My Favorite Projects of 2022

I hope that like me, you are able to slow down this week and snuggle into the holidays. Whether this blog post finds you on a beach with a Margarita in hand, in a house full of laughing children, boisterous relatives and baking cookies, in a car or on an airplane, I am here to add a splash of color by highlighting some of the amazing projects I had the pleasure of working on in 2022. 

This year I took on an unprecedented amount of custom work, painting more commissions and original ketubahs than I ever have before, so it was really hard to choose my favorites to highlight. While I truly cherished every piece I got the honor of working on this year,  these projects each hold a particularly special place in my heart. 

A Very Special 50th Birthday Gift

I kicked off 2022 with this very unique painting commissioned by Olga for her husband Shahab. This piece combined his favorite landscapes with a still life of his favorite things. The landscapes include Tehran where he is from, and some of their favorite travel destinations including Iceland, Sydney and Egypt. The still life features a camera, a santoor, a violin, and sheet music. 

Ziv and Dani's Multi-Layer Ketubah

Boy did I love working on this very special ketubah for Ziv and Dani. This lovely New York couple found themselves in Silicon Valley and as they prepared to build out their starter home into their dream one, they wanted a papercut ketubah based on a map of their neighborhood. This ketubah had four layers of papercut and paint, which was a first for me. You know how much I love a challenge!

Painting Love for Ukraine

Spring of 2022 brought with it the shock and terror of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As I sat in horror watching bombs fall on my hometown of Kyiv, I couldn't help but channel my rage and deep sadness into both writing and painting. I wrote two articles in quick succession, the first one  processing the shock of seeing places that hold my childhood memories under assault, and the second exploring the surprising and complicated feelings of reconnecting to a birth country that holds so much generational trauma. 

I then painted this portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky, who has moved the whole world with his bravery persistence in the face of war . With your help, this portrait helped raise thousands of dollars in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. 

I also painted these sunflowers which traveled all the way to Europe and given as gifts to people doing incredible life-saving work on the ground.

They inspired a line of sunflower-inspired art including a Blessing for the Home, Ketubah, and even a tallit set. Proceeds from sales of all these pieces go to benefit the heroic humanitarian work of Ukraine TrustChain. 

A Ketubah Featuring the Painting of the Bride's Late Grandfather

When Adam and Michelle contacted me with their ketubah idea, I was thrilled. Not only is Adam an old friend whom I have not seen since high school, but when I heard what they had in mind, I could truly say I had never done anything quite like this before. Michelle's grandfather had been a renowned painter in Egypt. In his old age, he painted a quick painting every single day. Michelle and Adam asked if we could use their favorite of her grandfather's abstract paintings as the background of their ketubah, and have me create a papercut overlay to compliment it. Boy was this unique, challenge accepted!

Shannon and Jeff Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away... 

Shannon and Jeff divide their time between various bodies of water off the coast of Florida, as they sailed off to the Bahamas for their wedding, I loved painting this vibrant sailboat inspired ketubah for the newlyweds. 

Rebecca and Vin's Jewish Hindu Custom Ketubah

I love nothing more than mixing aesthetics from different cultures. Rebecca and Vinnayaka's Indian/Jewish ketubah gave me just that opportunity. Intertwining henna patterns and Hindu symbols with more traditional Jewish ketubah imagery was an absolute treat for me. 

Debbie and Simon's Seven Species Jerusalem Ketubah

I loved sinking into the earthy, organic feel of Debbie and Simon's ketubah which combined the Seven Species of Israel with a Jerusalem landscape, giving the whole ketubah a vintage, nostalgic feel. With ochre and sepia watercolors for wheat, barley, and the walls of Jerusalem complimented with a pop of scarlet for pomegranates and some forest green for the forests around Jerusalem, this ketubah was really a pleasure to paint. 

A Special Portrait for a Beloved Dad

Melissa and Jessica wanted to create something special for their beloved dad upon his retirement from the board of his synagogue. Not only was their dad the synagogue president for many years, but he also became a Bar Mitzvah in the very same shul! So, I painted a portrait of their dad today, as well as a painting of the synagogue building and also their dad as a Bar Mitzvah boy. I love a challenge and this painting surely provided that. What a blast it was to work on!

Exhibiting at the Lion of Judah Conference in Phoenix

At the tail end of the year, I decided to do something I have never done before. I showed my work, in person, at the Lion of Judah Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. It was so much fun meeting real, live humans and being able to discuss and answer questions about my art in real life, that I may just do more things like this in the future! 

If you have a special occasion coming up in 2023, whether it's a wedding, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, a big birthday, anniversary, or retirement, I am now accepting commissions! If 2023 is anything like 2022, they will fill up fast, so don't be shy, knock on my inbox today! Wishing you and your loved ones a warm and colorful New Year!