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 frail condition of the three released last week was distressing but not surprising. Getting all the remaining hostages out as soon as possible should be, one would think, the top priority. But I have the impression that the Netanyahu government is more interested in self-preservation than in getting the hostages out. And at a demonstration we went to in Kfar Saba last night, there were constant and loud expressions of absolute fury at the government, which was accused of betraying Jewish values through its neglect of the hostages (among a long list of other derelictions of duty). When handed a leaflet calling for an investigation into Qatari influence on the Prime Minister, I felt that this could well explain a few things!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on two new – and very different – paintings. My main project has been a very detailed painting of Jerusalem and the Second Temple (full image at top of page). This was not a commissioned work, rather a subject I’ve had in mind for quite a while. It was a great deal of work, because I was painting every stone in every building, albeit in a stylised and not-to-scale way. For me, this can often be a meditative way of working; repetitive patterns inducing a kind of trance-like state in which time seems not to exist. However, this one was just hard to do, and I wasn’t able to work on it for long periods before losing patience each time! Here’s a close-up to show what I mean about the stones…..
And here’s another close-up, showing the steps to the Southern entrance of the Temple….
At a time when the deep Jewish connection to Jerusalem is being fundamentally denied at the UN and elsewhere, I feel it’s important to remind ourselves of what has been one of the central pillars of the Jewish soul for centuries: Jerusalem and the Temple. I have dedicated this painting to the nephew of one of my childhood friends. Yuval Shoham (below) was killed aged 22 while serving in the IDF in Jabalia in Gaza this last December. זכרונו לברכה
This Second Temple artwork will soon be available as a canvas print, and I shall also be offering the original for sale.
The second project was a commissioned car portrait of a beautiful 1963 E-type Jaguar (below). This is painted in oils on birchwood panel, 50 x 100cm, and will be on its way to its new home in the UK soon. (If you’re interested in classic cars, you can see more of my car art on my other website at www.dariusgilmont.com).
And finally, I recently rediscovered a painting I made a few years ago (below). This shows a group of people training at kung-fu in the park in Raanana in early evening light (Park Uri Gordon). Actually this is the kung-fu group of which I’ve been a part for a few years now, and each person shown approximates to a real person in the group. The painting was a present for our Sifu, Tal Tzur. If you live in or near Raanana, and want an intense workout combined with self-defense and general conditioning, or if you want to try the gentler, softer Tai-Chi-type version which helped me originally to sort out lower back pain, go to the Kung Fu Raanana website!
I hope you’ve found this eclectic mix of artwork interesting. Kung Fu is a reminder that we all need to pay attention to our bodies, to stay fit and active and healthy. The E-type Jaguar is, I suppose, no more than a reminder of a great and beautiful sports car, a hand-crafted automotive beast with the most entrancing character, from a time before cars lost their “soul”….. The Temple (Beit Ha’Mikdash), is admittedly a divisive subject politically. But to my mind its importance is as a symbol of unity and holiness for the Jewish people and the world. It should remind us that we are each a stone in a greater structure, and if we neglect each other, the building will never be complete.
עם ישראל חי
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?”
I’ve just spent many, many hours rebuilding my website. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but
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 frail condition of the three released last week was distressing but not surprising. Getting all the remaining hostages out as soon as possible should be, one would think, the top priority. But I have the impression that the Netanyahu government is more interested in self-preservation than in getting the hostages out. And at a demonstration we went to in Kfar Saba last night, there were constant and loud expressions of absolute fury at the government, which was accused of betraying Jewish values through its neglect of the hostages (among a long list of other derelictions of duty). When handed a leaflet calling for an investigation into Qatari influence on the Prime Minister, I felt that this could well explain a few things!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on two new – and very different – paintings. My main project has been a very detailed painting of Jerusalem and the Second Temple (full image at top of page). This was not a commissioned work, rather a subject I’ve had in mind for quite a while. It was a great deal of work, because I was painting every stone in every building, albeit in a stylised and not-to-scale way. For me, this can often be a meditative way of working; repetitive patterns inducing a kind of trance-like state in which time seems not to exist. However, this one was just hard to do, and I wasn’t able to work on it for long periods before losing patience each time! Here’s a close-up to show what I mean about the stones…..
And here’s another close-up, showing the steps to the Southern entrance of the Temple….
At a time when the deep Jewish connection to Jerusalem is being fundamentally denied at the UN and elsewhere, I feel it’s important to remind ourselves of what has been one of the central pillars of the Jewish soul for centuries: Jerusalem and the Temple. I have dedicated this painting to the nephew of one of my childhood friends. Yuval Shoham (below) was killed aged 22 while serving in the IDF in Jabalia in Gaza this last December. זכרונו לברכה
This Second Temple artwork will soon be available as a canvas print, and I shall also be offering the original for sale.
The second project was a commissioned car portrait of a beautiful 1963 E-type Jaguar (below). This is painted in oils on birchwood panel, 50 x 100cm, and will be on its way to its new home in the UK soon. (If you’re interested in classic cars, you can see more of my car art on my other website at www.dariusgilmont.com).
And finally, I recently rediscovered a painting I made a few years ago (below). This shows a group of people training at kung-fu in the park in Raanana in early evening light (Park Uri Gordon). Actually this is the kung-fu group of which I’ve been a part for a few years now, and each person shown approximates to a real person in the group. The painting was a present for our Sifu, Tal Tzur. If you live in or near Raanana, and want an intense workout combined with self-defense and general conditioning, or if you want to try the gentler, softer Tai-Chi-type version which helped me originally to sort out lower back pain, go to the Kung Fu Raanana website!
I hope you’ve found this eclectic mix of artwork interesting. Kung Fu is a reminder that we all need to pay attention to our bodies, to stay fit and active and healthy. The E-type Jaguar is, I suppose, no more than a reminder of a great and beautiful sports car, a hand-crafted automotive beast with the most entrancing character, from a time before cars lost their “soul”….. The Temple (Beit Ha’Mikdash), is admittedly a divisive subject politically. But to my mind its importance is as a symbol of unity and holiness for the Jewish people and the world. It should remind us that we are each a stone in a greater structure, and if we neglect each other, the building will never be complete.
עם ישראל חי
