The Temple, the Jaguar & the Kung Fu Lesson
This is a post about three paintings: A view of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, a Jaguar E-type sports car,
Video capturing the siren going off in our immediate area. At the beginning, you can hear sirens in neighbouring towns. Then our friendly neighbourhood one starts….(For full effect, put your headphones on, and volume up). Enjoy.
I want to try to explain, from my point of view, what it feels like to be living here in Israel in these critical and dangerous times. One of the friends I’ve made through my art, who lives in Oregon, wrote me this: “We have a dear Israeli friend here who, when we ask about his family there, responds ‘physically they are safe but mentally and emotionally they are not alright’. This is the story I believe we, in the US, are eager to understand. How are you in Israel REALLY doing?”
How am I doing personally? Here are just a few short thoughts about it all. I feel disoriented in the world, as if we’re in the middle of an earthquake and you can’t be sure that the ground you’re on is solid. But this is merely a strengthening of the feeling I’d had before 7 October. The government in Israel was leading the country in a direction I was (and am) very uncomfortable with. There was a feeling of crisis, with significant implications for the security of the country.
Since 7 October, one of my coping mechanisms has been to do more sport and exercise. I go for long walks or runs whenever possible. I find being active and being outside really helps me feel positive and keep enjoying life. My favourite route is from home to the sea (about 5 km) and then along the beach as far as I feel like going.
My artwork was paralyzed for several months after the war began. I could hardly do anything creative. In general I found that concentrating on anything for any length of time was really difficult. I couldn’t concentrate on reading, so I looked at lots of my old 1970s MotorSport magazines instead. This also took me back to another world, a slightly – Interrupted by siren now, have to go to the safe room (see video above).
I’m writing this as we’ve just come out of Yom Kippur, which was really quiet except for sirens at about 10pm in neighbouring Herzlia. I saw two rockets in the night sky, tiny bright flames moving very fast. One fizzled out, and the other disappeared behind buildings. It felt like weird things were going on! Meantime, in the synagogue, I’d never seen so much weaponry. It’s because anyone who’s in the army at the moment is taking their weapon home when on leave. It’s for personal security and for general security.
To plan this post, I wrote an initial list of topics. Here’s my list: Hostages, soldiers (sons of friends), planes flying over, sirens, international media, the current government, suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Hostages: The worst nightmare. It is deeply disturbing how the government here doesn’t seem to have the release of the hostages close to heart.
Soldiers: Amazing bravery, dedication.
Planes: Lots of warplanes flying above every day. A very different sound compared to the usual sound of airliners.
Sirens: The last one really freaked me out – more so than usual. Any sound that might be a siren – a dog howling or a distance motorbike driving fast – puts me immediately on edge.
International Media: Generally the media in the West seems to be the enemy.
The government coalition: A disturbing subject. In short, my feeling is that Netanyahu has worked over many years to encourage divisions in Israeli society in a private policy of ‘divide and rule.’ He has also done this with the Palestinians, quietly helping Hamas build itself up as an opposing force to the PLO/Palestinian Authority. As a result, Israel was weakened and open to attack. However, a lot of people disagree with this and see Netanyahu as the infallible king figure that he himself sees when he looks in the mirror.
Suffering of civilians in Gaza: No space in the emotional spectrum to even think about that. This is a war, for real. On Oct 7 Iran/Hamas set up new paradigms of callousness and evil from which we are still reeling.
(An excellent interview with Naftali Bennett covering some of the major issues facing Israel at the moment, an interview which is quite positive in many ways, is worth watching here.)
And finally, I’ve just finished this painting which is rooted in much more positive and peaceful feelings: The beautiful Lago Maggiore!
Above: My painting of La Isola Madre, which I originally began as a painting on the theme of 7 October – see my blog post about it – and later transformed into a scene of whimsical tranquility. (Acrylic on Canvas, 80 x 120cm).
This painting is now available as a print on canvas in different sizes here.
