Artists on a Kibbutz

David shows Rebekah how he puts together
the parts of a violin bow.

We spent our evening after Caesarea with Lynn and Jay's friends Amy and David, in a small town called Zichron Ya'akov, in the hills above the ancient ruins. They were extremely gracious hosts, and all of us seemed to get along like old friends.

In the morning, David generously invited us to his workshop, one of many artists' studios on a nearby kibbutz. David makes bows for some of the world's most  accomplished violin and viola players. It's a very precise art, and requires a deep sense of how a particular physical aspect of the bow--it's curvature or the weight of the wood--will affect the sound that resonates from it. David is an an experienced player himself, and knew ever since he was young that making bows was what he wanted to do.

David showed us how he does his work and and Rebekah, who also plays violin, was especially interested. Afterward, David took us to several of the other artists' studios. Thanks so much for the tour, David!

Rebekah gets a feel for the horsetail hairs that are part of the bow.
The horsetails come all the way from Mongolia, where they are
trimmed from a particular breed of horse.

Next, we visited David's neighbor, Yonatan,
who makes violins, violas, and cellos.

Yonatan's picturesque work bench reflected the
craftsmanship that goes into instrument making.

Next we visited a group of artists
who make scenes out of paper mache.

The studios form a circle around a sculpture garden.
These cherries were one of my favorites among the sculptures.

Next, we dropped in to watch a glass blower at work.

Outside, Miriam has a look at big glass bubbles
the artist has set on poles outside her studio door.

As a finale, David takes us to another sculpture garden
where the artist carves faces and object from gigantic hunks of rock.
We wondered how on earth he got them there
and managed to work with them.

Miriam and Rebekah enjoy a view from inside a stone goddess.
They're joined by David's very loyal and friendly dog, Kiwi.

Happy cousins pose for a group shot. What a great tour!