Sometimes, it is truly hard for inspiration to strike. Seeing the world around us in an artful way takes a lot of creativity. But then, for some people, even the simplest of things can be inspiring. Talya Tomer-Schlesinger is one such incredibly gifted person. Where we see the world as black or white, she sees a burst of colors.
Talya is a Jerusalem-based artist who brought the streets of Baka neighborhood in Jerusalem back to life. The neighborhood’s Director had asked for her help to decorate the streets for an upcoming art festival. Tayla’s idea was a permanent one, not just ending with the festival. She decided to embroider the street benches with beautiful colors. When asked about how she got this idea, Talya said,
The benches’ open grid backs reminded me of my grandmother’s embroidery grids and thus became the inspiration for the project.
Aiming for the art being a permanent one, Talya used strips of swimsuits and other waste fabrics in order to embroider the benches. The patterns she embroiders are not specific, so to say. Sometimes they are completely abstract but most of the times, they happen to represent nature. Leaves, flowers and even a stunning peacock are some of the things that she has embroidered onto the benches.
But perhaps the best part is that Talya has turned this into a community project. She invited all the members of the community to help and be a part of this project. And as it turns out, people turned out in large numbers for this one-of-a-kind project.
As we said before, inspiration strikes a selected few. But when it does, amazing projects like these are born. Not only is Talya’s project beautifying the streets of Jerusalem, but it is acting as an inspiration for every person who passes by the benches each day, maybe igniting a spark within them as well. Not to mention that it is bringing the community together, even if for a small amount of time.
We hope that ideas like Talya’s spread all over the world. The world stands in need of such thought-provoking inspiration.
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