Moshe about Himself

Moshe about Himself

A person reflects the form of the landscape of his birthplace….”

Loosely translated from a poem, in Hebrew, by Shaul Tchernichovsky

I was born and grew up in Kibbutz Kfar Blum, in the upper Galilee in Israel. I naturally assimilated those same values that are the basis of all that is in me: loyalty to what is right, honesty, and truth. I do not know how to pretend or to do something that has no basis in truth.

As I learned to read and write, I started to paint, a way of life for me that grew as I grew. Before I served in the Army, I studied for one and a half years in the Betzal’el School of Art – “The Old Betzal’el” that was on Betzal’el Street in Jerusalem. I was able to study there with the support of a scholarship from the school. There, for the first time, I was exposed to “the world of art” as it was then.

After my Army service, I met the artist Leo Roth z”l, from Kibbutz Afikim. Through him I found a way to strengthen my own personal direction in painting, and found support for the solidification of my inner essence. Leo Roth was a great painter; he was both full of inspiration and was truly modest. He had a deeper understanding than anyone else I have ever met. And for that I am grateful.

Now, I live in Jerusalem and paint in my little apartment.

When I first came to Jerusalem, using water colors, I painted the neighborhood in which I lived: the balconies full of geraniums, the cars, and the apartment buildings, as a kind of Jerusalem from below. I am used to working by myself, and to develop all that happens to me in drawings, sketches, and in water color impressions. Afterwards, I develop those ideas that emerge in me in Oil on Canvas.

I am happy in my tiny, quiet place in which I can be with myself and try to come to that place where I will feel comfortable with my own expression and my inspiration.

My there be peace, abundance, blessings, and understanding for all of us.

Moshe Avni
Jerusalem
December 2011

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