creative jewish mom

Cleaning Product Art For Passover To Make It Fun?

I have to admit, these cleaning product pieces, which are a part of my Daily Object series, sure are fun! Hmmm, maybe if I look at them long enough I can convince myself that the deep cleaning of the kitchen that I need to be right now is fun? Sure why not? So draw some cleaning products and color them in, and then get to work friends, time is of the essence. Ah yes, and of course you could download some clip art of cleaning products for the little ones to color in, and then get them to cut them out and make a wall hanging, garland, mobile or you name it. And then ask them to make one for all the neighbors in order to keep them busy, and some more for next year as well? Happy Passover prep, whatever that may mean for you!

DIY Seven Species Garland

As you can well guess I have so many Succah decorations from previous years that I still love, so spending time making new ones is certainly not a priority! Of course when one of my sons requested that I create the "seven species" as part of my Daily Object series (read about that here) in order to hang them in the succah, well of course I could not resist, because while we try to hang actual versions of the 7 species in the succah, artistic representations of them haven't been created for some time, and my previous version is in a box lost in the attic somewhere! So while of course now is not the time to be making succah decorations, you can save this idea for next year, or after the holiday get to work on your own version to enjoy for the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, when we eat the 7 species! What are the 7 species you ask? Keep on reading!

How To Start A Daily Art Practice (That Sticks!)

Ever heard of a daily art practice? Wondering why you should consider one? Wondering if you can actually do it? A little voice is telling you that you should do it? Okay, so lets take a look at all these questions! I have now had enough experience over the last year with my "daily object" series that I think I can shed some light on the topic and give you a few valuable tips. And, as someone who is relatively new to the idea, and who has also only started creating in a journal/sketchbook since 2020, but has continued to do so, I think I can still remember all the little nuances that might be helpful for you! A daily art practice is an amazing way to make art, and exploration of art and creativity a part of your life without going crazy, and while still making progress and honing skills, so keep on reading!

Lag B'Omer Drawing Craft For Any Age!

Today is Lag B'Omer, a festive day amidst a mourning period on the Jewish calender, so why not make some index card sized drawings or paintings to celebrate?
 It is true, these illustrations are a part of a larger project that I'm calling "Daily Object" though they are currently in display in my kitchen for the holiday, and as I start cooking for shabbat I'll enjoy their colorful representation of the day! Your version might be as simple as drawings with a black pen on color paper, and that is great too, the main thing is to just make time for creativity!

While I don't have time to go into the symbolism for the items I've depicted here, briefly, Lag B'Omer is a celebration of the great sage Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who hid from the Romans in a cave and was blessed with a carob tree that grew near the entrance. Today 3 year old boys get haircuts and put on their first tzit tzit, bon fires are lit to symbolize the light of Rebbi Shimon, and the bow and arrow is a traditional toy for the day. So many wonderful things to think about, enjoy!

Experimenting With Hi-End Water Soluble Wax Pastels

Looking for a Chanukah gift for an artsy someone? The Caran D'Ache wax pastels might just be a great gift, namely the set of 40 that comes in a gorgeous red tin. Do note however, these are amazing for working in journals and sketchbooks, but they must be sealed with fixative or they will bleed onto the opposite page. The best practice is to slip a piece of parchment or deli paper between the pages and then apply fixative at a later date. So maybe gift a can or bottle of fixative with the gift, just make sure it is fixative that works with oil based things, other wise it may just bead up on top of the work. Also, they work really well for mark making on the final layer of an acrylic painting, as the colors are very pigmented and offer great coverage.

How did all of this come about? As you may remember, this past Spring/summer I challenged myself to do 100 oil pastel landscapes, and I did it. It was great, but the oil pastels were truly such a mess and there ended up being little bits of oil pastel everywhere, even on the challahs at one point! So, while I do hope to delve into oil pastels again, I was looking for something a bit similar, but without the mess, and decided to try the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II line of waxy, water soluble, pastels. What can I say, it is a bit of a steep learning curve, but I keep seeing illustrators creating amazing things with them, and I am enjoying both the water soluble nature and the virtual no mess factor, so I'm not giving up any time soon! Ah yes, and they are literally the most perfect thing to travel with, together with a water brush and a few pencils, and some baby wipes, with which one can literally wipe off mistakes and turn a page gone wrong into the background for something new! Okay, lets take a look at some of the things I've created lately, though for the best look head on over to my instagram account @sara.rivka.dahan!

Daily Creating On An Index Card Produces Fun Results!

Daily creating on an index card, or index card size, is an amazing exercise that I greatly recommend! Just look at my results so far, and I'm one picky customer! As I was nearing the end of my personal challenge to make 100 oil pastel paintings I was starting to wonder what I would do when I finished that. And then fortunately, just as I was nearing the 100 mark this Index Card A Day challenge for the months of June/July came into my radar, and white I was hesitant at first, I decided to go for it, albeit with a simple theme that would hopefully be low stress and high success! And phew, it was such a great decision, because just as I finished those 100 pastels I had another something to jump into to keep myself a bit focused and moving forward in my art journey. So friends, it is not too late to join the fun, and you can do it with whatever medium you choose. The majority of the thousands participating are collage/mixed media folks, so choose your potion and go for it. Just image your own little gallery of tiny art after just 16 days, as I'm sharing with you here! Check out my instagram account @sara.rivka.dahan and look at the hashtags to see where everyone is sharing their results. And just by the way, this is also a great thing to do with kids, a little summer creativity can go a long way!

