I was meant to visit the exhibition "The Spark" by Work Off Art at the beginning of March, but of course it was closed due to the war with Iran. I finally got there in mid-April, and I'm so glad I did. The exhibition was curated by Ya'ara Sachs, who was also behind the groundbreaking Pop-Up Museum TLV, among other projects. As explained in one of the wall texts, the exhibition's title, "The Spark", refers to that very moment when the spark is lit - the force that drives artists and individuals to keep creating, dreaming, and illuminating their surroundings, even in times of personal and collective crisis. It was Sachs's final exhibition in Israel before opening her first international show abroad.
The exhibition is being held in the former Tara factory in Tel Aviv's central business district, once home to one of Israel's best-known dairy companies. Over time, as the dairy industry moved out of central Tel Aviv to other locations, the original factory land became highly valuable for redevelopment.
Before the site is redeveloped into large-scale residential and office towers, dozens of artists have transformed 43 rooms and office spaces into a multi-room immersive art experience. Each room reflects an artist's personal "spark". The result is a rich, colourful journey through video art, installations, sculpture and sound.
Rooms were filled with animals, knives floating in space, and areas packed with hands and furry creatures. There were giant flowers made from pipe cleaners, a music machine powered by a compressor and a party blower, a childhood room seen from a unique angle, a giant aquarium, and a large, ominous block suspended in the air. A personal favourite was Shelly Picha's room, above, where she transformed words, names, and prayers into a calligraphic space of memory and healing.
Rotem Michaeli's "Planted Here" was a soft, colourful space built from pipe cleaners. Tall flowers swayed in a gentle breeze, their constant movement highlighting the fragility of life and reality - in Israel, always, and especially today. The room offered a quiet hope that even what seems fragile and delicate is capable of blooming. It was created in memory of the artist's sister.
This room made my friend and me stop for a moment. At first glance, it seemed to tell a story of pain, of hostages, and of war. But the shadow on the wall revealed a shift - when struggle turns into hope, and hope becomes reality. We left feeling a little more hopeful.
Caroline Attoun's work reflected on how reading sparks her imagination. When she feels uninspired, she turns to books, where even a small detail - a minor character or a single sentence - can suddenly ignite new ideas. For her, reading opens up space for imagination, allowing a whole world to form beyond the written words. The work captured that moment of "falling into" a book, when text and imagination meet and creativity begins.
Studio Plan B (Maya and Max Gat-Mor) created an installation composed of sharp metal knives, suspended in a precise and harmonious structure. "Hanging by a Thread" was created after 7th October and it explored the fragile line between constant danger and moments of calm and beauty.
Sapir Ashkenazi’s room reflected on her teenage years, when she often felt caught between loneliness and connection, and between uncertainty and belonging. To calm herself, she would go to the University Railway Station and watch Tel Aviv's city skyline, mesmerised by the glowing buildings and the sense of something larger than herself.
Kobi Osher's "Through the Fracture" used concrete as a central material. A massive, cracked block appeared to float in space. From within the cracks burst light and richness - symbols of creation, life, and small moments of hope. The piece was clearly a metaphor for the weight and pressure we create in our own minds, which in truth carry no real mass.
Another favourite of mine, perhaps because they used paper, were Natalia Volkov's figures of animals native to Israel. They were built from photographs of everyday moments and familiar Israeli landscapes that inspire her. These ordinary moments of architecture and daily life were transformed into living forms, reflecting both the fragility and resilience of Israel's landscapes and the rhythm of life within them.
A number of artworks were displayed in the factory's courtyard. Anna Kogan created an anamorphic sculpture from everyday objects, which from a single viewpoint revealed a portrait of Elon Musk. The sculpture evoked his childhood room in South Africa, where he found refuge in science fiction books, comics, computer games, and encyclopaedias. From those worlds of imagination, a spark emerged - one that turned the boy into a man who dreamed of leading humanity to other planets. As we moved around the piece, the image constantly shifted, showing how perspective changes everything: what seemed ordinary or broken revealed something entirely new. It was a powerful play on perspective, imagination, and inspiration.
