Golden Hands
Rockland, Mae
GOLDEN HANDS MAE ROCKLAND "And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; Establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands; Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it." Psalms...
...She had goldeneh hent (golden hands...
...Webster's defines "heirloom" as "something of special value handed on from one generation to another...
...But the fantasy persisted for a long time...
...If, by this time, I have managed to get you interested in trying your hand at making a bit of Judaica, but you aren't sure what to make or exactly how to proceed, track down some of the books in the bibliography which follows...
...I'd love to tell you that designing is easy...
...The single most important factor in creating a successful design is neither technical skill nor the ability to draw, but simply self-confidence...
...that trials do not lead to error...
...Psalms 90:17 When I was growing up in the Bronx, during and after World War II, I did a lot of sewing—mostly rag dolls and their clothes...
...If you find a good motif or design, use it over and over in different sizes or colors...
...How," they asked, "can American Jews, who are essentially an urban, middle-class people, create 'folk art...
...Today we are witnessing a spectacular renaissance, in terms of both interest and activity, in the craft world...
...All I have of her are some photographs and three pieces of needlework...
...You can make something you need, using skills you already have...
...Do anything to get started...
...They countered with their definition of folk art as "peasant art...
...And because each piece is signed, and the work supplies at least a portion of their income, the artists are now "professionals...
...For me, when ordinary people use the materials that are available to them and the best of their skills to make objects or images for their own use and enjoyment, that is folk art...
...Why not use some of that lazy time to try your hand at making something for yourself, family or friends...
...What Mae Rockland is a moment contributing editor and the author of several books on Jewish-American arts, crafts and related resources...
...I collect old things and new things in many styles and materials...
...Be patient...
...We must have a little patience as we wait for an identifiable Jewish-American folk art to develop...
...The panel members agreed on everything from the impact on Jewish art of the Second Commandment's prohibition of idolatry to the validity of Jewish expression in abstract art...
...I keep coming to the same conclusion: Of course Jews in America can produce folk art...
...vary the pattern and it becomes a design...
...Summer usually provides us with a bit of extra time to catch up on our readng or the other projects we meant to do all year...
...I would especially love to see photos of completed projects—and it is even possible that they might be reproduced in these pages...
...Yet, unless you are in desperate need, it is hard to imagine melting down Zeyde's battered Kiddush cup or using Bobeh's frayed challah cover as a dust cloth or selling an old mizrach for its frame at a yard sale...
...We may not keep many pigs and goats and we are indeed an urban folk, but we are the only folk we've got...
...Trust yourself and don't panic...
...Indeed, I feel blessed to have inherited goldeneh hent from her and from the many generations of craftspeople in the Dunsky side of my family...
...In the early seventies I participated in a panel discussion on the nature of Jewish art...
...Less than a decade ago it was close to impossible to find well designed, carefully made contemporary Jewish crafts...
...Her Jewish Yellow Pages updates appear regularly in these pages...
...When folks, even those who do not live in adorable villages or remote rural areas, put their abilities and imaginations towards the creation of something useful and beautiful, that is folk art...
...when we borrow from ourselves it becomes "style...
...Suggested Reading List The Alphabet of Creation, Ben Shahn Crafts of Israel, Ruth Dayan with Wilburt Feinberg The Art of Judaic Needlework, Ita Aber The Jewish Party Book, Mae Rockland The Hanukkah Book, Mae Rockland The Work of Our Hands: Jewish Needlework for Today, Mae Rockland...
...I said that we Were at the beginning of an era during which Jewish-American folk art would begin to bloom...
...My mother would watch me, bemused, and say: "If your bobeh were only here, she would help you...
...Today, with metals prices soaring, we find that the intrinsic value of the material sometimes prompts people to melt down irreplaceable artistic or historic treasures...
...The life cycle, as well as Shabbat and the many holidays, provides many excuses for designing all sorts of objects...
...I try to keep an ongoing record of Jewish-American folk art as it is developing, so if there is anything you would like to share, feel free to write to me in care of moment...
