Upon Mount Sinai

In 1988 I made this print. It is a copper plate engraving, hand printed and water colored. The lines are cut by hand into copper using a burin which has a diamond shaped point. A Jewish friend showed me how to draw the Hebrew characters indicating the Ten Commandments. They are also written, not in the King James old English language but in the common everyday speech of The Book. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" translates to"Don't Kill". "Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife" translates to "Don't Be Envious Of Anything Your Neighbor Has". A child should be able understand them.

The plate has been steel faced so that a large edition (400) can be printed. In intaglio printing the metal wears down so that the image begins to fade slightly each time it is printed. The electroplating slows this down.

God Is In The Details

I posed for the hands of God by making a drawing of my left hand with two different finger positions. The one with the fingers spread was drawn on tracing paper and flipped.

Moses Gave Them To The People Of Israel

In Exodus there are 15 commandments.

The Eye Of Providence

What else are you gonna do at 4 in the morning? Pray. Mount Sinai was drawn surrounded by clouds and triangular rays of light. A subtle eye shape can be seen above the mountain. The all seeing eye can be traced to Egyptian mythology and Buddhism. It can also be seen on the U.S. one dollar bill.