The Deronda Review

a magazine of poetry and thought

Vol. VII No. 2 2018

Yoram Raanan, Phoenix Arising 2, oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm (2017) (commentary below)

In this issue:

    I.  The Great Wheel

Susan Oleferuk, Zev Davis, Don Kristt, Thomas Dorsett, Ruth Fogelman, Heather Dubrow, Vera Schwarcz, Carolyn Yale, Mindy Aber Barad, Cynthia Weber Nankee, Esther Cameron, Yakov Azriel, Sarah Brown Weitzman, Esther Lixenberg-Bloch, KJ Hannah Greenberg, Stephanie Sears, David Olsen, Felice Miryam Kahn Zisken

    II. Flight Patterns

          The Seeming Impossibility        

  Carolyn Yale, Wally Swist, Eric Chevlen, Steve Luebke, Pearse Murray, Guy Thorvaldsen, Constance          Rowell Mastores, David Olsen, Sean Lause, John Grey, Tony Reevy, Florence Weinberger

          Flight Log        

  Kathy Dodd Miner, Alana Schwartz, Dianalee Velie, Ray Gallucci, Jane Blanchard, Susan C. Waters, Fred Yannantuono, Mindy Aber Barad, Tony Reevy, Lyn Lifshin, Esther Lixenberg-Bloch

         When to Flee

Judy Belsky, Florence Weinberger, Lois Michal Unger, J.J. Rogers, Frank Salvidio, John Grey, Martin H. Levinson, Sean Lause. Yaffa Ganz, Thomas Dorsett, Gerard Sarnat, Catherine Wald

         Flying Dreams

Birgit Talmon, Pearse Murray, George Held, Paul Hostovsky, Thomas Dorsett, Yakov Azriel, Dina Grutzender, Rumi Morkin, Esther Lixenberg-Bloch, Tsippy Levin Byron, Esther Cameron, Edward Clarke, Brenda Appelbaum-Golani

                   Flightless

Ben Ackerman, Joy Krauthammer, Gordon Ramel, Cynthia Weber Nankee   

   III. The Song of the Land

Roberta Chester, Carole Stone, Vincent J. Tomeo, Ruth Fogelman, Judy Belsky, Nurit Gazit, Florence Weinberger, Shira Mark-Harif, Esther Cameron, Yehuda Peretz, Yuval Maman, Hayim Abramson 

   IV. Neighbors

Eric Chevlen, James B. Nicola, Paul Hostovsky, Florence Weinberger, Hayim Abramson, Harvey Steinberg, Alana Schwartz, Constance Rowell Mastores, Doug Bolling

    V. Webs of Memory

Mona Clark, James B. Nicola, Judy Belsky, Vera Schwarcz, Florence Weinberger, Simon Perchik, Mark Rhoads, Constance Rowell Mastores, Michele Levy, Doug Bolling, Felice Kahn Zisken, Mindy Aber Barad

    VI. More than Music

 E. M. Schorb, Daniel Gustafson, Miriam Webber, Esther Cameron, Catherine Wald, Paul Hostovsky   

    VII. Night and Day

James B. Nicola, Yaacov David Shulman, Heather Dubrow, Michael E. Stone, Yakov Azriel
 

Commentary by Meira Raanan on "Phoenix Arising 2":   About three months after the fire that destroyed his studio and 40 years of work, Yoram started painting in oil in earth tones, burnt and raw siena, as well as iridescent gold on black panels. Painting in gold is about the transformation of fire into redemption, light coming out of darkness, transformation of tragedy.
     Phoenix Arising 2  is one of many bird like images that appeared by surprise on the canvases, revealing the message of rebirth. This was originally a vertical abstract painting. As he wiped his hands on the canvas with thick oil, the weight of the paint sticking to his hands pulled off the latex glove he was wearing, creating the face of the bird. Notice how its beak looks like a hand, with the shape of his knuckles.
     The mythical phoenix is a symbol of rebirth in many cultures. In Judaism, there is a reference in the book of Job. “And I said, ‘I will perish with my nest, and like a chol I will multiply my days‘”(29:18). According to many translations, the word chol refers to the phoenix. The Midrash describes the Chol as a bird that lives for a thousand years, then dies, and is later resurrected from its ashes. (Genesis Rabba 19:5)
 

THE DERONDA REVIEW:

Editor: Esther Cameron., derondareview@gmail.com. Co-editor for Israel: Mindy Aber Barad, POB 6709, Efrat.

CONTRIBUTORS' EXCHANGE

Since its inception as The Neovictorian/Cochlea in 1996, The Deronda Review has included a Contributors' Exchange of addresses (surface, email, URL) and available books. Contributors' Exchange is now a separate .html file, and includes contributors from vol. 5 no. 1 on.
 

    Yoram Raanan, Wings of the Earth, 2017, oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm.

“Wings of the Earth” began with black, ochre and burnt sienna to which Raanan added gold to give it life and light. The top of the painting is done with his fingertips playfully dipped into the gold.  The brushstrokes give the feeling of feathers and wings, so that it looks like the earth itself has wings. Wings are a symbol of spirituality and here the very earth seems to be rising up to heaven.
                                         —Meira Raanan

Flying Horse 

                                          for Eyal V.

I have flown.

I have moved from one place to another.

I am open

and keen,

confidently jumping fences.

Well, by God, I'm winged.

He gives me this day as a present

and I envision it green in my mind.

Indomitable horse--here, there and everywhere

Hair tossing in the come-what-may wind.

I came to this world to learn

that the good way is the best way.

                            –Hayim Abramson