05 Feb 2013
Posted by ketubah9999 
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Nava has recently had a creative explosion! She is offering tons of new designs, along with her other popular ketubahs, available through her website 1800ketubah.com and Ketubah.com. Always unique and different, I wanted to get to know this artist a little bit better, and I learned that Shoham is just as special as her work.
Shoham shares that the latest group of designs she has made were inspired during Hurricane Sandy. She and her family sat in darkness and stillness for days.
“You are so vulnerable and really have to think about your life. For me, this year has been about yin and yang and the hurricane especially reminded me of this idea; that I must live my life one day at a time. We were reminded of what our basic necessities are: provide for your children, get food, get gas.”
Once they finally got a generator it literally generated inspiration for Shoham.
“Once I started I couldn’t stop! I had to express myself through the hurricane.”
Does the fact that your art is on a ketubah affect the design?
“In the last collection it did not affect it at all. They were just ideas that I had to express. But “Ahava” is very ketubah oriented; it has to do with 17th century art and it’s a best seller. I try to combine ideas of love and life in my art which I feel a ketubah needs. It can’t just be another nice illustration, it has to be more. I like to use universal symbols, inspiration from the people around me, mix them together and make a unique composition. The Yin Yang collection is about balancing life, love, and work.”
As a yoga instructor and personal trainer Shoham uses this to influence her work.
“I teach people how to move so all these energies are a part of me which then become part of my work. It’s hard to create something interesting but I need to sometimes take people out of their comfort zone as a trainer, but also as an artist. Even if its “different” and people aren’t sure if they like it, that’s okay. Sometimes that’s a good thing. I have to remember that these pieces are like giving birth to me, and eventually I have to let my baby go.”
What is your favorite medium to work with?
“Calf skin is amazing. Typically they stretch and thin the calf skin for the sofer (the man that writes the Torah) to be able to write the Torah (the parchment scroll on which the Pentateuch or the Old Testament is written) on it. But I like painting on calf skin and on the opposite side the Torah is written on. This is the most unique and raw of all the skin, and I even leave them incomplete, untouched, with holes. I get lots of questions about that because it looks incomplete, like in Chamsa. It looks like it’s a slit but it’s actually supposed to be there.”
“This entire collection of 13 new ketubah art works was a very, very spiritual journey to me from start to this point. There is so much more in me, I must continue to create. Art is like story telling, song writing, dancing, art is creation, and an expression of my being.”
Nava is a AFAA national certified Personal trainer
Find her on Facebook at Creation Life Energy
