During the month of January there were eight workshops held around the country of Israel by the amazing polymer artist, Jana Roberts Benzon.  As the manager of the Israeli guild, I want to share the experience of Jana's visit by writing some words describing her time with us.  Jana gave us three workshop options to choose from, and the guild members voted to have her teach her "Oilslick Gradient" and "Organic Sculpture" techniques.  

This workshop topic proved to be a wonderful choice!   Jana's Organic Sculpture technique requires the use of a material we have not been exposed to in Israel and we are excited about the possibilities for using this product in our future work.  We really feel that the new techniques she taught will open creative doors for us and that the possibilities are endless!Watching Jana's hands at work was such an extraordinary experience for us.  It gave us such satisfaction to watch her work, and it also gave us a base of knowledge from which to begin making our own creations.  

Because the Organic technique is very 'fluid' and there are really no rules, it allowed each person to bring their own touch and style to their pieces; it was so rewarding for everyone!Jana is an extremely patient, giving, professional and warm teacher.  She filled our days to the brim with her knowledge; no matter what technique we asked her to share, she was willing to teach it!  Each student left the workshops full of new ideas, techniques and excitement.  Jana left us with no question unanswered and so willingly gave all her knowledge.

Our guild is very young (we're very excited to be celebrating our 4th birthday on March 15!), and so we're always honored to have talented international artists come to teach.  Our guild members began by learning polymer skills from the internet, and then built on that by inviting well known artists such as Donna Kato, Sarah Shriver, Lynne Anne Schwarzenberg, Dan Cormier, marie segal and Jana Roberts Benzon to teach.  Each of these artists has helped us to become more professional in our polymer work and we're so grateful that they travelled here to share their knowledge. 

This was Jana's second teaching trip to Israel, and so we were all especially excited and anxious because we knew what to expect from her (a lot!).  We're honored to have had an artist of her expertise and want thank her for coming all the way to Israel to teach us; we recognize that it's a long voyage to our Middle Eastern country from the States, and so really appreciate her making the trip.  We look forward to future visits from Jana, and hopefully other artists who would like to experience the warmth and history of our country!

View our Slide Show from the Event

Mira (PINKI) Krispil

Manager of the Israeli guild