I had the most inspiring experience on Thursday. I went to see my artist friend, Malka Partouch, who taught me the techniques of drawing faces.

Now I know I still need a lot of practice and I know it isn’t perfect, but the face I drew looks like a person. What’s more it looks like the original image I was trying to imitate. We worked from a series of books published by Walter Foster. It opened a whole new world for me. Very exciting! We looked at the intricacies of the features of the face; the shape of each features; the direction and placement of eyes, lips, nose. Once we studied each feature it wasn’t so bewildering. I drew the face you see here with an HB pencil on a sketch pad.

I intend to use this new knowledge in my quilting. As a matter of fact, there is a new challenge coming up in May for the Israel Quilters Association entitled “The Many Faces of Jerusalem.” Seems like the perfect opportunity to try my hand at faces in fabric. If you are interested in finding out more details about this challenge, feel free to contact me.

Now, about my friend Malka. She is an artist from France who teaches art classes in Beit Shemesh and paints wonderfully. In addition she runs a successful bride salon from her home. You can find out more about her salon at this link: Salon Victorine or write to her at: [email protected]

One last comment. I bought a copy of a Walter Foster book at an art shop on Bezalel Street on Friday. I had the best time visiting the art supply shops there. Afterwards I spoke at length to an artist selling her jewelry at a table along Bezalel Street. We had a really interesting chat about running a small business and selling high-end art. That seems to be the place to do it on Fridays in the Jerusalem area. There is traffic: buyers, tourists… It was so good to connect and share ideas with other artists. It was a real inspiration.