What Does Your Garden Grow

Our Secret Garden is coming to the center of attention in September, when two exhibitions (at least) will open in the city - one in the Haifa City Museum and another one in Bet Hageffen Gallery, showing the work of volunteers in the Orchard, plus some artwork created through the decades.
And all the while mysterious things continue to happen around the Khayat place. Tigers have been spotted again, and graffiti of tigers appeared in the pools area. 

But since it was drawn with charcoal, it is already starting to fade. 

The tigers in this image came from this painting:

oil on plywood, 64x48 cm

I worked on it for almost a year, give or take, and with a few months break in the middle (visiting Europe and USA in 2015). But the best works are not the ones I work at the most. Sometimes it's just a small sketch in markers, and sometimes something different entirely, like this plywood round panel of  ⌀110 cm.

oil on plywood

In a Facebook post I named this painting "Off Fence". The fences are a new arrival. It used to be as it is, abandoned and beautiful in its neglect. But the city wanted to cover its a** and one morning there were those ugly green railings everywhere. I thought about making a comment, but in a very subtle way. I think the work does not appear to be political in any way. For this oil painting I used a sketch in markers:

As well as this one

And last, I tend to make more drawings of the same spot over and over again, and this is one of my favorites:

pen, 35x50 cm

So, another one.

markers,  21x28 cm

Backyard Garden

This painting done about two years ago made me think of water flooding the place, and then the desire arose in me to paint this image. Eventually I came up with only a hint of water - the painting below can be interpreted in many ways.

Wadi Siyah and the Khayat Orchard, at the foot of the Carmel, are some of my favorite spots in the city. Once a thriving beautiful  residence getaway for the wealthy Khayat family, it  passed hands until it became city property, but since then (the 70's) it has long been abandoned,  and the city does little to maintain this heritage site or make it accessible for the public (tax-paying, a-lot-of-tax paying public etc.).
The wadi or dry creek runs from the Carmeliya neighborhood on the Carmel range in Haifa, down to the cemetery. This drawing I made on a daytrip up the dry creek in summer. (In winter it can carry occasionally some actual rain water).

I made a few oil sketches there, but recently I take the markers or make a pen drawing.

After spending a few years painting and drawing in the Orchard, I started to see tigers in the deep shadow of shrubs and trees. The tigers are an ancient subject I dealt with some 5 years ago.

Some people live in the lower entrance to the wadi, across from the cemetery. There is a dispute going on with the municipality who wants them out. This is one of the houses, with a magnificent tree in front of it.

Some of the magic of the place is in its many staircases, leading from one level to another, sometimes made for leading the water down.

Opening at P8 Gallery

Well, wasn't that fun?! I didn't realize there was going to be yet another opening for the same project, but Josef said I must go on showing this to the world. Tigers need the exposure. So here I am again following Ora Ruven's generous, fabulous invitation, smack in the middle of Tel Aviv. I mean, Yafo. Same thing from here - Haifa is so far away from everything.
We celebrated till 10:40 PM when we had to chase the last visitors away (a pair just stepped in, so we let them be for a moment). I had some interesting visits, including an old flame of mine (yes! yes!) - we still have to catch up sometime - and people I did not expect to see there at all, chance meetings, potential buyers and more.
The next few days some more interesting stuff. I am thrilled - a strange mixture of anxiety, hopefullness, intoxication and even some unexplained pain. Working in the studio, challenging and frustrating as it is, is still being in your own world, see?... But out there in the real world, the wolves are on the loose and no number of tigers, however magnificent, can save me from their cold grip. I am scared and don't even know why. But I'm happy too. I guess... take a deep breath and go on. (I haven't a clue where I will be living in two months).
Anyway, to end on a cheerful note, I need to be in Tel aviv quite a bit now, and will greet you at the Gallery myself plus free speech(es) about the tigers, if you're not too tired of them by now. And there will be Gallery Talk too, on Friday June 11 at noon. Let me entertain you.

Panthera Tigris Nisnas - at P8 Gallery till June 11