This is a post about three paintings: A view of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, a Jaguar E-type sports car,
I’ve just spent many, many hours rebuilding my website. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but
Video capturing the siren going off in our immediate area. At the beginning, you can hear sirens in neighbouring towns. Then our friendly neighbourhood one starts….(For full effect, put your headphones on, and volume up). Enjoy.
I want to try to explain, from my point of view, what it feels like to be living here in Israel in these critical and dangerous times. One of the friends I’ve made through my art, who lives in Oregon, wrote me this: “We have a dear Israeli friend here who, when we ask about his family there, responds ‘physically they are safe but mentally and emotionally they are not alright’. This is the story I believe we, in the US, are eager to understand. How are you in Israel REALLY doing?”
How am I doing personally? Here are just a few short thoughts about it all. I feel disoriented in the world, as if we’re in the middle of an earthquake and you can’t be sure that the ground you’re on is solid. But this is merely a strengthening of the feeling I’d had before 7 October. The government in Israel was leading the country in a direction I was (and am) very uncomfortable with. There was a feeling of crisis, with significant implications for the security of the country.
Since 7 October, one of my coping mechanisms has been to do more sport and exercise. I go for long walks or runs whenever possible. I find being active and being outside really helps me feel positive and keep enjoying life. My favourite route is from home to the sea (about 5 km) and then along the beach as far as I feel like going.
My artwork was paralyzed for several months after the war began. I could hardly do anything creative. In general I found that concentrating on anything for any length of time was really difficult. I couldn’t concentrate on reading, so I looked at lots of my old 1970s MotorSport magazines instead. This also took me back to another world, a slightly – Interrupted by siren now, have to go to the safe room (see video above).
I’m writing this as we’ve just come out of Yom Kippur, which was really quiet except for sirens at about 10pm in neighbouring Herzlia. I saw two rockets in the night sky, tiny bright flames moving very fast. One fizzled out, and the other disappeared behind buildings. It felt like weird things were going on! Meantime, in the synagogue, I’d never seen so much weaponry. It’s because anyone who’s in the army at the moment is taking their weapon home when on leave. It’s for personal security and for general security.
To plan this post, I wrote an initial list of topics. Here’s my list: Hostages, soldiers (sons of friends), planes flying over, sirens, international media, the current government, suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Hostages: The worst nightmare. It is deeply disturbing how the government here doesn’t seem to have the release of the hostages close to heart.
Soldiers: Amazing bravery, dedication.
Planes: Lots of warplanes flying above every day. A very different sound compared to the usual sound of airliners.
Sirens: The last one really freaked me out – more so than usual. Any sound that might be a siren – a dog howling or a distance motorbike driving fast – puts me immediately on edge.
International Media: Generally the media in the West seems to be the enemy.
The government coalition: A disturbing subject. In short, my feeling is that Netanyahu has worked over many years to encourage divisions in Israeli society in a private policy of ‘divide and rule.’ He has also done this with the Palestinians, quietly helping Hamas build itself up as an opposing force to the PLO/Palestinian Authority. As a result, Israel was weakened and open to attack. However, a lot of people disagree with this and see Netanyahu as the infallible king figure that he himself sees when he looks in the mirror.
Suffering of civilians in Gaza: No space in the emotional spectrum to even think about that. This is a war, for real. On Oct 7 Iran/Hamas set up new paradigms of callousness and evil from which we are still reeling.
(An excellent interview with Naftali Bennett covering some of the major issues facing Israel at the moment, an interview which is quite positive in many ways, is worth watching here.)
And finally, I’ve just finished this painting which is rooted in much more positive and peaceful feelings: The beautiful Lago Maggiore!
Above: My painting of La Isola Madre, which I originally began as a painting on the theme of 7 October – see my blog post about it – and later transformed into a scene of whimsical tranquility. (Acrylic on Canvas, 80 x 120cm).
This painting is now available as a print on canvas in different sizes here.