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December 12, 2003
A tallit of many colors
Bette Thompson decided to make her own Judaica.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Several years ago, when Bette Thompson converted to Judaism, she
decided she needed to build a collection of Judaica.
When she started looking for tablecloths, she wasn't impressed with
what she saw at local Judaica stores so she got creative and made
her own with fabric paints. She also made her own tallit.
When friends saw what she had done, they wanted her to do the same
for them. Word of mouth continued to grow and now Thompson, a retired
physiotherapist, has what she calls a professional hobby.
Her tallitot and tablecloths come in varying shapes, sizes, colors
and designs. Most of them are designed based on wherever her imagination
takes her and some are custom made. But one thing is for sure; for
Thompson, a member of Congregation Or Shalom, it's all about the
colors.
"I really enjoy putting the colors together and I enjoy seeing
what turns out," she said. "It's like a little adventure
when I start something. I have a general idea of the pattern but
every step along the way I stop and look at it and think about if
I want to go on with more color or make any changes. So it's a bit
of a discovery process each time."
Thompson said that anyone interested in having one of her handmade
tallitot or tablecloths should set up a meeting with her to discuss
the process. For example, if someone wanted a tallit, they would
first have to choose the material – cotton, wool or silk. Then
they would discuss the size and the color scheme. She would then
need a few weeks to actually make the tallit, all at a relatively
low cost.
"To paint one stripe probably takes me an hour," she said.
"A fairly plain tallit would take me upwards of 20 hours and
they sell for around $100.
"I'll never get rich off my art," she continued. "I'm
trying to get up to $6 an hour but I'm still around $4 an hour for
the amount of work it takes to produce at the prices people can
afford to buy them."
She also explained that the cost of one of her products is not based
on the size as much as it is based on the amount of time she needs
to spend painting.
The tzitzit on her tallit are kosher and they come from Toronto.
For more information or to look at Thompson's portfolio, call 604-736-4317.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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