I am proud to announce that I am offering a number of new, fresh, and I think beautiful ketubah designs for 2012. These ketubahs are all created from my fine art photography of roses, leaves and seeds. Several of the ketubahs showcase art I made of the graceful seeds from maple tree, the “helicopters” you toss in the air every autumn
Kudos to New York for recognizing that marriage is simply about two people who love each other, committing to a life together. And congratulations to all of the couples who will be proposing to each other this weekend!
Lawmakers voted late Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, making New York the largest state where gay and lesbian couples will be able to wed, and giving the national gay-rights movement new momentum from the state where it was born.
When Brooke Wheeler, 38 and her husband Jez Hildred, 42, got married in England in July 2003, they sat and signed the marriage register in front of the guests and civil servant officiant right after their wedding.
“But then you’re signing a civil document,” Wheeler explained. “My husband and I aren’t religious, but we liked the idea of having a document that served the more significant emotional aspects, like we were signing a bond to each other to share our lives.”
This March marked my eighth year of being in business as Modern Ketubah. What started as a simple idea back in 2003, took off and has become a major part of my career. Looking back, I have created ketubahs for nearly 1,200 couples across the United States, Canada and the UK. My ketubahs have been part of nearly every kind of wedding ceremony you can think of: interfaith, reform, multi-cultural, conservative and orthodox Jewish, non-religious, Christian, and same-sex weddings. I have had the privilege to be part of the most important day of so many people lives, it’s rather humbling.
And to think, this all started with my fiancé (now wife) and I looking for our own ketubah, and me realizing “hey, I can do this!” Creating ketubahs combined my two passions, design and art. It allowed me to create a business built on all of my skills, interests, and talents. And most importantly, it allowed me to achieve a lifelong goal and begin to start making a living as an artist. Thank you to all of my wonderful customers and friends, and here’s to the future!
This month I had the honor to be one of the first artist-in-residence at the prestigious Miraval Arizona Resort in Tucson. My art has been displayed at the Resort for a couple of years, and they just launched this program to let their guests get a deeper understanding of the artwork they display. I was honored to be a part of it.
I have always felt that my work has a strong affinity to resorts and spas, especially ones like Miraval that place so much focus on your emotional well-being. To my surprise, Miraval shared an even deeper connection to how I create my art. Everything at Miraval revolves around the idea of being “mindful”. Every class and activity is designed to help you become fully aware, fully present in the moment. And as I worked on my art each morning, I realized that “mindfulness” is also the foundation for my own artistic process.
Each work of art I make, whether I am in the desert or my studio at home, starts with me being mindful of the natural world and my relationship to it. I disconnect the analytical side of my brain, and quiet the chatter in my head. I try to calm the brain’s reflexive need to process and categorize, and just allow myself to absorb what my senses perceive, unfiltered. Even when I am out gathering subjects to photograph, I cannot worry about the past or plan for the future: I have to just be aware of the present, and experience my environment as openly and simply as possible. Only then do the ideas and images come to me. In a way, my art has become my own form of meditation or prayer, helping me be more mindful, more present, more centered.