Finally, Elad Elyakim's piece "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" used an eight-metre-high lift shaft in the old Tara factory. The large-scale work featured white Hebrew typography on a black background, with letters intersecting and intertwining to fill the entire surface. It continued Elyakim's practice of giving discarded spaces and objects new life through painted words and letters.
"The Spark" is a moving and thought-provoking exhibition that I really enjoyed. The works show how inspiration can come even in a difficult and complex reality, and I connected with many of the pieces, which were both interesting and thought-provoking. It seems that sometimes, all it takes to keep going is one small spark.
Keshet turned 16 at the end of June. Her mum told me that she loves going to the beach to watch the sunset. She sent me a few photos of Keshet and hoped that I could use a combination of them to create a special birthday card for her.
Now, Keshet and I go way back - despite the fact that she's only 16! As her mum put it, "She's an original Lisa card baby!" When Keshet was born, a customer asked me to create a picture for her nursery. It showed baby Keshet together with her parents and siblings. Since then, the family has grown, with more children joining the family! When Keshet turned 8 in 2018, I made her a birthday card filled with rainbows, doughnuts and other sweet treats. (The Hebrew name Keshet means "rainbow" in English.) That same year, she came to do a workshop with me, and we spent two and a half happy hours drawing, cutting and sticking together. When she turned 9, her mum told me she "cheered with joy" when she saw the birthday card featuring her new sewing machine and the slime she loved making. For her 10th birthday, she was all smiles, giving a big thumbs up, and by the time she turned 11, she was dreaming of owning an iPhone! In fact, back in 2019, I ended up making cards for the whole family!
Now Keshet is all grown up and, sadly, she preferred that I didn't share the wonderful photo and video clips her mum sent me of the moment she realised that, once again, she'd received one of my cards. They made me smile though, and I was delighted to see that, at 16, she was still just as thrilled to receive one!
Just a few weeks after
Polly celebrated her 60th birthday, her husband reached the milestone of 70. She wanted to give him
one of my cards too, one that brought together all the things he loves. The themes she requested were yoga, baseball (especially
the Mets), and piles
of books. The books had to reflect his wonderfully varied interests: genocide,
the Hebrew Bible (Tanach), and sports statistics. Quite the eclectic reading list!
Polly sent me some photos of her husband Marc to use as reference. I asked
whether I should show him wearing the hat that appeared in every photo, to
which she replied, "Yes!" Apparently, he bought it in Australia and wears
it all the time.
My card shows Marc wearing his favourite Australian bush hat and sitting
cross-legged in the Lotus Pose (Padmasana), the most famous yoga
position. It is a traditional meditation posture where each foot is
placed on the opposite thigh, with the soles facing upwards. One hand is
shown in the chin mudra yogic hand gesture, which is believed to
instil wisdom, improve concentration, calm the nervous system, and lift
dull energy. The gesture is formed by touching the tip of the thumb to
the tip of the index finger to create a circle, while keeping the
remaining three fingers extended. In Marc's other hand, he is
holding a pile of books titled with the subjects requested by his wife.
I added the Mets logo to the card, along with a big orange number 70 to
mark his milestone birthday. Polly told me that Marc loved his
card. "Thank you Lisa for yet another amazing card!" she wrote.
In 2020, I created
a personalised sign
for Esther's studio door as a birthday gift from her husband. Recently, he got
in touch again to tell me that Esther's 60th birthday was approaching. He
had an idea in mind: a large papercut for their home based on a favourite
photograph of the whole family. He asked if he could send me the photo to see
whether I could recreate it in paper as a piece of wall art. A couple of
days later, he sent me the family photograph. After studying it, I suggested
creating a large piece measuring 40 × 30 cm. That size would allow me to capture
far more detail, ensuring that each family member was clearly recognisable. He
agreed, and I began working on the piece.
The image above is a mock-up showing how the artwork would look displayed on a wall.
I shared my sketch with Esther's husband, and he seemed genuinely impressed. At the same time, he checked that I was enjoying working on the piece too - and I certainly was! Unlike my greeting cards, this commission took several days to complete. The finished artwork is something I am really proud of. It is especially satisfying to know that it will be hanging on the wall of their home, where family and friends can enjoy it for, hopefully, many years to come.