...To avoid this obvious pitfall try these suggestions: 1. Use less familiar symbols...
...2. Repeat a motif over and over and it becomes a pattern...
...And I would dream about that bobeh...
...American Jews are very much a part of this crafts revival...
...We don't need a new folk...
...What is of special value...
...created object...
...When we came to my favorite theme, folk art, we stopped agreeing...
...We continue to treasure these objects, to repair and protect them so that we can hand them on once again to our children and grandchildren, because they are invested with an almost sacred emotional aura...
...My tastes are eclectic...
...True, there were a few remarkable artist-craftspeople, but their work was usually destined for synagogues or for a few wealthy collectors...
...3. Fill the space...
...She would sew you anything you want...
...Of course, she never came...
...Once you recognize this you can relax and enjoy yourself...
...that design is endlessly creative and spontaneous...
...Have a productive and satisfying summer...
...An itty-bitty meno-rah in the middle of a challah cover is boring and trivial...
...But it isn't so...
...The argument was never resolved...
...No matter what humble material they are made of, homemade, handmade ritual objects form a precious chain, linking us with our family members, both past and future, and with our roots and beliefs...
...Design is difficult—but not impossible...
...Your investment of time and self is what will breathe life into the object and make it something to treasure...
...The Encyclopedia Judaica is a treasure trove...
...I'm sure that certain art critics, curators and historians would blanch at that, but despite considerations of measurable artistic skills, I am reluctant to exclude any honest craft attempt which reflects even minimal competence from the realm of folk art...
...Use your favorite colors and textures...
...After all, when we borrow from others it is called plagiarism...
...she was, as my mother said, "with all the other Jews...
...Ceremonial objects are often easier to design than purely decorative items because we know what we expect them to do...
...repeated, reversed, enlarged, varied, it takes on character...
...I have come back to it many times in my thoughts and writing...
...Whether it is candles, clothes, furniture or jewelry, Americans are making things by hand again and finding it immensely rewarding...
...Look at your own clothes and home environment to see how you choose and combine colors...
...If you can't draw (or think you can't), cut and tear paper shapes, use photographs, trace designs...
...For example, why not use the summer months to make some whimsical decorations or toys for Hanukkah, such as the oversized stuffed denim dreidel shown here...
...Today, the number of talented craftspeople committing time and effort to Judaica is impressive...
...Although you may not be an undiscovered Picasso, you may very well create a family heirloom...
...Since early childhood I have loved making things, and somewhere along the way I began to collect things made by other people...
...we need a new definition...
...Jews have been in America in large numbers for only about 75 years...
...When the archaeologists finally dig us up, they will find artifacts attesting that the Jewish community was alive and well in the United States in the 1980s...
...To this day whenever I pick up a needle and thread I feel a sense of timeless communication with the bobeh in whose lap I never sat...
...Even with the remarkable growth in the number of professional craftspeople, retailers complain that they can't get enough stock to meet the demand, crafts fairs abound, classes and how-to books on every level inspire someone in just about every household across the country to make something...
...Precisely because of their familiarity, however, we often tend to think of them in clich?s...
...If we work hard and produce as much as we can, in about 200 years we should being to see results...
...This is a good argument for making things in less "precious" materials...
...Somehow she had escaped from Poland and was trudging up the hill from the subway, and I would recognize her and run to greet her, and bring her to our warm apartment where, after some recuperation and a glass of tea, she and I would sit and sew—she the teacher, I the adoring and adored disciple...
...The great thing about being a Jewish folk artist is that one is never at a loss for what to make...
...they have in common is that the individual artisan—whether long dead or living around the corner—speaks to me through th...
...The implication was that the prerequisites for such an art are a yard full of chickens, a couple of pigs and a goat...
...Still, much of what is produced falls into that broad category called Folk Art...
...Read a lot...
...Many of these professional craftspeople began as hobbyists who found that there was a market for their work...
Vol. 7 • July 1982 • No. 7
