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The old saying “two heads are better than one” holds true in my house. My wife Joyce and I collaborated on the carving in the image at left. I did the carving and she came up with the idea. She also did the painting and lettering. This particular piece is not for sale, but we’d be happy to make one just for you.
This is just under 8-1/2″ in diameter. We have another one the same size as this with slightly simper carving waiting to be painted. Both of us think this would be really cool as a much larger piece, somewhere around 24″ – 36″ in diameter. If you have an interest, click here to send an e-mail and we can discuss the particulars.
The central part of the carving is based on the work of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. The stylized depiction of a cresting ocean wave, symbolic of the power and beauty of nature is hand-carved from solid basswood and hand painted with watercolors. On the border around the carving the Hebrew word Shalom repeats 18 times.
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That wasn’t planned but it’s interesting that it worked out that way as there is a connection between the number 18 and the Hebrew character for life “Chai”. (Click here to see a carving based on that word). Shalom means peace, in just about every way the word peace can be interpreted.
Sometimes we think that it might be a stretch to mix symbols from different sides of the world together like this, but we like the result and we like art that makes you think. I’m convinced there is an obvious connection between all of us no matter where we are from or what language we speak. My wife and I are quite different individuals but when we work together the results are better than what either of us do individually.
Gorgeous. And doubly for the way there were 18 shaloms carved around the perimeter.