High Holidays Torah Mantle

Torah Mantle for the High Holidays

 Rabbi Elkin, of the Narayever Synagogue, was very pleased with the Torah Mantle I had created for their new smaller Torah.  So pleased in fact, that he asked me to create another one that would be used exclusively during the sacred High Holy Days.    This would mean that it would need to have a background of pure white as all the Torah Mantles used for these holidays are white, but beyond that I had artistic license to create.

Doodling on fabric with thickened Procion dyes

I knew that I wanted to create something completely different, and decided on an abstracted, rather than literal design, and my sketches led me to the notion of a twist,  or a spiral type of shape.

It occurred to me that this shape connects everything.  We can see it in the twisted vine, the trunk of a tree, the shape of a ram's horn, and even as it turns out (pun intended) in the shape of our DNA.

I found a beautiful bright white cloth with heavy weight, intended for outdoor furniture with a coarse weave.  It felt right. It absorbed the thickened dye well after I found the right consistency.  My first efforts to create a three dimensional image of a twist were woefully sad--see above--- but after some practice, a few tutorials, and some input from other creative spirits, I began to like what was happening.

I worked with the composition, as it needed to be effective even when only viewed in part, but especially when only the central part could be seen.  I chose the colours to represent honey, an important element of the rituals of our new year celebration.

When the painting was done, I wanted to add some stitching and embellishment.  Something that would be a very special addition.  A secret element appliqued.  For those who have a deep desire to investigate and know all..... see answer at the end..... but at this point in the story, try to imagine what those round gold filigree shapes are made from.  They are found in nature, and are provided by very small animal after her work (which is highly valued) is done.

The completed composition on my work table

Just checking it out from a distance

Detail: focusing on the central element to make sure it still 'dances'.

Rabbi Ed Elkin, receiving the new Torah Mantle.

Artist Statement

Preoccupied with the shapes that we share I notice the twist in a rose covered vine, a ram's horn, or the mapping of our DNA strands. These shapes are found everywhere, one only needs to pause, look, and notice.  True too these steps are necessary for creating connection between us and others as well as between ourselves and mother nature.  In this work I chose to highlight these curved twists to allow the viewer to imagine what they may represent.  The colours were chosen to represent the honey that sweetens our new year celebrations: the gift of the honeybee who offers us her bounty.

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For those of you who have given up trying to guess what the gold round filigreed shapes appliqued onto the Torah mantle are:  they are gold Cricula Cocoons lovingly spun by the industrious Cricula silkworm.  They are the lacey caps the wild silkworm spins and attaches to a tree branches from India to the Philippines, Sulawesi, Java, and Sri Lanka.

The gold colour is completely natural, all I did was cut out the round shapes and flatten the forms.  when examining them closely one can see a very intricate lacy filigree design:

another wonder of Mother Nature!