparency which determine the color shading and clarity of the piece. While some pieces are sharp and relatively uniform, others are intentionally abstract and somewhat blurry. I feel that the emotion invoking pieces yielded by the cyanotype process are an excellent compliment to the spirituality of lighting Shabbat candles.
Once the cyanotype is made, I move to more modern photography and embed the Shabbat blessings (and in some pieces, add a bit of color). The resulting photo prints with the final design are displayed in a thick acrylic frame, with no distractions from the art. My hope is that these blessings add beauty, warmth, and meaning to your Shabbas candle lighting.