The Twelve Tribes

This book contains words and pictures relating to two different but related art collaborations, Bowls of Blessing (2011) and Urim and Thummim (1991). The "Bowls of Blessing" series consists of twelve ceramic bowls containing both images and words that have been embedded into the glaze. Each bowl is unique, each made from an eleven kilo sack of clay. The bowls illuminate, through original photographs and text in English and Hebrew, excerpts from Genesis 49, which consists of Jacobs blessings over his twelve sons, the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. These words and pictures have been fired into the glaze with laser decals. Each bowl is pictured and described on a full page or two. Many of the sayings whether of Jacob over his sons, or of Moses over their descendants, the twelve tribes of Israel, are mysterious, leading to intersting questions and observations about the meaning of Israel. Regarding the "Urim and Thummim portion, nobody knows what the Urim and Thummim even were physically, nor their method. They served as an oracle through which the nation got direction and specific answers to their queries. The artists created 12 panels, each with 12 images and surrounding illuminations following the pattern of the breastplate of the High Priest as described in the Bible This is an art book that is based on the Bible, and on particular portions of the Bible which are poetic and evocative. Sometimes art steps in where language leaves off.