creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, and thanks so much for joining me here! As you may have noticed, the only creativity appearing on my blog these last few weeks (not including photography) has been from all the wonderful contributors to this party. I have been very busy in the creativity department with a few intense graphic design projects while finishing up an interiors project, and that simply leaves no time for crafting.......or even photographing recent projects that I have yet to share. Not complaining just noticing that the weeks are zooming by and I look forward to some sketching and painting, coming soon, or at least on our summer journeys. Whether you have time or not for creativity, at least looking at other's efforts inspires, which in itself is a great thing! So enjoy the features from last week's party:

Public Art In The Ukraine: Wall Murals In Kyiv!

On our Passover trip to the Ukraine I had neither time to do research before hand, nor internet access once on the trip, so the whole experience was very much a surprise, and things are still unfolding as I start to do research about many of the things I saw, and of course photographed!

I'll admit, I'm generally not a fan of huge wall murals, and especially those on historic buildings, but some of the examples I saw in Kiev (many from the car so no possibility of photographing them) were really quite interesting, and I actually really love the two examples that I did get to photograph! As it turns out wall murals have become a thing in Kyiv, since 2014, and you can even visit kyivmurals.com to find the locations of murals around the city, as well as the names of the artists is some cases! So when in Kyiv (and I highly recommend it, such an interesting city and so very very inexpensive) look up and around and enjoy the murals!

The Motherland Monument In Kyiv, Ukraine

During our short stay in Kiev, or Kyiv, Ukraine, one of my favorite locations was the site of the Motherland Monument, which is part of the World War 2 Museum, and overlooks the Dnieper River. The monument is stunning, and the view of Kiev and the river are lovely. Truly at the top of my personal list for must-sees in Kiev. We did not go into the museum, which is where you can go up into the statue, but I think that if I have the chance again, I would like to go into the museum as the Socialistic representation of the war, seen outside on the plaza via sculptures is so very interesting. In fact this Motherland monument is just one of a group of post war Socialistic monuments in Eastern Europe portraying the "mother" as the symbol of the country. More about the later, first come have a little glimpse of this special spot.

Ukrainian Socialistic Depictions Of Women In WW II = Super Strong Female Athletes

On our visit to Kiev and the Motherland Monument we also strolled through the World War 2 Museum plaza and really enjoyed looking at the HUGE relief sculptures depicting the war. Wow. One of the things that really stood out was that the women and men were depicted as being equally strong, which was very dramatic especially given the size of the sculptures. At the time I was quite sure there was a message but didn't have the brain power to ponder it as we were seeing so many new things. Now, going over the photos it suddenly donned on me, ah yes, of course Socialism! The Socialism credo is equality, so of course women and men are equally strong, even if it does make them look like modern day female track and field Olympians or weight lifters!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to craft schooling Sunday, and thanks so much for joining me here! Let the summer crafting begin, whether it is on the road, at the beach, on the shore, or even in the comfort of your own home! And there is something about the freedom of summer which says explore something new, try that craft you've been dreaming of, take some chances, and most of all don't worry about the outcome, just enjoy the process! You can always spend time making those picture perfect crafts another time, go crazy with something new, got it?

And now, here is a ton of perfect inspiration, many a bit too perfect to go along with my statement above, but if you must, so that is okay too. How about for every perfect craft forcing yourself to just make something with no plan or intention? Now that is the true key to letting those creative juices flow, enjoy!

Very Early Spring In Uman, Ukraine

I am still sharing with you photos from our Passover trip to the Ukraine, which is fortunate as I've been so busy with graphic design work that I have not had even a moment to craft, though I am dreaming of it! On our adventures in the Ukraine our home base was Uman, not the most beautiful city I must say as the Ukraine is very depressed generally except in the large cities like Odessa and Kiev. Uman is a total mish mash of new and old pre-war, post-war, you name it, though it is home to a very lovely park called Gan Sofia (in Hebrew) which is a must. We visited the park on a day when I could not take photos, so none of that loveliness to share with you. Instead I share with you a few little glimpses of beauty from amidst the bare trees and amidst the rubble. Not to get me wrong, Uman in a very very beautiful place, but not the kind of beauty that shows up in photos.......rather the kind of beauty that brings around 75,000 or more visitors for the Jewish holiday of Rosh HaShana for a spiritual experience at the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman. You can google Rebbe Nachman to learn about his teachings that while written more than a hundred years ago are more relevant than ever. In the mean time, lets take a little walk in Uman!