"Wow! Amazing!" was the reaction I received when the artwork was collected. Then, on the day of her birthday, Esther sent me the following message: "Thank you so much for this. You are incredibly talented. This is one of my favourite photos, taken on holiday last summer. It's amazing what you can do with paper." I think it's safe to say that Esther loved it! Knowing that I had transformed a treasured family photograph into a unique piece of artwork, and that it now has a special place in their home, made all the hours spent creating it worthwhile.
Eli Cohen, an Egyptian-born Jew, became one of the most legendary spies in Israeli history. In the 1960s, posing as a wealthy Syrian businessman, he penetrated the highest ranks of the Syrian government while working for the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. Over years of careful cultivation, Cohen embedded himself among the movers and shakers of the Syrian Ba'ath Party, earning the nickname 'Our Man in Damascus'. His remarkable career came to a tragic end in 1965, when Syrian intelligence uncovered his true identity and executed him.
Some time ago, Mister Handmade in Israel and I visited the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, which had only opened in December 2022. Our hour-and-a-half guided tour was fascinating. We got a glimpse into Cohen's family life as well as his work, told through personal stories, original artifacts, and documents, including his very last telegram. The museum has recreated rooms reflecting his home and scenes from his operations in Syria, giving a real sense of how he lived and worked as a spy. It was moving to follow his journey, from his infiltration and intelligence gathering to his capture and execution, and to reflect on the legacy he left behind.
Eli Cohen grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, the son of Syrian Jewish parents. His fluency in Hebrew, Arabic, English, Spanish and French made him an attractive recruit for Israeli intelligence. He travelled to Israel for a brief espionage training course in 1955 and returned to Egypt the following year. In the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, he was among at least 500 Egyptian Jews expelled from Egypt, eventually settling in Israel in 1957. He worked as a translator and an accountant before once again being recruited by Israeli intelligence in 1960.
Cohen assumed the identity of Kamal Amin Thaabet, a Syrian businessman returning to his homeland after living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. To build up his credentials, Cohen first moved to Buenos Aires and soon gained the trust of senior officials working in the Syrian embassy there. Those included the Syrian military attaché, Amin al-Hafez, who would later serve as president of Syria.
In January 1962 Cohen moved to Damascus where he managed to work his way into the social circles of the Syrian elite. He was able to relay critical intelligence information to Israel and was credited with playing a key role in Israel's success in the 1967 Six Day War, particularly in the capture of the Golan Heights. He sent intelligence by radio, secret letters, and occasionally in person, secretly travelling to Israel three times.
In January 1965 Syrian counterintelligence identified Cohen's radio signal and apprehended him in the act of sending a transmission. He was interrogated, convicted in a military trial, and publicly hanged in Damascus in May 1965.
The exact location of Eli Cohen's body is unknown. Syrian officials have revealed over the years that his body was actually buried multiple times in order to thwart Israeli efforts to retrieve it. Israel has long lobbied for its return but to no avail. Despite this, the Mossad was able to retrieve Cohen's wristwatch from Syria in 2018, and it is now displayed in the Eli Cohen Museum, above. In addition, on the 18th of May this year, marking the 60th anniversary of Cohen's execution, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that approximately 2,500 documents and personal items belonging to Cohen were retrieved from Syria in a covert Mossad operation. The collection, constituting the entirety of the Syrian archive on Cohen, included handwritten letters to his family, evidence of communications with senior Syrian officials, photographs from his time undercover, personal belongings such as the keys to his Damascus apartment, and his original will written hours before his execution. Some of the items were subsequently presented to his widow, Nadia. Eli Cohen is highly regarded in Israel, and many streets and neighbourhoods have been named after him. A memorial stone has been erected to Cohen in the Garden of the Missing Soldiers in Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.
I am a graphic designer by profession who has gone 'back to basics' and I love anything handmade. I enjoy working with paper and other materials, and am always excited to try new projects.
