Mystical Jewish Artwork
click on images to enlarge:
For many generations in my family, being Jewish was a secret. So much a secret that it was almost forgotten! My relatives have vague memories of their grandmothers singing to them in Hebrew when they were children. I remember my mother telling me about dreams she's had with braids morphing into challah or havdalah candles, or where a secret magical family name is being hidden within the folds of a mother's braids. I am the last practicing Jew in my family, and I've been feeling the need to combine this with my artwork. Because I have only dreams and fragments left in my family, instead of thick strong roots, the artwork I've created so far is very surreal and magical, like trying to remember a far away dream before it vanishes.



CRAYON DRAWINGS! (etchings)
"Deer Head With Phone Chord Running Down the Middle" Series

click on images to enlarge
These were are all done entirely with thick layers of jumbo crayons, and scratching away at the surfaces with a hunting knife. They are 4 from a series of 22. The first (not shown) was a still-life of a deer head with a phone chord in front of it. But after the first dozen, they evolved into strange patterned creations that only shared the outline of the phone chord and a strange pear-like outline that once represented a deer head.



Mystical Jewish Crayon Etchings (MORE COMING SOON!)
click on images to enlarge
     
These are a mixture of the first two sections on this page. The technique I use is tedious but creates a feeling of heightened focus, so I have a sort of spiritually meditative experience while making these. I've started selling them on my Jewish etsy page-- see my shop section for details.



"My Brief and Insignificant Romance with the Vulture God"



click on images to enlarge

Shown at the Covivant Gallery in 2005,
and was later sold to a private collector.

16-feet long
A brief history of this painting:
This piece depicts the true story of my ex-fiancé and best friend who left me for each other. The sincerity of the title "My Brief and Insignificant Romance with the Vulture God" is questioned by the dramatically large size of the piece (16-feet long). The figures of women not only depict the merging of my successor and I into one woman- the bodies are also made up of hundreds of tiny other women, to suggest the eternity of this situation and the repetition of this circumstance throughout the history of all love. The fading figures and the swelling pregnant shapes show the passing into the next phase of life- a rebirth after shedding my old skin to be left behind with my old lover and his new mistress. He is not even human anymore- but a fantastical figure of my own imagination, a fairytale creature that never truly existed.



"Barry and Bethany's Magical Freakshow"
click on image to enlarge
I made this painting with artist/musician/mad-scientist Barry Kudrowitz- he did most of the left side and I did most of the right.
Click here to see Barry's Art/Music/Inventions Website
The musical group "The Deans" used this painting as the cd cover for their album "Lust and Ambitions":
Click here to see their music page



"The Enchanted Harp"


This one-of-a-kind string instrument was purchased
for the private collection of a concert violinist in Baltimore.

upon recieving it she wrote to me:
"I absolutely love this! It is my favorite thing next to my violin!"




Random Amusing Things:
click on images to enlarge





Paintings from when I was going through some weird evil-doll phase:
click on images to enlarge





Paintings of Magical Nude Creatures with and without Wings:
click on images to enlarge





Based on Relationships:
click on images to enlarge







Add my banner! (copy the text below and paste to your web page, myspace, blog, etc):
<a href="http://www.oriannastudios.com"><img src="http://www.oriannastudios.com/gfx/banner.jpg"></a>