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Phyllis Halpern - Fools of Chelm
Category: Sculpture.
For a long time I was a haphazard collector of beads, garage-sale jewelry and other odd bits, which I played with, equally haphazardly. Helen Banes' book "Beads and Threads," started me in a new direction about five years ago.
After using her technique to weave fiber and bead neckpieces, I began to invent my own variations, adding beaded natural stones and cabochons, eventually eliminating the fiber altogether, and making beaded pin/pendants using stones or antique buttons as focal points. Almost from the beginning, I've sold pieces from home and in retail outlets -- slowly, naturally, since each piece is one-of-a-kind. At present I'm experimenting with loom weaving, and who knows where that will lead!
When I entered the 2nd Delica Challenge, I wanted a lively, humorous subject unlikely to be duplicated. I decided to look into Yiddish stories, and I found exactly what I needed in "Yiddish Folktales," edited by Beatrice Silverman Weinreich (Pantheon, 1988).
The town of Chelm, in Yiddish lore, is inhabited by fools. In one version, an angel, who was supposed to place one foolish soul in each town, stumbled and spilled all the souls in Chelm. This careless moment is what I illustrated. I used a sky-like print fabric for a collar shape, and backed it with muslin on which I had drawn my design. I outlined the figures with small stitches, through both fabrics, and then stuffed them through slits cut in the muslin. Now I had a three-dimensional piece, which I embroidered in backstitch, three or four beads at a time, making swirling lines to give an impression of liveliness and motion. I lined the collar in a matching silky fabric, and used hooks and eyes on the underside, so there is no visible clasp.
I haven't yet put this piece up for sale, but will probably do so soon; now that I'm involved in new work, I think I'm ready to let the older work go.