I started a special project. It is a drawn diary for 2015.

Went  swimming, first time in a long time.

Speaking of water, here is a quote from The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley:

“Stop!” said the Irishwoman.
“I have one more word for you both; for you will both see me again before all is over.
Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish to be foul, foul they will be. Remember.”

My Illustrations from the book “Yossi my Wonderful Child” by O.Hillel is now exhibited in a group exhibition of contemporary illustrated children’s books.
Playing at Design Museum Holon  April 16th – June 7th, 2014
Curated by Yuval Sa’ar

Bought a hammock, and enjoyed it very much outside.
Then something happened and we had to get inside.
Brought the hammock inside too.
It caught the whole living room.
Listened to a CD playing while swinging back and forth.
Then it hit me, a picture I drew in 2006.
I have drawn this moment 8 years ago.

Colors cut out of the daily newspaper and plastic glue on a cardboard 46x29cm 2006.

Markers on 240gr Cartridge Paper.

I was interviewed by Yuval Saar on his blog (in Hebrew).

An early draft for a tree for me

Porcelain artist Einat Aroch and illustrator Liat Yaniv made these plates.
We are taking part in the Artists’ Open Houses in Ramat Gan.
30 different plates will be exhibited on the 22-23/11/2013 at my home as part of the event.
Each one of us will also exhibit her own art works.
Please see this as a personal invitation and come!
(For details and address, please contact me).

I was asked to make a postcard for the DoeDeMee exhibition taking place in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany on October 2013.
So here they are, just in case you don’t get to see them in the exhibition.

Look a Tree / paper and glue on a cardboard, 23 x 17 cm

 
 
Grow Up / paper and glue on a cardboard, 16.2 x 17.6 cm

–

Made of daily newspaper only.
There is no metal structure inside. It is 100% paper.
No additional colours, only the colours that appear in the newspaper.
Hollow inside, made of rings of paper and white glue.
The Round Triangle Lady truly listens to you.

40 x 42 x 23 cm / 400 gr

A verbal and visual interview about my work was published in Ha-Pinkas web magazine (in Hebrew).
I made the following illustration in 2002 as a part of a student exchange program in Denmark in a course by Hanne Bartholin

Mother and Me. Pencil, black ink and white gouache 30×30 cm.

A dream that I dared to dream came true, and it is overwhelming me.
Three years ago, as my first illustrated book was published I fantasized about my second one.
The fantasy was about a very dear song by Naomi Shemer that lift my spirit up every time I hear it.
Naomi Shemer, Israeli musician and songwriter, hailed as the “first lady of Israeli song and poetry”
was a true love of mine since I was a child.
I felt as if she had written her songs just for me, telling me secretly all the true things about life.
I illustrated “The Short Tour”!
The book was published by Am-Oved Publishers, edited by Dalit Lev and Graphic Designed by Gila Kaplan.
I am grateful that I was accompanied by Naomi Shemer’s daughter ‎Lely Shemer.
Here are some illustrations from the book, and as for the technique, I glued it: One Piece At A Time… like Johnny Cash : )

Over 300 Artists from all around the world.
It is an International project dedicated to plain brown notebooks curated by Dr. Guy Morag Tzepelewitz.
My notebooks will be exhibited.
The opening is on Tuesday July 9th 2013 20:30.
Beit Ha’ir, 27 Bialik st., Tel Aviv.
Yes!!! You are all invited!

A story about one mother and a lot of trees. I wrote it a long time ago. Now it’s printed on a fine paper and ready to be sent to you, would you like that?
Anywhere on the globe, just leave your mailing address and a small story with one illustration will be on its way to meet you.
Design by Tamar Bar-On, thank you so much, Tamar.

A Tree for Me / paper and glue on a pine wood frame, 50x 35 cm

I am very excited to share with you that I am taking part in the 100 Book Covers to Fight Illiteracy project. 100 artists from 28 countries redesigned the book covers of 100 classic novels that appear on the Observer’s list of 100 Greatest Novels of All Times. The goal of the project is to support the fight against illiteracy. The works will be sold on-line on the project’s web page starting September 8th.  It will also be exhibited in multiple locations around the world in the future. You can read more about the project on its web page and also in facebook and twitter.
I was honored to take part in the project and illustrate the cover of:
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome.
I Love this book very dearly.
The graphic design of the poster was done by Tamar Bar-On.