Create On An Index Card For 2 Months This Summer!

I have to admit, I did not know that there have been thousands of creative people creating on index cards every year for the months of June and July, each year. Of course when it started 11 years ago I can imagine it was not thousands, but today it is, and WOW! I am familiar with the idea of creating on index cards, or index card size, I just didn't know it was "thing" that I could participate in. Just as I was wondering what might keep my creative practice running once I finish my 100 oil pastels, (9 to go!) voila, this opportunity comes along. At first I thought, no way, you are too busy. But then I realized that by adapting a simple style, I could infact do an index card a day, and it could be great! With three days now under my belt I am so very very happy I committed to this 61 day challenge, and while I'll be sharing with you here from time to time, the daily peeks will be on my instagram @sara.rivka.dahan.

The challenge is called Index Card A Day, and the home base is right here. There is a Facebook group one can join for a fee, though I don't really have time for that, so I'm sharing on Instagram and making connections with fellow participants there. You do what works for you, maybe a family challenge with no social media? Maybe a challenge with a friend? There are no rules about what to put on the index card, so sky is the limit! I was even thinking about doing little sculptures, but then the illustration style I'm currently doing won out, plus it is much quicker!

I really think that an index card creativity challenge would be a great thing to do with the kids this summer, and at the end you can make a book, or do the second side next year! Daily creating is an amazing thing to fit in anyone's day, believe me, you'll end up doing it every year!

A Make 100 Oil Pastel Paintings Challenge!

Back at the end of February I decided to embark on a journey of using oil pastels to hone my landscape painting skills, and took upon myself to create 100 5" x 7" pieces! There is a huge benefit to creating 100 of something, and there are many 100 day art challenges out there that folks do regularly on instagram. 100 is enough to really sink your teeth into something, and yet not too much that it becomes overwhelming. I have to say, that making 100 was a much greater task than I had imagined even though the pieces are small, and it has been so helpful to have the support of my followers on instagram @sara.rivka.dahan and to be accountable somewhat to the task I took upon myself! As I write this I have 9 to go, and starting to plan my next steps to develop my art.

What else can I say? Most of the pieces I created ended up being shared on instagram, while a small portion, maybe five or so, went into the garbage, as should be expected. Truthfully some of the pieces were a good three paintings in themselves and would have gone in the garbage if not for my dedication to just keeping at it, even when it seemed hopeless! Additionally, most of the pieces were intuitive, or started off with inspiration of some kind but then veered to something else altogether, which makes the process much more time consuming and at times frustrating, but in the end rewarding when the end result comes to life.

What is the lesson here? If you dream of honing your art skills, of being able to call yourself an artist, of really creating something you could be proud of, you have to invest in it, and for most of us that means investing in it big time! Make art, make art, make art! Make art that you don't show anyone, make art that gets painted over, make art that gets torn up, make art that is made for the sake of the making, not the result, and THEN you might just be ready to start making art that you can give as gifts, hang on your walls, and who knows? In case you are wondering, I certainly have done all of the things I've listed before starting this oil pastel challenge, so do keep that in mind.

Okay, want to have a closer look, come along with me........

Simple Geometric Color Swatch Art

Looking for an interesting way to learn about color combinations with results that are just so satisfying? Looking for a fun art project for all ages? This just might be the one! These bars of color are so simple to create, either in a sketchbook, or on paper, or even canvas, you just have to give it a try! You can use oil pastel, acrylic paint, colored pencils, watercolor or a mixed media combination. Do thick bars with acrylic paint and then go back and fill the bars with doodles or marks, note to self! Or choose to do squares or any combo of geometric shapes. Choose a set palette of 5 or 6 colors, plus white, and then have fun placing one color next to another. How did I get those bars of color to be so crisp? Keep on reading, I even took a process photo, imagine that!

How To Make A Simple Folder To Hold Your Pastel Drawings

If you follow me on instagram on my art account @sara.rivka.dahan, then you certainly know that I'm on a journey to make 100 5" x 7" oil pastel drawings/paintings. (If you don't follow me, please do, I need you!) More on that later, the big question is, what to do with them all, especially since pastel is gooey and sort of wet for years, unless sealed, which is another story. So, lets just say that all the pastel drawings are not sealed, because why invest in that (time, money and toxins) when you are learning right? Yes you could sandwich each piece in a piece of tracing or parchment paper, or tape something like that to the piece, but then what? I came up with this quick folder to store your work, using items you may even have on hand. Well if you live in Israel and have or had school age children, you certainly have this on hand, as this is made from school binder paper, and here that means half of an A4 sheet size, which is perfect for my 5" x 7' works of well, gulp, art?