This time I’ll take you to the hot sands of Israeli,
right to the foot of the Wailing Wall. A couple of months ago I visited
Jerusalem and I was totally stunned by this beautiful city full of quiet
dignity and Eastern mystery. But all impressions of the day faded when I saw the
Wailing Wall. Let me tell you a bit more about this amazing sanctuary that can
make you feel awed even if you are a non-believer.
Some history
The Wailing Wall is actually a fragment of the larger Western
Wall constructed around the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Jewish religion. This
is where Solomon allegedly built the Holy Temple in the 10th century BC. The
Jews credit him for laying the foundation of the Wall and consider it to be the
only remnant of the Temple brought down by the Babylonians during the ancient
war. The history of the Wall scopes hundreds of years during which the Temple
was destroyed, rebuilt and renovated a number of times. The retaining section
of the Wall, made mainly of limestone, stretches for 57 meters and faces a
large plaza to accommodate the pilgrims. For centuries, it has been a place of
worship where people came to pray and mourn the demolition of the Temple
(that’s why the Wall is called Wailing). There is even a tradition of placing
notes with written prayers into the cracks of the Wall to ‘pass’ them directly
to heavens. This is sure to be the most emotional moment of your voyage!
And for dessert…
Remember I told you that I’m a big fan of painting?
While doing some googling, I stumbled across a very interesting name – Leonid
Afremov. This is a modern Israeli painter creating incredible canvas wall art
with a clear impressionistic tilt. Coincidentally, the first picture I opened
was called ‘Wailing Wall.’ If you are fond of canvas wall art, contemporary or
classic, you should definitely take a look at it! Mr. Afremov has a really
unique style that makes his works come to life before your eyes:
·
He isn’t afraid of using bright colors. And he uses a
lot of them! His paintings literally radiate color and light. Check out the incredible
contrast of reflections on the wet plaza. It really animates the scene!
·
Note the arrangement of strokes. Rather than
painstakingly working on every detail in pursuit of lifelikeness, he just slaps
the paint casually here and there in thick dense strokes as if in a hurry to
capture the fleeting moment until it’s gone… And he seems to be doing a great
job!
·
Finally, I liked the fact that Afremov paints with a
palette knife which is quite untypical for contemporary wall art on canvas. The
choice of instrument contributes nicely to the amazing visual effects we see in
his paintings.
So if you are in love with Impressionism or simply
looking for large contemporary canvas wall art to decorate your apartment, I
strongly suggest you visit Leonid’s gallery and pick something to your liking!
