Shir HaShirim

This paper-cut is 8x8 inches.  It has two cut layers, plus a background.  The verse in the paper-cut is from Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs)- "כשושנה בין החוחים כן רעיתי בן הבנות, כתפוח בעצי היער כן דודי בין הבנים".  Translated- As a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughter.  As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.  The design depicts both the apple tree and the lilies together.

Musical Squares

This paper-cut is 8x8 inches.  It has two cut layers, plus a background.  The bottom layer is geometrical pattern with all sorts of musical notes and notations.  The curved musical instruments in the top layer give the paper-cut a softer tone.

Both versions have verses from Tehillim on them.   

Green and Brown - "זמרו לא-לוהים זמרו, זמרו למלכינו זמרו"

Purple and Blue - "כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה הללוי-ה"

Beige and Green- "נריעה לצור ישענו נקדמה פניו בתודה בזמרות נריע לו"

Really anything that has to do with music works.

Darashti

I think this my favorite so far.

The text on this papercut (bolded below) comes from a longer poem written by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi (letters of Yehuda also bolded, showing the acrostic). The poem goes as follows (sorry, no translation this time):

יָהּ, אָנָה אֶמְצָאֲךָ?

מְקוֹמְךָ נַעֲלָה וְנֶעְלָם!

וְאָנָה לֹא אֶמְצָאֲךָ?

כְּבוֹדְךָ מָלֵא עוֹלָם!

הַנִּמְצָא בַקְּרָבִים

אַפְסֵי אֶרֶץ הֵקִים,

הַמִּשְׂגָּב לַקְּרוֹבִים,

הַמִּבְטָח לָרְחוֹקִים,

אַתָּה יוֹשֵׁב כְּרוּבִים,

אַתָּה שׁוֹכֵן שְׁחָקִים.

תִּתְהַלֵּל בִּצְבָאֲךָ –

וְאַתְּ עַל רֹאשׁ מַהֲלָלָם,

גַּלְגַּל לֹא-יִשָּׂאֲךָ

אַף כִּי חַדְרֵי אוּלָם!

וּבְהִנָּשְׂאֲךָ עֲלֵיהֶם

עַל כֵּס נִשָּׂא וָרָם,

אַתָּה קָרוֹב אֲלֵיהֶם

מִרוּחָם וּמִבְּשָׂרָם,

פִּיהֶם יָעִיד בָּהֶם,

כִּי אֵין בִּלְתְּךָ יוֹצְרָם.

מִי זֶה לֹא יִרָאֲךָ -

וְעַל מַלְכוּתְךָ עֻלָּם?

אוֹ מִי לֹא יִקְרָאֲךָ –

וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן אָכְלָם?

דָּרַשְׁתִּי קִרְבָתְךָ,

בְּכָל-לִבִּי קְרָאתִיךָ,

וּבְצֵאתִי לִקְרָאתְךָ –

לִקְרָאתִי מצָאתִיךָ,

וּבְפִלאֵי גְבוּרָתְךָ

בַּקֹּדֶשׁ חֲזִיתִיךָ.

מִי יֹאמַר לֹא רָאֲךָ?

הֵן שָׁמַיִם וְחֵילָם

יַגִּידוּ מוֹרָאֲךָ

בְּלִי נִשְׁמַע קוֹלָם!

הַאֻמְנָם כִּי יֵשֵב

אֱ-לֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם?

וּמַה יַחְשֹׁב כָּל-חוֹשֵׁב,

אֲשֶׁר בָּעָפָר יְסוֹדָם –

וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב

תְּהִלּוֹתָם וּכְבוֹדָם!

חַיּוֹת יוֹדוּ פִלְאֲךָ

הָעוֹמְדוֹת בְּרוּם עוֹלָם,

עַל רָאשֵׁיהֶם כִּסְאֲךָ ­–

וְאַתָּה נוֹשֵׂא כֻלָּם!

When I read the poem the feeling I thought he was trying to express is a longing for reaching a closeness to God, but at the same time embracing the fact that even though God is very much apart of every aspect of the world, he simply does not exist in the same sphere as we do and complete closeness will never be possible.

I took those expressions of love and longing and started in the middle with a rose. A rose is something very earthly and tangible but is also an object we associate with great beauty. We also often use roses to show our love for another person. As you move towards the edges of the circle the rose melts away into fog and mist and clouds. Clouds can be just as beautiful but they are not earthly in the same sense as a rose, in that you can never grasp them.

The technical details:

8 inch diameter, 3 cut layers

Instead of mounting this piece on a background, I left it with the holes and framed it in a deep frame, suspended between two pieces of glass.  This way, the paper-cut casts shadows on the back of the frame giving it a floating effect.  I actually do this with a lot of my pieces- some of which are already posted.  This is the only one I have a picture of (thanks Elisheva Kupferman!).

עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר... In Three Versions

In these pieces I wrote out a passage from Mishna Avot

עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר - Make yourself a rabbi and buy yourself a friend.

I've used it a few time in gifts for teachers and mentors.

 octagonal paper-cut, 9 inches across, two cut layers

8x10 inches, one cut layer, mounted on a background, with a thin border in between (third paper but I don't think it would be fair to call it another layer)

This one I already posted when I first started this blog, but it fit here as well.

octagonal paper-cut, 9 inches across, three cut layers, plus a background

This one has the complete mishna-

יהושע בן פרחיה אומר:

עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר 

והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות

Yehoshuah Ben Perachia says:

Make yourself a rabbi and buy yourself a friend

and judge everybody favourably