Shalom Bayit
Visual Art
Please click the UNDERLINED TITLE to view that selected piece of art. Enjoy!
Front Door Sunset
Artist: David Sherman
Medium: Digital Photography
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our physical home is our place of safety. It is our refuge from the negative news that bombards us. The beautiful light of the sunset is a reminder of our peace and safety and hope for a better day to come.
Marshmallow Woman
Artist: Martha Bird
Medium: Mixed Media
With the Stay-At-Home-MN Executive Order I finally had the permission to let go of outside things and stay home. Since finding my rhythm at home, I have had many days where I fit in all this self care (even if it may have taken all day). It feels really wonderful and brings me back to myself and allows me to really feel, in my body, what is happening day to day. It takes being at home, space and deep focus to allow myself the time and space I need.
Untitled
Artist: Tracey Agranoff
Medium: Acrylic/Collage (Multimedia)
It is of comfort to be at safe and at peace at home with family, with memories of the past and optimism for the future.
Dig Deep
Artist: Deborah Getsug Taillon
Medium: Mixed Media – Wood, fabric, glass glitter, hand-spun yarn, paper
We are all complex people with complex lives and histories. In order to be our true self, our most authentic self, we must dig deep and face each facet of who we are and what we’ve come from. Then we can be home.
Birkat Habayit, Blessing of the Home
Artist: Bev Fishman
Medium: Acrylic
This art contains the text of the “Blessing of the Home”
In Benjie’s Room
Artist: Dianne Silverman
Medium: Color Pencil
Created in 1999, this is an interior illustration from my children’s book, Benjie Flies. Benjie is awake late at night, thinking about the first ride he will have in an airplane. In the safety and quiet of his bedroom at home, it is the place where he can rest and sleep, plan, imagine and dream.
Soul
Artist: Martha Bird
Medium: Sculptural Basketry
This kinetic sculpture is of a hovering sweet-gum seed pod, cradling the tender pith removed from the core of the willow below. The willow cuttings are formed into a circular design with a hollow center so the shadow of the sweet-gum can land in the void, while swaying from side to side with airflow. This sculpture suggests vital force that, for me, thrives when I am grounded and spend extended time in my home.
Hamsa
Artist: Bev Fishman
Medium: Mixed Media
The Hamsa is a symbol of peace, good health, safety and happiness.
Blessing
Artist: Martha Bird
Medium: Sculptural Basketry
This sculpture was made in honor of a Jewish woman. She taught me the tools to find peace within myself which resulted in me finding peace in my home.
Copper is a conductor of energy and is considered “the healing metal.” Sweetgrass is a purifying herb that is considered to have power and used for healing in the Native American culture.
Ashrei
Artist: Lucy Marshall
Medium: Acrylic Paint on Canvas
“Ashrei yoshvei beitecha ‘Happy are those who sit in Your house’ an ancient prayer. a prayer for quarantine. to remind ourselves that beyond our physical confines we are actually all holed-up together, in the house of hashem” -Binya Kóatz
Bayit Lavad
Artist: Lucy Marshall
Medium: Acrylic Paint, String and Beads on Canvas
What does “Shalom Bayit”-ing feel like in my body, my home? This work is a soul portrait on being alone, together with myself.
Wholeness
Artist: Lucy Marshall
Medium: Video: Acrylic Paint on a Mason Jar, Beads & Sunlight
In the word “shalom” is the root “shalem,” which means “whole.” This piece is a meditation on finding moments of wholeness in our bodies, our homes and our worlds.
Edward Wants A Home
Artist: Dianne Silverman
Medium: Digital
Published in 2011, this is the cover of my Amazon Kindle e-Book. Edward the monkey is a display sample who must sit in the window of a toy shop. When the mall closes for the night the toys leave their places in the window and sneak to the back of the store to play games. Edward is playing campfire with the other toys. But he longs to go home with a child. Edward asks, “Will I ever get to go home to live with a family?”
For The Grandmas
Artist: Anna Peter
Medium: Oil on Canvas
This piece responds to the concept of Shalom Bayit because it is a portrait of my grandmother that I hang in my home. I am staying home for all the grandmas and grandpas and elders who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. I’m keeping them in my thoughts as I paint my own grandmother, remembering that each person that falls victim to this virus is as precious to someone out there as my grandmother is to me.