Sunday, January 29, 2012

Pay it forward

Fruitful

In these last few weeks I have been especially enamored by the view over here - miles of terraced olive groves with their short stone retaining walls and the picturesque hillside villages they surround. But views here are often colored by the conflict. I try not to think about it too much.

Next week is Tu B'Shvat, a minor Jewish holiday to celebrate the trees and we've been gearing up by eating a lot of dried fruit and reading the Lorax. This new painting, called Fruitful, was inspired by a little passage from the Talmud (that has made its way into the Jewish summer camp storytelling canon. I don't actually read the Talmud regularly. Or ever, come to think of it). Has me thinking about the kind of legacy I want to leave for my own kids. Heavy stuff.

Once, while the sage, Honi, was walking along a road, he saw an old man planting a carob tree. Honi asked him: “How many years will it take for this tree to give forth its fruit?” The man answered that it would require 70 years. Honi asked: “Are you so healthy a man that you expect to live that length of time and eat its fruit?” The man answered: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. So, too, will I plant for my children.” (Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 23a)

Available here.

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful new work of yours. So glad you are feeling inspired.

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  2. Lovely! Really nice Etsy shop, too! I really like your style with the bright colors and city details. If only more people would think long term and toward the future of the planet, instead of being short-sighted (like a lot of American politics and corporations... but that's another story). :)

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  3. i am so happy you are painting again. this is gorgeous. it was worth the wait.

    p.s. i have something almost done for you. haven't forgotten.

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  4. Beautiful work. I am impressed with the level of details and the quality of your paintings.

    healthy diet

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  5. This is glorious! Oh wow, I love the creative images that have exploded from you. This has significance, and its message is beautiful. One tree for future generations. Fantastic painting!!!

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  6. Gorgeous illustration, fantastic message, wonderful. I love your blog name too!

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  7. look at you, cranking out some new work. thank you, babysitter!
    that piece is really great, all YOU, but somehow a little bit different. But I suppose you are somehow a little bit different now, too.
    the colors, patterns and details are what make this. there's so much to look at.

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