Handmade kindergarten bag, Felt and cotton, 31x33cm

The first one was for me. This one is a present.

2013 diary 17×23.5cm

Make my characters move.
Find a big box, like the one you get when you buy a refrigerator, cut a window and get inside.
Tell a story together with my paper creatures.
I will make their hands and head and mind move.

2013 diary, 17×23.5cm, the character on the cover helped me get that thought.

I would like to take my drawings everywhere.
I want them to to walk with me and be my best friends.
I want them to see the world and travel around.
With a sketch book I can hug my characters, hug my thoughts, hug myself.

30 pages sketch book, 490g , home made hard cover, 18 x 26 cm
(took it for a walk to my greengrocer and back)

These days my mind is over occupied. Decisions must take place.
Looking at my illustration,though, I am very proud.
Walking calmly straight and full, thank god I have another universe to live in.

I often imagine my self playing the saxophone solo of the song “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon.
I love the saxophone part, absolutely love it.
This illustration is dedicated with love to my cousin’s 10 year old son who just started to play the Saxophone.
Good luck, dear!

His first birthday came and I drew these characters for him.

It takes me a lot of time to say out loud what my guts understand immediately.
I was not happy with the diary I made, cannot really explain why, but it didn’t have that ‘swing’.
I made a new one. All Right!

I have no chance against mechanical production.
It takes me long time to choose, cut and glue my paper illustrations.
I came to this conclusion: my work is at its best when it is bear, when you can actually touch the paper pieces.
No printer will do the job, but i will.

I made one, and now I made two more.
Home Made Notebook, 40 pages, cardboard cover, round corners, squared paper.

Barefoot in the park.
It felt good.

New diary, new year, new beginning.

I made it at home.
It has some faults.
40 pages, hard cover, round corners, squared paper.
The illustration is made of colors cut out of the daily newspaper and plastic glue.
14.3 x 20.8 cm.

Not a lot of people read my blog, but those who do, are precious to me. I got the sweetest offer from a kind lady living far away from where I do, to send me pink newspaper.
This message charged me with new energy and sure put a big smile on my face.

One thing (at least) we have in common, my hairdresser and I, is that we both need scissors in our hands. I love the sound scissors make, “snip snip”.
Any way,  he is hosting me and my work, and we got this precious corner.
Come up and visit my cornershop in the big city TLV!

(Avi Elimelech, 5 Merkaz Ba’aley Melacha, Tel Aviv)

Did you know that pink is the most rare color in the newspaper?
My dream is to find a whole pink page in the newspaper dedicated with love only to me!

Bubble talk/ paper and glue on a pine wood, 40 x 30 cm.

small. personal. huggable.

I felt a little bit down in the last few days.
A strong feeling directed me to the nursery, and I came home with three new plants.
Plants remind me to smile and a song is in playing in my head when I see them.

As a child I always wanted people to talk with me, older people, people who know something about life.
I used to talk with my grandma, she would tell me about people, about life.
I have written down everything she told me.
At this time of a year i used to call her and remind her that I love her.
Its the first year i can’t call her.
I am proud for her that she made her dream come true. Her dream was a big family.
She made it real.

Spring.

21 x 21 cm, paper on cardboard

Little pieces of paper.
I glue them one next to another.
The colors are extracted from the daily news paper.

Nursing Pups / paper and glue on a pine wood, 40x 30 cm.

My contact page was not working for the last few days.
It seems some people tried to contact me, but could not.
It is now fixed (the contact page plug-in was reactivated).
Please try again.

I have been working on a little web store for some of my work.
The store is not ready yet, but the first product is.
It is the Paper Penguin!
A limited edition of 50 signed pieces of a reproduction of the Paper Penguin printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo 290 gsm paper, size 36 x 43 cm.
The price is 72 USD including world wide shipping.

To contact this Penguin, please leave him a message on my contact page.

