Appreciating The Small and Wonderful Things

Stop and smell the roses.  According to Wiktionary it means: To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life.
Lets not forget the small beautiful objects that make up the whole. I have recently been photographing small things and small parts of the big things. Just looking at them are inspiring. It helps me remember the small wonderful things in my life and to be grateful for them.

A cactus growing in Celebration Park in the NW.
Not sure how it got there.
Totally and beautifully out of place, yet thriving.

We all live lives with a lot to think about, yet adding the smallest of details of warmth, love and beauty can relax us and remind us what it is all about. For me it is family and the yearning for peace. If we stop to smell the roses I believe that we can all start to relax and really care about each other.

Flowers in the Defiance Park NW

My art starts with one small idea and often just one color at a time. My hand dyed fabric for my Oseh Shalom piece was on my design wall for many years. I kept it there do to its colors and simplicity. It reminded me of the beauty within before I even work, just the beauty of colors. I also cut it to two pieces, one was a gift for my sister and O.Sh. will debut for sale in my next craft show coming in October.
I now need to dye another piece of fabric to go on my design wall. I want  to look and be inspired by the beauty of simplicity in one piece of dyed fabric before I get to work. None of my current pieces seem to fit the bill. I just might take one of the photos above and print it on fabric just to remember to smell the roses.

Oseh Shalom
Mixed Media Art Quilt

Once again in Israel

I was in Israel, the second time in less than a year that I am fortunate enough to be able to travel there.

I went because my husband and myself thought that it would be good for our kids to see me again. Who knows why we felt that way. But I cannot refuse an opportunity to see my adult children and to be in Israel.
Why does this place have such a hold on me? Even coming in to land I feel elevated just seeing the coastline and being within Israel boundaries once again.
I don't know if I can describe everything that I feel about Israel, but I will try to get a few points across. I still have lived most of my life in the country. I speak Hebrew with an accent and that never bothered me. I always felt very proud of the fact that I learned the language the hard way and can even read and write it fluently. But a language crosses border especially now with the internet and international TV stations.

The Western Wall. Always an inspiration.

I always feel inspired in Israel. I take many pictures and as an artist I never know how they will influence me in the future.

Residential building in Holon

A new high rise in Tel Aviv

Coming into Modi'in. Residential towers.

I always feel at home in Israel matter where I am. I don't mind the heat and I would rather live in a hot climate than I cold one.

Me in a second hand book store on Allenby St.

The best part of Israel: My family

However the real feeling is that I just love Israel. Everywhere I go I feel inspired to do more art and to live creatively. The landscape is my home. And of course there is no substitute for walking around Jerusalem. I like walking around cities and looking at the local architecture and Israeli cities I like the most. The best part of Israel are the people. Everybody seems to care about each other, though there are times that I just want to walk on my own. I love the way people will just start talking to each other, if it is on the beach or at a bookstore. Here I have emphasize that speaking to each other at bookstores I really like. I discovered Rom Oren because of several people who love to read got very excited when I said I was looking for a Historical novel. They all heard my conversation with the saleswoman and  were convinced that I would love The Red Scarf and they were right. That just doesn't happen to me in American book stores.
Yet I just don't think that says it all. So I will leave it at this. I love Israel and I am inspired to be who I am by Israel. I hope to return to live there someday and I hope that you can visit and fall in love with Israel too.