The Western Wall and Jewish Faith

The Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall) is an important Jewish religious site located in the old city of Jerusalem. It is important because It's purpose is to mourn the destruction of the old temple; it is the last remnant. The total height of the wall is 32 meters and is 1600 feet wide. It was build among the temple mount in the 10th century and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

Many people of the Jewish faith make pilgrimages to the temple as it is easily excess able and is a very holy spot. The people of Jewish faith wrote their prayers on a slip of paper and placed them in the cracks of the Western Wall. Many people think that those of Jewish faith can not set a foot upon the Temple Mount because it is considered a sin. The Jewish people believe that the temple was created by King David and was one of the first .

When the Roman Emperor Vespasian was in the midst of his take over. He left the temple standing as a reminder of what he conquered. In 1967, the Western Wall was under the control of Israel. During events like Bar Mitzvahs or Jerusalem Day people gather around to pray.

Other cultures besides besides the Jewish faith find meaning in the Western Wall. In the Islamic faith, it is believed that the Prophet Muhammad left his winged steed, Buraq by the Western Wall(they call it Al-Buraq Wall) A few cultures have their own opinions about the Western Wall. Palestienian have their own opinions as does the Jewish, Israeli, and the Egyptians. They have their own opinions about the Western Wall and it's origins.

Blinkies!

Hello everyone!

March break is almost over, yes there are only 2 days left. So this week, I had a chance to experiment with my Photoshop cS3 and see what new things I could learn. So I played around, clicked random things and tried to figure out what some things were and how they worked. So after a couple hours (daily) of random clicking, I figured out how to make some blinkies. Well, actually I already knew how... but this time I tried to make them more complicated. Some worked, others did not.

So, I ended up making a bunch of avatar blinkies, simples ones with textures and images from google as well as text, personalizing them for some of my friends on india-forums and this is how they turned out:

So personally, I think they turned out pretty well. I think next time I'll try making them a little more complicated; maybe add more flashy text or images. But whatever it is, I want to enhance my abilities and see how much I can improve and how much I can do!

Feedback is highly appreciated! If you would like one of your own, yes I can make you one. :)

That's it for now, but I will be back soon!

Art from my past

Hello Everyone!

Today, I was going through my past art pieces which I found in a folder on my computer in CyberArts class from last year. So I thought I should post it up.



This one of my art pieces from Year 1 CyberArts. It is a simple drawing of a bunny used with conte on a simple large piece of newsprint. I used black, white and brown colours to hatch in the shadows. The white hatching shows the light, the black shows the shadow and the brown hatching shows the mid between the dark and the light. Hatching together, it partially made the picture of my bunny 3D.

I think this is one of my favourite pieces of my most early work, just because I think I did a good job on it and I can see where I need to improve and where I can excel from last year.

I hope you like it! I will be back with another blog post in a couple of days!

Sparkles in the Snow

I stepped out of my door on tuesday and the first thing that I thought was, "Oh my gosh, It's cold." Not that it should be sweating hot, it is February, but there was a wind chill and I was waiting at the bus stop. But then I looked around and I didn't feel cold anymore. Why? Not because the bus came (because it didn't) but because I saw the snow around me.

It started snowing and in about five minutes the ground was covered in white and more fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky. Everywhere I looked I saw sparkles from the reflection of the sun on the snow. It was beautiful and I would have taken a picture and posted it up, but I sadly didn't have a camera.

So the moral of my story is, when your outside and your freezing, look around you. Not only will you find distraction from the freezing weather but you'll feel inspired in one way or another. Trust me, it happened to me.

El Anatsui

Hi Everyone!

Today, I am going to tell you about a very popular and known artist, El Anatsui, and his breathtaking art. This is because we will be working with him in the upcoming months as he displays his recent art at the ROM. Not only will we see his work but we will be able to add some of our own. It's an honor and I'm glad to be able to participate in it.




El Anatsui is a world known sculptor in the world of art. Not only is he a sculptor but a professor that has been teaching at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, since 1975. He is known for his creative and mesmerizing sculptors.

El Anatsui was born in 1944 in Anyako, Ghana. He was trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana. Although he was born in Ghana, most of his working career was spent in Nigeria. His art has been exhibited and recognized in many honorable galleries across the world; Brazil, Japan, Germany, England, South Africa, the United States and many more.


El Anatsui has worked with many different types of media. Such as wood, clay, ceramic, and most recently, metal. The image above is one of the pieces of his latest work magnificent metallic quilts made of liquor bottle caps. He has taken unused and discarded metal liquid bottle caps, flattened them and stitched them together using wire to make a work of art. Coincidentally, the colours of the caps were similar to those of traditional kente cloths.

Anatsui uses many themes in his art that recur in his artworks, all relating to African history and crafts. His recent message, the message we will work with at the ROM, is about barriers and boundaries of society. He wants everyone to lower the walls; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

His other works include three dimensional sculptures made of scraps he has found, such as food tine, aluminum roofing, metal graters, etc. Though he uses unused materials, he does not think of it as recycling. He believes that he is taking something and making it into something new.


Personally, I am awed by El Anatsui's work. I wish I was able to do what he does with the same passion and skill. I am amazed with the amount of detail and precision he has in his art. My favorite would have to be his most recent work; the quilts made of liquor bottle caps. The quilts are beautiful. I have only seen photographs of his work so I can't even imagine what they look like in reality. After researching and looking at photographs of all his work, I am looking forward to working with him at the ROM. Not only will I learn from this experience, but I will be working with one of the greatest artists of our time.

It's been a year...

Hello Everyone!
It's been a year since I last posted! I've been busy with school and things at home so I haven't been able to post. But I'm here now, back in CyberArts for year 2! I will be on more and hopefully post some new and interesting things.

I'm looking forward to writing on this blog and communicating the interesting things that I have learned!

Take Care!

Some New Graphics

Hi! Happy New Year Everybody!

Yes, its 2009!
Well I have had an awesome and relaxed winter break. Back to school on Monday. *Sigh*
During my winter break I made a bunch of creations and graphics and so I thought I'd post some of them! :) Hope you like! Feel Free to Comment/Criticize (But please don't be too harsh on me)

Some Icons



Some Colorizations

Some Blends/Siggys



To See the rest you can Check my india-forums Gallery.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY INDIA-FORUMS GALLERY