Collector’s Story: Art for a Dream World

Art for a Dream World: Lazy summer afternoon painting of Isola Madre on Lago Maggiore.

A Dream World in Tel Aviv My name is Uri Gera and I live with my wife Yael in Tel-Aviv, Israel. We know Darius for many, many years and we always enjoyed his art. We are lucky to be his friends, so when he starts working on a new painting we like we can say […]

Collector’s Story: Biblical Art for the Home

Biblical art for the Home : A mature couple in front of their brightly-coloured Biblical art collection. Collecting Biblical Art

Jewish-themed art This is the story sent to me by Pegge. I got to know her through various emails related to purchases of Biblical art for the home and, even though I’ve never met her and her husband, feel that through our correspondence, we’ve become good friends. Greetings, my name is Pegge McGuire. My husband, […]

Collector’s Story: Art for a Prayer Room – A Personalized Sacred Space.

Art for a Prayer Room

Sean Cribbin lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children. A couple of years ago he contacted me, and bought four original works: Art for a prayer room. There was a large oil painting of Moses on Mount Sinai, two smaller paintings, and a wooden wall-sculpture. Because of the different sizes and materials of […]

The Art of Genesis – Powerful New Beginnings

Biblical artist with Genesis painting - Darius in studio

A Torah Painting on Creation, Hebrew Letters, and Renewal After a very difficult year, here’s me with the art of Genesis, finally starting afresh. This is a return to the beginning — a new Torah painting centered on the opening verses of Bereishit, the Book of Genesis. For Jews and Christians alike, Genesis is the […]

Choosing the Perfect Gift: A Spiritual and Biblical Approach

Choosing the Perfect Gift: Parshat Teruma: Bible art from the Book of Exodus. Artwork showing the Hebrews giving gifts for the "Mishkan" (Tabernacle). Moses is shown atop Mount Sinai in the distance, surrounded by a scroll detailing the construction of the Tabernacle.

Choosing the perfect gift is difficult. The great sages have always known this. The Buddha alluded to it in the First Noble Truth where he poignantly states: “there is suffering (dukkha) in life.”  Some commentators, like Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, France, 1040 – 1105), are so traumatized by the subject that they avoid it altogether. Others […]

Biblical Ceramic Sculpture: War and Summer

Biblical ceramic sculpture from the Middle East: Priest-King with Drums

This summer has been, so far, a difficult one. The war in Gaza is ongoing, and we’ve also had a war with Iran – a war which I’d been fearing, and preparing for, for quite a while. Below I’ve posted a short video from that particular episode. The current situation continues to be very disturbing, […]

Symbolism of the Olive Tree: Spiritual Meaning in 3 Traditions: Jewish, Sufi, and Christian

olive trees in gentle evening sunlight (detail from a painting of the gardens of Isola Madre, by Darius Gilmont)

Key Points The symbolism of the olive tree is about peace, endurance, and spiritual transformation in Jewish, Sufi, and Christian traditions. Olive oil is often a symbol of divine illumination and of blessing. The pressing of olives symbolizes spiritual refinement through hardship. Recipe: How to make your own olives. (Traditional olive making can connect us […]

The Second Temple in Jerusalem: New Painting.

The Second Temple in Jerusalem: Beit Hamikdash artwork, a view of the Second Temple from the South, by Darius Gilmont

This is a post about three paintings: A view of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, a Jaguar E-type sports car, and a Kung Fu lesson in the park. But first, a few ruminations about what’s been going on in Israel. The recent release of hostages has been very emotional for a great many in Israel. […]

The Israel-Gaza War: How are we in Israel REALLY doing?

Israel-Gaza war post: A person running for cover. Detail from a painting of Isola Madre. A colourful landscape painting with the lake, villa and gardens.

I want to try to explain, from my point of view, what it feels like to be living here in Israel in these critical and dangerous times. One of the friends I’ve made through my art, who lives in Oregon, wrote me this: “………How are you in Israel REALLY doing?” 

Building Websites is not for Sissies!

Old Testament artwork showing Moses and the Two Tablets. A screenshot from the artist's website

I’ve just spent many, many hours rebuilding my website. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but never actually forced myself to make the many decisions involved, to learn new computer-things, and to go through the agonies of setting it all up. But basically it’s done, it seems to work and I’m […]