HANGING UP MY VERY OWN BIRCHAS HABAYIS!
What does it feel like to hang up your own art?
I'm no stranger to hanging up pictures that I've taken. After all, I've been a photographer for about 25 years. My walls have been adorned with countless pictures of my children, and in recent years, my grandchildren. In addition to family photos, I also have on my walls various judaica style pictures that I've taken over the years, nature style photos (flowers, butterflies, animals, you name it!).
There's a certain level of excitement when hanging up your own art, one that my machatenesta (my son in laws mother), Gila Balsam, can attest to as well, as she is a well known artist as well as art teacher (what are the chances!) in Los Angeles. She too, has her beautiful art, hanging all over her house. Lucky me, I've been the recipient of her art multiple times, and I plan to send her this Birchas Habayis as soon as I get her measurements. We both like the idea of hanging each other's art in our homes.
Why is it though, that I feel different tonight, after hanging up my own Birchas Habayis? I should be used to this by now, right?
Wrong. Somehow this feels different. More exciting.
My handyman just left and I am left staring in awe at this gorgeous piece of art.
It is framed beautifully as well (from the start, I knew I wanted to frame it in gold and acrylic), and somehow everything just came together after months of hard work, and years of photographing and collecting all my door pictures from around Israel. This has been a project in the making for so many years, and finally, it is on my wall.
I have work to do tonight, yet I keep walking over to my dining room to steal another glance at it. I really love it.
So why does this feel different than all the other photographs I've hung on my walls over the years?
If you've had a chance to read the backstory on how this Birchas Habayis came about, you will see that I really intended to create this just for my own home. You may have also read that I did not simply want to make a door collage, that is not what this is about. I very much wanted the final product to be meaningful to me. I thought long and hard on how to do that, until one day I was inspired and realized that turning this collection of beautiful doors of Israel into a Birchas Habayis- was the way to make it special to me.
I thought of the different blessings I would want for my own home, and that's how the Yehi Ratzon was born. The blessings in the center of this beautiful Birchas Habayis is very specific and thought out. They're not just words that I borrowed from another Birchas Habayis. They are my words. My very own request to Hashem to please open the doors of my home to blessing, success, peace, happiness, respect and love. These are the blessings that I yearn for in my own home and this is why hanging this particular artwork on my walls feels different to me.
It is not only because Hashem gave me the vision to create this from scratch and I love how it came out…
It is not only because I have a passion and love for Israel, and every time I look at it, it reminds me of Israel, my home away from home…
It is not only because these very doors have in a sense become my babies, I have photographed them, researched them, thought of them and looked at them so much in the past few months that I feel so connected to them. (As crazy as it sounds!)
But aside from all of the above, it feels different to me because it is the conduit to all the blessings I just know Hashem will bring forth into my home.
It is my humble wish for you too, dear reader, to also gain these blessings in your home as well.
Now! let me take you along on my journey to finally getting this Birchas Habayis up on my wall!
First step! Deciding on a wall to put it on, and then seeing what size looks best on that wall.
Tip: If its hard for you to visualize what size to order, many photographers take paper, cut it to size, and see how that looks on your wall. Then you can easily adjust the paper to make it bigger or smaller.
Dont forget to take into account the frame as well! This huge piece of paper is my 30x60 Elite print size that I ordered for this wall, plus the 7" frame on all sides!
Yay! My print finally arrived! Yes-this is how the 30x60's come. The lab literally builds a crate for it so that no damage will occur during shipping. This crate is not easy to open!
Choosing a frame. This is the fun part, but also quite easy. I knew from the beginning I wanted a gold and acrylic frame :)
Finally back to the frame store to pick it up when it was ready, I was so excited to see it done!
Waiting patiently in my house for the handyman to come over!
Finally! The handyman has arrived! I will finally be able to see it up on my wall!
IT'S UP!!!
As my granddaughter says..." TADA!!!"
