If you’ll wonder why I’ve picked this biblical term genesis, well, every individual has its own world and has started somewhere in his life, towards realizing a dream, a career.

I haven’t given much thought to it, neither how I came into this world, but how I became an artist; nor looking back it seems to me somewhat strange if not funny, like some miracle I dare say, and I’m so glad my life took that unexpected turn.

I used to draw from a very young age, I simply loved it and filled my copybooks with sketches instead of doing my homework; until one day on a class journey to our city’s museum, I saw a huge painting (that’s how it looked to me at that age) of some 4 feet wide and I was awestruck.

I stopped drawing as a result of that visit. I thought I’ll never be able to paint such paintings. It was a misjudged conclusion, but I quit drawing from that day on.

One evening years later, I sat reading the evening paper after the day’s work. Two illustrations attracted my attention. They were black and white photos exposed to too much light on purpose.

The exposure made those photos look like charcoal drawings. I took several sheets of paper and copied both the illustrations, with much care. It came off fine and I was very pleased with the results. I remember turning to my wife jokingly: 'Would you like to live beside a professional painter?'

I showed her of course very proudly the two copies, it made her laugh. It was a joke after all, but I took it seriously.

Well I did it, and it took me some ten years to come out with my first exhibition.

I’ve heard many a time people say: ‘I’ve no talent at all… I can’t draw even a straight line or write a meaningful sentence. It’s wrong, everyone has some talents, but it’s as the great Leonardo Da Vinci said: “Talent isn’t enough it must be developed with hard work.’

. Haim Kadman 2020 – all rights reserved.