Thursday, November 22, 2007
The Lost Art of Calli-Graphic Judaica
It's Thanksgiving morning and I pause to give thanks for having the good fortune of growing up in a loving, compassionate and considerate environment. My family was always close and for the most part we loved and helped each other through thick and thin. But that's not why I'm writing today.
Today I talk about my exceptionally talented dad. My dad was a highly prolific man. And I don't mean his children... there are only three of us. What I mean is his ability to create. His natural talent for developing ideas, inventing solutions, and designing glorious creations was extraordinary. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone quite as prolific in this sense as my dad. His ideas flowed like honey from a hive.
As far back as I can remember, if I ever had a problem that I couldn't solve, he would come up with a solution... or five. I'm not talking schoolwork -- that wasn't his thing. I'm talking real life. Like how to build a clubhouse, what my platform should be when running for class president, and what job to interview for when there were choices. There was never a problem too perplexing for him to invent a solution.
Although dad invented, created, solved, designed, conceived and initiated many things in his life, he was most proud of his art. He invented what he called "Calli-Graphic Judaica" or the use of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph Bet) to create beautiful, meaningful works of art. And he did so at a pace you could not imagine. His ability to visualize a work of art, a logo, a monogram, an invitation, using his unique style of Hebrew letters, was mesmerizing.
There were times when a Rabbi would call to ask for a logo for a dinner or an organization and dad had it designed before he hung up the phone. His mind worked lightning fast, and he could usually turn out art in minutes or hours. In this sense he was also quite prolific. There were times when he would complete a fabulous painting in a day... or several in a week.
The only thing Michel liked more than creating his art was talking about it. He was so proud of his work, and rightfully so. Nothing he ever created was "just art." Everything he created had a deeper meaning and there was always a message entwined in the design. This is why he so enjoyed his work. He could talk about it for hours and his audience -- anyone who would listen -- was usually captivated by his inventiveness, and his charm.
I think I can safely say that there has never been another Judaic artist with the talent of my dad. By this I mean, I have never seen anything close to the fluidity, originality and uniqueness of Michel's "Calli-Graphic Judaica." Take a look for yourself: http://www.jewdaica.com/. This is the website we built to feature dad's work, and by the way, he invented the name Jewdaica to be different.
In his career dad probably created thousands of works of art, all using his distinctive letter style. It was what made him Michel, and unique in the Jewish art world. If he wasn't painting, he was designing jewelry, sculpture, torah cases, memorials, journals, mezuzahs, and more. He was always drawing, doodling and creating, from morning to very late at night.
Even in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's he was still painting and drawing quite often. Until his stroke (TIA). In the summer of 2006 he had a mild stroke and although physically he is in pretty good shape, he has lost his interest in painting. If I can point to one thing that upsets me the most, this would be it.
Not long ago we were sitting at the dining room table with my mom and I showed dad a large page of his designs for jewelry, logos, monograms, etc. They were unmistakeably Michel creations. His work is very distinctive. I asked dad, "Do you recognize the work?" and he looked at me with a blank stare and said, "no." I told him he did all of them and he replied no again. My heart sank, tears welled in mom's eyes; I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
The work of Michel will live on in many places for many years to come. Perhaps forever. But I'm not sure there will ever be another artist quite like my dad. A great loss in the Jewish art world.
Today I talk about my exceptionally talented dad. My dad was a highly prolific man. And I don't mean his children... there are only three of us. What I mean is his ability to create. His natural talent for developing ideas, inventing solutions, and designing glorious creations was extraordinary. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone quite as prolific in this sense as my dad. His ideas flowed like honey from a hive.
As far back as I can remember, if I ever had a problem that I couldn't solve, he would come up with a solution... or five. I'm not talking schoolwork -- that wasn't his thing. I'm talking real life. Like how to build a clubhouse, what my platform should be when running for class president, and what job to interview for when there were choices. There was never a problem too perplexing for him to invent a solution.
Although dad invented, created, solved, designed, conceived and initiated many things in his life, he was most proud of his art. He invented what he called "Calli-Graphic Judaica" or the use of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph Bet) to create beautiful, meaningful works of art. And he did so at a pace you could not imagine. His ability to visualize a work of art, a logo, a monogram, an invitation, using his unique style of Hebrew letters, was mesmerizing.
There were times when a Rabbi would call to ask for a logo for a dinner or an organization and dad had it designed before he hung up the phone. His mind worked lightning fast, and he could usually turn out art in minutes or hours. In this sense he was also quite prolific. There were times when he would complete a fabulous painting in a day... or several in a week.
The only thing Michel liked more than creating his art was talking about it. He was so proud of his work, and rightfully so. Nothing he ever created was "just art." Everything he created had a deeper meaning and there was always a message entwined in the design. This is why he so enjoyed his work. He could talk about it for hours and his audience -- anyone who would listen -- was usually captivated by his inventiveness, and his charm.
I think I can safely say that there has never been another Judaic artist with the talent of my dad. By this I mean, I have never seen anything close to the fluidity, originality and uniqueness of Michel's "Calli-Graphic Judaica." Take a look for yourself: http://www.jewdaica.com/. This is the website we built to feature dad's work, and by the way, he invented the name Jewdaica to be different.
In his career dad probably created thousands of works of art, all using his distinctive letter style. It was what made him Michel, and unique in the Jewish art world. If he wasn't painting, he was designing jewelry, sculpture, torah cases, memorials, journals, mezuzahs, and more. He was always drawing, doodling and creating, from morning to very late at night.
Even in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's he was still painting and drawing quite often. Until his stroke (TIA). In the summer of 2006 he had a mild stroke and although physically he is in pretty good shape, he has lost his interest in painting. If I can point to one thing that upsets me the most, this would be it.
Not long ago we were sitting at the dining room table with my mom and I showed dad a large page of his designs for jewelry, logos, monograms, etc. They were unmistakeably Michel creations. His work is very distinctive. I asked dad, "Do you recognize the work?" and he looked at me with a blank stare and said, "no." I told him he did all of them and he replied no again. My heart sank, tears welled in mom's eyes; I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
The work of Michel will live on in many places for many years to come. Perhaps forever. But I'm not sure there will ever be another artist quite like my dad. A great loss in the Jewish art world.
Labels: art, creative, inventive, Judaica
