Marlene
Glickman
Fiber Artist

"Day by Day: Pieces of Life" from the Daily Color Series

Making color and design decisions is sometimes difficult so I challenge myself to use only one color from the color wheel each month during my daily design exercises. A box sits on my worktable containing all the supplies I collected at the beginning of the month in one color. From this I choose bits and pieces creating a 5" x 5" design/collage/drawing. The small format offers me the chance to explore a design and decide whether or not to enlarge it or expand on an idea. I also keep a journal for sketches, fabric swatches and working out future ideas and larger pieces. This process lends itself to other forms as you can see on the left. (Color Series Chandelier at the Temple Beth El Art Show 2006 in St. Petersburg, Florida.)

Detail photo of a single orange collage with stitching and foil work

Detail photo of a single magenta collage with hand painting and stitching

Detail photo of blue collage with hand-dyed sky fabric and thread play

Commissions

Brit Kehillah—Community Covenant

Created by the members of Temple Beth-El November 9, 2008
With the assistance and guidance of Marlene Glickman, Visiting Artist

This array of 26 panels incorporates 400 hand dyed and colored fabric collages created by the students and parents of Temple Beth-El’s Raymund Family Religious School, our faculty and staff, and many members of the Temple membership-at-large. Working with a local Fiber Artist, Marlene Glickman, our community was able to give form to the images that express our sense of who we are as individuals, as Jews and as a sacred community.

Marlene’s vision inspired us to create this breath-taking piece that will hang proudly at the Temple for years to come. Together we were able to translate how she understands art into the lived experience of our members.

“Art, for me, is the act of expressing ideas regardless of the medium and sharing them with others. ... I also love to encourage viewers to interact with my art and put their imprint on the work. ... Too often we become spectators of life instead of creating life.”
Marlene Glickman's Artist Statement

We are so fortunate and blessed at Temple Beth-El to have Artist-in-Residence programs such as this which help us discover new ways to enrich our souls and deepen our Jewish identities. We are grateful for the ongoing support of these programs, with the generous funding thoughtfully provided by Thelma Rothman who has established the Temple Beth-El Youth Endowment for the Arts and Humanities

“I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” God, speaking to Noah in Genesis 9:13

A Final Reflection

Engaging with Marlene Glickman in this creative adventure surpassed our expectations many-fold. Not only was she an absolute pleasure to work with, but her style and approach brought out the best in each of the children, teenagers and adults who contributed to the effort. When the final project was installed at the Temple, the pure joy and excitement on the faces of each artist as he/she came to search for his/her piece of the collage was incredible. We know that we have created tangible and lasting bonds between the participants and our congregation through this unique project. We owe a debt of gratitude to Marlene for making this possible.

Rabbi Michael Torop