Now I work like this.
My baby boy and me with a baby carrier.
Stomach to stomach we touch, and I can kiss his head.
My hands are free to do whatever is on my pile for the day.

I can live without new clothes or shoes for more then a year, I can order the same dish from a restaurant if it taste good, but I can never be satisfied with my bags.
Must change them every day, must make new ones, must look around for the next bag.
This is my first attempt to make a backpack, simple and happy, one zipper, one big pocket.
The next new bag is now being made in my head, soon with my hands.

Hand made Giraffebackpack, cotton and felt, 48 x 32 cm

42 weeks passed and finally I gave birth to a baby boy.
I hope you all excuse me for being away for so long, and not responding to your emails and comments (hope to catch up real soon).
Special thanks to Maike Keuben from the Orange Farmhouse who wrote a Guest Post about my work at bloesem blog.  Thank you Maike!

Five pencil cases swam in the sea
They were happy, as happy can be
In the waves they were gently rocked
Yes! You can have one for free, don’t be shocked

The first four people that will leave their home address at the contact form will have one of them swim to their mailbox.

Update: All the whales found a home. Thanks to all the animal lovers who wrote me (few catalogs are still available).

Hand made whale pencil case 14.5 x 19 cm.

No lines between them, just a color near a color, this is what gets me excited.
Cutting the little pieces from the newspaper and gluing them on the cardboard one next to another.
One color is defining another color’s shape, and the game begins.
The illustration starts its first step, and I don’t really know what will be in the end.
I like this process!
This illustration was made for a new year’s greeting card.

This summer is so hot – up to 37 degrees, not to mention the humidity, my god the humidity!
I felt that only a fabric light bag will do, so I made me one, red simple with no obligations.
It is made from an old fabric that used to be my bed sheet.
Since it spent a lot of time being in the washing machine and being slept on, the fabric feels so smooth.
The illustration on it is made of felt. I drew it while I was very relaxed on a Saturday morning and listening to the radio. This sketch was colored in its original form, so I captured its atmosphere by using the same colors with the felt cuts.
I have an idea for my winter bag (winter, ha, that’s a lough).

T-shirts are the walking galleries of the 21st century.
In this galley you don’t have to be quiet. In fact, T-shirts will attract people’s attention and may help to start a conversation. As long as it gets you to talk or think, it is doing its job.

It takes me about three to four weeks to make a paper doll, not including the time it takes to go through all my sketchbooks looking for the chosen sketch.
This one came as a surprise to me.
On the sketchbook he is only 2.8 x 2 cm, I barely saw him while thumbing through the pages, but I’m glad I did.
Even when he was small I saw how kind and pleasant he is.
Now that he is 32 x 42 x 26 cm flash and paper, he spreads a little happiness as he goes by.

The most famous artworks in the western culture were commissioned work.
The Sistine Chapel for example, is a masterpiece made by Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli not as a capricious way to express their inner feelings but was ordered for a purpose.
I don’t do commissioned work form churches (yet), but I do have some clients, who have a vision on how their work should look like.
I like the client who don’t. They know what they want in words, but leave the visual part for me. This work is no Sistine Chapel but was ordered from my favorite photographers. Their clients are mainly couples in their wedding day.

Albert Einstein once said:
“If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
One thing is for sure, my table is mostly messy. It usually starts fine. All the paper pieces are in their boxes, the glue is near the scissors, but once the search for the right color starts, the mess comes along.
Summer is here as you can tell from the illustration
(paper and glue on a pine wood, 40x 30 cm).

This catalog was published in 2005 for my “Ripples of Glue” exhibition.  It was exhibited  in “Lohamei Haghetaot” gallery.
I still have some copies of it left. If you want, I will be happy to send you one.  Please leave a message in the contact page and include your home address.

It happened today. The phone rang from “Am Oved” publishing house.
The book I have been working on for the last two years (and dreaming about for five years) is officially released to the stores.
You can have a look on some of the illustrations here at my website. The beautiful song was written by O. Hillel. The song tells the story of a child that is sent to the store to buy some groceries, but every time he is out walking in the boulevard, something draws his attention and he brings home things he finds but no groceries. His mother worries about him, but is always touched by the sensitivity of her child and all she says: “Yossi, my wonderful child”.

