Thursday, August 30, 2018

Thankful Thursday - Creative People





I love and am so thankful for creative people.  We have so many of them in our synagogue.  Here are a few examples from our family member, Lavonne Craft.  I call her the Queen of Creativity:

LaVonne has made three beautiful ark* curtains for our synagogue.  The first one was created in 2015.  and it says, "Sh'ma Israel."

The second ark curtain was made in 2016, and says, "Ma'gen Da'vid" and means "Shield of David."  It's also the name of our synagogue.

LaVonne and her husband, David.

All of this lovely embroidery and beadwork is done by hand.  All of these ark curtains are her own designs.


The ark curtain below is her most recent embroidery creation.  The Hebrew is translated:

The Torah is a Tree of Life 
to those who take hold of it.

 What a wonderful and powerful reminder of the joys and blessings of Torah observance.

This picture doesn't do it justice.  Some of the beads are iridescent, and others are sparkly.  I love how the background behind the tree looks like water.  It reminds us that Yeshua is not only the Living Word but also the Living Water.  Beautiful and amazingly creative, right?

She's not just handy with a needle, either.  She surprised us last week with this amazing shofar stand.  LaVonne said she was inspired to build it because those she found were wall-hung, and she wanted a free-standing one that would hold several shofars.  She designed it, cut the wood, sanded, and shellacked it by herself.  I told you she was creative!


LaVonne is a good and creative cook and has written a wonderful cookbook with the family recipes she used while rearing her five children.  It's filled not only with recipes, but family history, photos, and her own poems.



She wrote this poem for Rabbi and me on our tenth wedding anniversary.  She also planned and pulled off a grand surprise party for us at the synagogue.  She's a creative hostess with the mostest!



LaVonne is a fiction writer, too, and has published two novels under her pen name, L. G. Craft.  Here are her latest book and her darling granddaughter, Tala.  You should hear Tala sing the Hebrew during the liturgy.  LaVonne designed the cover for her books, too.  The third book in the series is coming soon, and you can find the books at this link



She's a talented fine artist, too, with beautiful works in varied mediums.  I love this painting done with chalk pastels.



I could go on and on about her creativity and talents because there's much more to tell.  LaVonne has inspired my own creativity and was a tremendous help in publishing my book, Golden Moments.  I'm so thankful to have her in my life as a friend, and also as a member of our Ma'gen Da'vid family.

* The ark holds our Torah scroll.

You can see more of LaVonne's creativity at our Golden Rule Party.





2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! I think it's lovely that you have celebrated the creativity of these amazing people, Gail. They have made some very beautiful things. Thank you for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope to see you again this week. Have a great week ahead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, April, and for your encouragement.
      Blessings,
      GG

      Delete

Thank you so much for stopping by today and taking the time to leave a comment! I read each one of them and love to respond back to those who visit! Blessings to you.