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 Our featured artist,
Deborah Kohen, was born in Los Angeles in 1955 and currently resides in Las
Vegas, Nevada where she applies her artistic talent and is active in the
local arts community.Deborah's main areas of concentration include book arts, manuscript illumination, poetry, prose, oil paintings and sculptures. Proud mother of Zoë Kohen Ley, a 17-year-old Oberlin College Conservatory music student, Deborah has supported her daughter as a full-time English teacher and continues now as a full-time writer and artist. Although Deborah exhibited talent at a young age, it wasn't until her late 30's that she enrolled as a first year art student at UNLV and began to develope the artistic skills to fulfill her potential. Like many first year art students, she was initially discouraged with her progress while taking a beginning painting class. She even met with the instructor and told her she was dropping out because she just "didn't get it." Her teacher, who later became her mentor, convinced her to "hang in there" and told her, "One day it will click." Over Thanksgiving break Deborah, determined to succeed, set up a still life of favorite household objects and fabric, and finally, in the peace and comfort of her own livingroom, "it did click." Upon returning to school, she dropped off her painting in the studio before setting off for her other classes. She returned to find her classmates surrounding her painting and exhibiting great interest. One student remarked, "The painting is so sexy! I could never make fabric look that sensuous!" From that time forward, Deborah approached her art with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment and continued to awe her teachers with her talent. Although she enjoyed immediate success as a first year art student and sold most of her paintings in the second semester, her studies lasted only one year as she felt it best to explore her artistic style naturally, out of the confines of the classroom. Deborah continued to research art on her own and recognized her artistic style while looking through books on art nouveau and manuscript illumination, an art form that fell into decline during the industrial revolution and the era of the printing press. It wasn't until Deborah attended a Ketubah exhibit organized by her friend Josh Abbey, then artistic director of the Las Vegas Jewish Federation, that she felt herself inspired to synthesize her talents and interests into a modern day version of this ancient artform. She described the peaceful feeling she felt while creating these works of art: "It was all kind of like a meditation and I would be in my zone. That's how I am when doing my artwork -- in my own private heaven."Deborah is very much inspired by nature and has amassed a large collection of photographs of natural beauty from which she draws subject matter for her artwork. She created her ketubahs with watercolor, ink, and gold and silver leafs and powders; however, Deborah feels her ketubahs are "not only pretty, but inspiring and meaningful." Her works are chock full of Jewish mystical symbolism such as the divine marriage of God the King and Sabbath the Queen, the elements, ritual objects and the wonders of God's creations on earth and in the heavens. Deborah's ketubahs also include the traditional heading, "B'Siman Tov U'v Mazel Tov" (With a good sign and good luck) - from Renaissance times when astrology was widely used to determine auspicious dates for weddings and other life events. Since Deborah feels that marriage is the most sacred commitment a person can make, she has put a lot of good spirit into the works. She hopes her ketubahs will be proudly displayed in the newlyweds' homes: "When a couple gets married and they have their ketubah framed and hung on their bedroom wall, everytime they look at it, I want them to be reminded of what's best in their relationship and the sacredness of the commitment that they made."Today Deborah is working on a series of 12 paintings that reflect her spiritual beliefs. Aside from her ketubahs and paintings, she has self-published two poetry art books entitled "Eros and Psyche" and "Descent." Recently, she submitted a poem and a photograph of one of her oil paintings for publication in the "World Healing Book," a non-profit venture to help raise money for Afghan women and children. Both pieces have been accepted; the book will be printed and distributed internationally in January or February of 2002.  FAQ | Featured Artist | About Ketubahs |