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111/itzi's Magical Mache

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Above: Artist Mitzi Jacobs turns discarded golf balls into a work o art with this shoe sculpture.
Left: Mitzi Jacobs' fiddler has his own mache style.

A West Bloomfield
mache artist's
whimsical
characters
make
great gifts.

EDITH BROIDA
Special to The Jewish News

11/28
1997'

o visit Mitzi Jacobs in her
West Bloomfield condo-
minium is to fall in love
with her family. It's an
unusual crew — an opera singer
swathed in pearls, a collection of
klezmer musicians, two rabbis sharing
a park bench, a bubbie extending a pot
of matzo ball soup, an assortment of
children, a flirtatious flapper and a
mop-bearing maid. They have two
things in common: They're made of
plaster mache, and they typify the
range of artist Mitzi Jacobs' unique tal- •
ents.
Jacobs' family keeps growing.
Responding to a widening demand for
her work, Jacobs lovingly creates more
and more figures. Some are life size
and stand in corners; others perch on
table tops and counters. "While prepar-

ing for the Dec. 7-8 Northwest Child
Rescue's Chanukah bazaar at the
Jewish Community Center and next
April's Temple Israel Art Fair, Jacobs
shrugs her shoulders in wonder, noting
that she no longer has space for a din-
ner plate. Requests for centerpieces for
anniversaries, birthdays, bar mitzvahs
and special events are close to over-
whelming, but Jacobs thrives on the
work. Inspiration occurs at all hours;
she's often at her workbench at dawn.
Her most recent decorating triumph
was the centerpieces and posters she
created for a golden anniversary party.
The theme was "Yiddish Everywhere"
and her Jewish characters carried signS
proclaiming "Maven," "Oy Vey,"
"Kvetch," "Yenta," "Zaftig," and other
Yiddish expressions to designate table
assignments.