N
o, Paula Mandel doesn’t go from
house to house sifting through
trash cans, looking for items
she can incorporate into her unique
form of art.

But if you happen to have an old
appliance, busted musical instru-
ment, watch, sewing machine or
some other piece of equipment
you’re ready to throw out, she’d be
happy to take it off your hands.

“I love things people don’t have
a purpose for anymore,” explained
Mandel, who just completed a
three-month show, “The Threads
that Bind Us,” at the Temple Judea
Museum at Congregation Keneseth
Israel in Elkins Park as part of its
Artists Collaborative. “I can use
them in my art.

(New Jersey) Community College
to study glass for two years,” said
Mandel, who began her profes-
sional career as a play therapist
at St. Christopher’s Hospital. She
moved to Florida for a couple of
years while her husband Rich was
completing his residency, before
returning home to work at the Art
Forms Gallery in Manayunk painting
personal stories for customers.

“It was hard to learn,” she contin-
ued. “But I learned to create charac-
ters out of rods with glass. To make
a hand out of wax cast in glass.

“The way I work is I make a lot of
parts — hands, eyeballs, characters
— and then I’ll go into my storage
room, take things out and start play-
ing with them like I used to play with
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“I love things
people don’t have
a purpose for
anymore ... I can
use them in my art.”
INDEPENDENT LIVING PERSONAL CARE MEMORY CARE SKILLED REHAB
3200 Bensalem Boulevard, Bensalem, PA 19020
junipercommunities.com Meet
BL A IR
SEITZ Photojournalist
“A bunch of pieces I did recently
I don’t consciously know what their
stories are going to tell until after
I’ve fi nished them — and I love that.

To me, it’s about the journey.”
Mandel grew up in Mount Airy,
then attended Girls High School
and Temple University, where she
was a combined art and psychology
major, then painted professionally
over the next few decades while
raising a family. She said her art
began to change once she went
back to school to study the intrica-
cies of glass.

“I went back to school at Salem
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM my dolls. The time I spend thinking
about it usually takes as long as
the creation, and glass takes a long
time.” But the result is pretty spectac-
ular. Sculptures from the exhibit,
which drew as large a turnout to KI
as anyone could remember, now
reside in her Conshohocken home.

That includes a number with
deep, personal meaning.

“I loved my Bubbe Sarah,” she
smiled while explaining the intrica-
cies of a piece dedicated to her. “My
grandmother was a seamstress.

“She sewed for 50 years. This is
HE’S CALLED SIMPSON HOUSE HOME SINCE 2021
Blair is a Dillsburg, Pennsylvania native turned globe-trotting photojournalist who
spent a decade in Africa and Asia. He has published images in National Geographic
Traveler, The New York Times Magazine, and the Pennsylvania’s Cultural and Natural
Heritage books.

Having lived around the world and having spent the last several years as part
of a multicultural alliance in Reading, he loves the diversity at Simpson and the
friendliness of the staff and residents. “We’re a family here,” Blair says.

Call us today at 215-709-6026, or visit SimpsonHouse.org/GL-BS2 to see for
yourself why Blair and so many other creative, well-traveled people choose
Simpson House for retirement living.

THE GOOD LIFE
2101 Belmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
SimpsonHouse.org/GL-BS2 • 215-709-6026
DECEMBER 15, 2022
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