A thousand points of light…

OK, when George Bush senior talked about a thousand points of light in that convention speech he was basically trying to get local religious charities to take over the social services responsibilities of the Federal government. 

Often when I make a piece of Judaica I try to have it catch the light in a room and throw it back into the eyes of the viewers. A very different sort of points of light. One of the ways that I get that effect is by using threads and paints all with different reflective qualities.

 

Here is Y’s atara. the silk itself has a bit of a subtle sheen. I painted the letters with paint with added bits of pearlescent and metallic powders.

The pomegranate is painted with similarly shimmery paints and then over-stitched with various metallic threads. The atara is bound with a ribbon yarn, stitched down with a bronze colored metallic thread and edged with gold cording.

I then ran a line of hand chain stitching in a light blue thread with a bit of silver Lurex in it.  I also thought that the letters needed a bit more of that glimmer factor, so I have stab stitched with that same thread around each letter.

 

The thread itself was a gift from my neighbor Andrea.

It’s a giant industrial sized spool. It’s beautiful. this yearn is also insanely difficult to use. It’s a rayon heavy thread and shreds if you look at it too hard.  Like many rayons it’s slightly brittle. It’s also really beautiful.  I have often tried to use this thread only to be forced to give up. I don’t know if it is experience, or using really big eyed needles, but the thread actually behaved and didn’t knot up every three stitches like it has in the past.

 

Why do I deal with such sulky yarn?

Because the results are worth it. you can see how the teeny hand stitches around the letters will pick up the light as Y moves. This isn’t Las Vegas showgirl flash…just lots of nice bits of shimmer.

I have also been doing some more hand work on the tallit itself. Think as these next images as spoilers.

This tallit is heading to the home stretch.