Sketchbooks are my favorite companion. The paper dolls, the illustrations, they all began with a sketch.
Mr. Cupressus was a sketch too, only 7.5 cm height. but now he is a 84 x 32 cm doll, made of felt. His shirt holes made my thumb lose it’s nerve sense for six month! (yes, it came back).

It is funny to see how similar our dog and cat are. They will always keep a distance from each other, but will usually go to the same area or clean themselves at the same time. Ooh,  aren’t they sweet?

Wood blocks are the best toy ever. I found my self diving into my own world playing with them after diner.

Finding black and white colors in the daily newspaper is harder then finding other colors.
In my mind, it was supposed to be easier,  but like many other theories,  in was not working in realty. It actually took me long time to find different shades of gray.
Thank god they were a patient family.

it was 37 degrees out there. Our cat decided  that  the best place to be is in the sink of the washing machine. When i saw her i was a little bit surprised, but very proud.

Sitting and drawing in front of the computer for this projects is interesting, going to the printing house is exciting!
The drum bit of the big machines, the smell of paper and seeing the work coming out from the big machine. I usually go there with the graphic designer. We are both a little bit stressed at the beginning of every printing, but if thing are going well, we go home at the end of the day with a big smile.

I spent a day with my cousin’s sons. Each of us drew some monsters and we made a contest (their mother was the judge). We collected all the drawings into a simple A4 book. This monster did not win any prize but I liked him,  so here he is.

This cactus made out of felt was made especially for a friend of mine, she loves cactus, and often buys them.
it was her bachelorette party where she gave real one for every guest, and got one from me.

Every week I get a delivery of organic fruits and vegetables to my door step (I love this arrangement).
I usually know what’s inside, but this time when I opened it, the color really stroked me.

The shop that exhibits my work, Carousela, asked me to transform their two dimensional logo into three dimensions.
It was for their one year celebrations.

The thing with obsession is that if you have one (paper) you will soon develop another.
When it comes to bags I can not help my self. I feel like I am on a mission to bring together all the beautiful bags into my home.
I am not to blame, They call on me. Wherever I go minding my own business, I hear them say, “take me home!”.
Lately, I have been hearing voices in my own home. A little bit different, though. “Make me”.
Well, one thing you can do with voices is listen to them. I cannot say I stopped buying bags. No sir, I can not say that, but I did start making them myself some times. This bag is made from felt and cotton fabric (it took me a week to make it) and it behaves like a good friend whenever i need it.

This little fellow (38 cm height and 40 cm wide) weights only 180 gr.
I build my dolls from rings of paper with glue. when the ring is dry i put another one on it and so on. the result is very firm but light.
The dolls are hollow which makes them easy to balance (they stand for them selves) and of course, can be transported easily, but the main reason that I love this technique is that it has a fresh and rough look in the end (very similar to their sketch in the sketch book where they were originally taken from) ,and it allows me to give the dolls a big body and tiny legs , like this girl here which is 210 gr and it is still firm and stable.

Is it obvious or should I tell you that I’m obsessed with the daily newspaper? I never throw them out until i finish taking all their colors out. since i don’t do it very quickly it usually piles up. When I do cut the color out, it makes me very happy. I love all the shades of color I can take out, the range is very wide. try it! You to will be surprised.

It all started when I was in Denmark for an exchange student program.
Being a student and in a foreign country made money take a big roll in every choice I took, so my artistic choices were influenced too.
Christmas came and we had to make a three dimensional ornaments for the tree,(did I mention that I didn’t have any money?). I looked around and all I saw in my room was a big pile of newspapers that was on my door step every week for free. Well, it was me, the newspaper and a plastic glue. and then it hit me that there are many colors in the newspaper itself, if I cut them out maybe I could do something with it. Using only the newspaper and the glue I made  my first Christmas ornament. This pig (which is actually a matchbox ) is hollow  (made from rings of paper and glue) and colored by the  pink color cuts. As you can see it was very small. Then I started to build larger shapes and found it was possible and I started to make  my paper dolls.