okay folks, when i posted that bookplate, i mentioned the occupation of the commissioner because it a) related to the piece & b) was also a way of explaining why i didn’t feel the need to edit out his full name, as he’s in a public-facing job & gave me permission to post unedited.

it was not an invitation to comment on his employer (there is literally no reason to do this on an art post about a personal commission) or to speculate or double-check about whether or not he is actually Jewish (this is unbelievably rude & i am so disappointed it needs to be said)

obviously (?) i am not personally connected to the Museum of the Bible, nor do i know enough about its current leadership to have any strong feelings about it. unfortunately, i think you will find a history of theft & questionable funding/interests in the foundation of most major museums - which is always good to know about, & totally irrelevant to this particular situation. what is relevant is that a Jewish curator of Judaica commissioned me, a Jewish illustrator, for a personal bookplate. the institution is not at all involved.

it is not okay to speculate about or disparage a client, even via implication, on an artist’s post. it’s also very offensive to suggest to me that i need to do a better job “vetting” my clients (to what extent? to whose satisfaction?) - i am a professional, i take work at my own discretion, i am not looking for input from strangers.

in the future i’ll be taking more steps to obscure (whenever possible) identifying details - i know i can only control my own actions, but i hope this reminder to think more before you offer up commentary is taken seriously.

sheydgarden:

a reminder

i haven’t been posting much here in a few months. part of that has been work-related - putting a lot of my time into illustration projects that i can’t share, & also doing a lot of prep for a local Hanukkah market i both co-organize & vend at (which happened this past weekend). i tend to use this space as a sort of less-formal gallery, only posting work i consider “finished” or reblogging things related to projects i’m involved in. in the past i’ve been more talkative & more apt to share WIPs & personal things on my other social media (Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky), which is still true even though i’ve had to take several steps back from some of those platforms lately for my mental health.

all this is to say that if you only follow me here, you haven’t seen me make any kind of statement about the crisis in Israel/Palestine, because that isn’t how i’ve been using this particular site. i do not think of my art as apolitical & i am not secretive about my politics, but over & over again, i find myself followed by people who appear to be shocked to learn that i am proudly & actively anti-Zionist. i have been for my entire adult life. as a Jewish artist making visibly Jewish work, this puts a target on me, not only from garden-variety antisemites but also from fellow Jews who feel “betrayed” by my solidarity with Palestine & threatened by my vocal opposition to colonialism, apartheid & genocidal violence (as well as the very idea of ethnostates). in fact, the harassment & abuse i receive online is primarily from Zionists, which is not something i would have ever expected with so many white supremacists & neo-Nazis crawling all over the current internet!

so, this is just me cleaning house now & again. i don’t feel the need to post signs shooing away folks who should be getting that message very easily from my work (if you hate queer, trans, fat, disabled & Jewish people i truly don’t know why you’d follow me), but it’s very easy for Zionists to see much of my Jewish-focused work & decide they like it, only to turn verbally abusive when they realize i don’t share their views. here’s your sign! if you want to bail, do so quietly & civilly like an adult please. thank you.

it’s come to my attention that my zine on antisemitism in occult movements is currently being passed around by Zionists, so here’s your reminder that it’s fully possible (and in fact not even a contradiction) to care about the historic & contemporary oppression of Jews while also vehemently rejecting Zionism as any kind of “safety” or solution.

i’m pointing at the sign again.