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Judaic Art

Pontiac festival showcases work by Israeli native.

Gabriella Ring
Teen2Teen Staff Writer

F

or artists everywhere, Pontiac's
Arts, Beats & Eats is a Labor Day
weekend event that showcases
their work for purchase and auction. This
year, Judaic artist Orna Amrani from
Haifa, Israel, paid her first visit to the
Pontiac festival.
Amrani studied art at the University of
Haifa after serving in the Israeli Air Force,
where she met her husband, Ami. She
developed her drawing style in Iran. Ami
was sent there as an emissary when the
Shah was in power. Her first son, Saar, was
born in Iran.
The couple fled to Israel at the begin-
ning of the Islamic Revolution; there
Amrani had her second child, daughter
Moran.
The family yet again moved, to Nigeria
where Ami worked as an agricultural con-
sultant. In Africa, her artistic abilities were
((were nurtured and expanded:' She taught
art and drawing in the community school

and was influenced by African motifs. She
also was involved in charity work.
Her third child, Leedor, was born during
a Florida vacation. Ami and Orna now live
in Tamarac, Fla.
From her love of history, she searches in
libraries for old documents and recreates
them herself.
Her artistic technique was developed
20 years ago. She uses clay, metal pow-
der, gold leaf and handmade parchment
— and then bakes the creation at a high
temperature.
Aspects of Judaica that lie in her paint-
ings are scrolls, mezuzot and chamsas.
Each piece is an original.
"My art does not reflect religion but
the history of the modern Jewish people
Amrani said. She, herself, is not very reli-
gious.
She is a full-time artist. "I love what I
do:' she said.
Husband, Ami, is her "right-hand man"
and frames the pieces Orna makes. He
travels with her to art shows.
In her booth, Amrani says she offers
unframed pieces for those who want to

Ami and Orna Amrani at Pontiac's Arts, Beats & Eats

spend less. Her art goes from $65 and
up.
Amrani has never encountered pro-
tests to her work.
"People always fully respect religious
things;' she said.

Check out Orna Amrani's art at
oamrani.com.

❑

Gabriella Ring, 15, is a sophomore at

Berkley High School.

Making The Transition

Hillel graduate feels public-school life brings opportunities.

Jennifer Finkel
Teen2Teen Staff Writer

L

ast time I had written for the
Jewish News I was an anxious
eighth-grader, scared of what the
high school world would be like. I heard
about Freshman Friday, getting lost in the
school and what teachers I wanted and
didn't want. I heard good things and bad
things. There was no escaping the fact that
time was passing, and I needed to start
preparing myself as an incoming fresh-
man of West Bloomfield High School.
I went shopping for leggings and slogan
T-shirts, clothes I couldn't wear at Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills. I started
preparing myself mentally for one of the
biggest days of my life, the first day of

A44

September 11 . 2008

high school.
The first time I walked into the halls,
I was overwhelmed. There were groups
of kids standing in circles. Everyone was
talking, either about their summer or their
classes. It was strange to think that I was
officially in high school. It was weird to
think that there were only six kids from
my class at Hillel here with me. The first
day of school was such a different experi-
ence than what I was used to.
I didn't know every single person in
my grade as I had at Hillel; there were so
many new faces and names to learn. For
the first time ever, I didn't go to my locker
to get books. The school was too big; it
would be too much of a hassle. On the
way to my first class, I got lost inside the
school. I didn't know where to go and it

seemed like the world was going to end.
Adding to everything that was spinning
in my head, I had classes with kids who
were a year, two years and even three years
older than I. During lunch, I didn't sit with
the friends I have been with for the past
five years, at "our" table; I sat in a whole
new environment with so many students
and in an actual cafeteria.
You could go up and buy whatever you
wanted — not just get pizza when it was
pizza day; you could get it every day. I was
so taken by everything around me, but I
was having the time of my life.
I came home that day with the valida-
tion that I had made the right choice. I
couldn't wait to go back to school the next
day and see what it had to offer. I loved
every minute of it and I am happy that I

chose to spend the next four years of my
life at West Bloomfield High. I truly think
that I will flourish, succeed and have great
years there.
Of course, only time can tell, but today
I am a confident ninth-grader having an
incredible start and looking forward to all
the challenges ahead. ❑

Jennifer Finkel, 14, Is a

graduate of HMI Day
School of Metropolitan

Detroit and a freshman

at West Bloomfield High

School.