“One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say that individuality counts but teamwork dynamites.” Jin Kwon
By Eva Trieger
MAMARONECK, New York — Mamaroneck Library is the lucky host of a very special collaborative show of whimsical teapots. Several things make this show unique. Two award winning artists have teamed up to create these one of a kind teapots that are both decorative and functional. And if you’re willing to wait until the show closes, you may even take one home as they are available for purchase!
Introducing Ruchama Schechter, an Israeli artist, and Joel Trieger, my very own brother! These two artists met while working as “kiln slaves” for the Center for the Arts, a division of Westchester Community College, in 2009. They were both studying ceramics, and Ruchama shared her glazing secrets with Joel, as the two developed their skill as sculptors.
I was able to interview both artists from my home in Solana Beach, California, just before the debut of their teapot show which will open officially September 15th with a tea reception, at 2 pm, at the Mamaroneck Library, with tea served from a few original pieces and cakes (recipe and baking another collaborative effort!). Both Ruchama and Joel wear many berets (they’re artists; I can’t simply say hats, can I?) Ruchama expresses herself through painting, poetry, printing and pottery. Additionally she explores sculpture, collage, crochet and illustrations. Joel’s artistic foray began with music and has led him to drawing, watercolors, sculpture and whistle making!
Ruchama told me that her mom always made very creative Purim costumes and was an excellent knitter, but that no one in her family was particularly artistic. However, growing up on kibbutz Ein Gedi made an indelible mark on this sensitive soul. Ruchama explained that all of her inspiration comes directly from growing up by the Dead Sea, where she daily observed the beautiful, hot sunrise. She is moved to create by the forces of earth, water and sun. In fact, this spectacular region of the world informs her entire palette of vibrant colors. While her pieces are not nature scenes, each creation is reflective of her love of nature. The artist told me that, “all elements come together in my art processes and artwork. Ceramics incorporate water and earth. The sun is the firing of the clay and the energy within me.” Ruchama admires Chagall’s work and while her own work is not at all derivative, it shares a dreamlike quality, enhanced by bold, vibrant colors.
Four Teapots by Ruchama Schechter and Joel Trieger
upper left: Hugging teapot
upper right Sassy Teapot
lower left: Recumbent Teapot
lower right OK No Good Teapot
Joel’s inspiration came from our mom, who was a docent at the Jewish Museum in New York City, and from his teachers, Irwin Stahl and Ron Mineo. A musician since age 8, and a Jimi Hendrix fan at age 12, Joel’s musical fascination drew him to classical music, particularly discordant composers such as Bela Bartok. The boundless passion also led him to an amazing teacher and mentor. In 2000, Joel discovered Ron Mineo who patiently taught ceramics at Westchester Community College. Joel’s positive experience with clay led him to write and produce “Sculpture by Joel” an award winning series on local cable TV. This program showcased over 50 sculptures of Joel’s, and offered a tutorial on mold-making. Behind the clay work, Joel performed his own original score. When I asked why clay attracted him, Joel told me, “stages and tactility; slippery when wet, and chalky when dry, but oh so many states in between, and each one responds differently to every kind of touch.” The clay pieces exude whimsy and Joel is fond of amusing himself with his works. The collision of what happens when “life butts up against the absurd” has led the sculptor to create “Funeral Clowns,” “Nineveh Sleighride,” and “Tableau for the Left Eye.”
So how do two distinctive artists blend their talents and create synergistic teapots? Joel provided this explanation: “Every artist has a vision they are drawn to explore and define. They may try to express some idea or feeling through their own prism because it’s all they have. But the results are often incomplete; blind spots are revealed when it’s crowd-sourced, even in a crowd of two. The infinite ways to observe a thing just cannot fit in one mind. I am grateful to have found Ruchama with whom to work. There is a lot of common ground. We are both Jewish, but mostly culturally. Each of us has the obsession to create art most of the time. We love to learn. She is a natural artist, and brings lightness, humor, exciting color and dynamic form to many of the media she has mastered. When we collaborate, we often achieve quite unexpected results that astound us. Individually, we attach connotation to everything we consider; words, colors and shapes. Having two minds at work helps us to reach a wider understanding, an appetite of tolerance, and in each artwork, it allows us to find a peaceful solution to whatever conflicts arise.”
Adding to the charm of the teapots, the two have written haikus and short poems to accompany several of the pieces.
For the Elephish, a painted pot: An elephant never forgets and a fish never remembers, so it’s a wash.
And accompanying The Emperor and the Patriot, a haiku: Autocratic rule, promotes inequali-tea, defend your freedoms.
A poem for the Frogs Teapot:
A green frog with four fat legs and bulging eyes crawled from the pond,
Lounging and sunbathing on top of a lily pad.
He has finished his lunch, 200 flies!
Then he leaped, croaked, and plopped
Swimming into the swamps.
I never saw his shiny, slimy, green skin again.
He left me a song instead,
“Ribbit ribbit, gulp gulp, hoppity hip
From dusk to dawn.
The colorful, curiously shaped vessels are displayed so that the viewer can see the back of each, thanks to the clever placement of mirrors. As an added treat, the tea reception will feature a reader, who’ll share a dramatic presentation of Alice in Wonderland for attendees.
Joel and Ruchama are certainly prolific. Joel’s home is fairly bursting with sculptures to which he’s given life, over the last 18 years, as well as many of Ruchama’s two and three dimensional pieces. When asked if there is an area of art Joel might explore next he replied, “I must master the art of storage and shelf building…perhaps an ark!”
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Click here for a link courtesy of Mamaroneck Library
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Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com
Thank you for the spotlight!
Keep up the great writing.