Handmade seder places
add pizzazz to the Passover table.

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SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News

udaica artists have found
a way to make the
Passover table a feast for
the eyes as well as a
feast for thepalate with decora-
tive and distinctive seder plates
and accessories. Although most
are not exactly one-of-a-kind,
they are handmade so there's a
hint of variation. Browse the
galleries and Judaica retailers to
find one that suits your taste.
Here are samples of five offered
locally.

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Janet Kelman:
"Seder plate," glass.

Robin Kimball:
"Seder plate," glass, polymer
clay, plated gold.

JANET - KELMAN

The glass artistry of Janet
Kelman fills her Royal Oak
studio and has expanded to the
just-opened Washington Street
Gallery in Ann Arbor, where a
group of women artists have
pooled talents to offer some
innovative designs. This is
Kelman's first year for
applying her artistry to
a seder plate — made
entirely of glass, of
course. With a circu-
lar base, the plate is
sectioned off by curv-
ing pieces of pastel glass.

IRENE FI•LITZER
Passages from the Haggadah are
depicted in three-dimensional forms as
Irene Helitzer uses her ceramic skills
to create seder plates that include sev-
eral pieces. For instance, she has a salt-
water bowl split in halves by waves,
the children of Israel passing through
her representation of the Red (Reed)
Sea. Another example is a maror dish

earthenware are inspired by
antiquity and imagination;
her colorful, figurative
imagery gives narrative
themes to each piece. This year's
plates, larger than previous series
and with depressions instead of bowls,
are available at Ariana Gallery in Royal
Oak. Other objects from their studio
are in the collections of U.S. Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, actor George C.
Scott and humorist Art Buchwald.

SARA BEA.MES
A thin layer of metal applied to
glass gives a distinctive look to the
seder plates of New York artist Sara
Beames. Her work is contemporary,
and she uses an exacting coloring
process that brings luminescence to
her Judaica. Beames considers herself
eco-conscious" and uses recycled art
glass. Beginning her commercial work
in 1990 with a line of picture frames,
Beames moved on to dishware
and clocks and then Jewish ritual
objects in 1995. Her plates are
available at Ilona and Gallery in
West Bloomfield and Ariana
Gallery in Royal Oak.

Irene Helitzer: "Saltwater
bowl," ceramic.
Garson and Pakele:
"Seder plate with
individual bowls.,"
earthenware.

Sara Beames:
"Seder plate," recycled
art glass and metal.

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held on the back of a slave figurine. "I
make pieces that explain the tradi-
tions," says Helitzer, a Long Island
Judaica artist who markets her work
locally through Tradition! Tradition! in
Southfield.

SUSAN GARSON
and TOM PAKELE

A husband-and-wife artistic team
from Colorado, Susan Garson and Tom
Pakele complement each other's style.
His ceramic forms made from white

ROBIN KIMBALL
The colors of polymer clay
appeal to Robin Kimball, whose
plates are available at Ilona and
Company and Zyzyx, both in
West Bloomfield. She uses long
strands of clay to make design
patterns — Hebrew letters, flow-
ers, Stars of David. Sometimes she
uses plated gold to add to the shiny,
translucent effects. Based in
Massachusetts, Kimball began working
with Judaica after a trip to Israel five
years ago. She also designs jewelry out
of polymer clay. fl

3/26
1999

Detroit Jewish News

95

