Friends, I am so honoured to introduce to you my fifth and final guest on this 'Braving The Wilderness' project: the amazing Ella Cohen (aka EllaKookoo)! Ella is an award-winning illustrator and graphic artist living and working in Berlin, and I've been a fan of her work for many years now. So, imagine my pleasure when I met her last summer during an event in Paris organised by @agence_la_suite. Very inspiring and fun meeting her. I am so thrilled she accepted to be part of this project. Please go check out her work on Instagram and her website and enjoy the read! ✌️
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Braving The Wilderness // Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart // feat. @ellakookoo
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I was the firstborn of two Israeli parents, and a first grandchild for my holocaust-surviving grandparents. As one can imagine, my much-anticipated arrival was celebrated not only as a joyful addition to the family. It also marked the beginning of a new branch in our felled family tree. The name chosen for me, Ella, is the Hebrew name for the Terebinth tree, or 'Pistacia palaestina' as it's sometimes called. Wildly common in Israel and Syria, it's known for its remarkable resilience and impressively long life span. As a young 80's child with a very uncommon name (Ella, with the stress on the second syllable, was a pretty rare Israeli name back than), I was quite oblivious to most of that. Mostly it just felt like my unique name was a burden, perpetuating my oddity when all i wanted was to fit in. Only years later, as i made peace with it, did I learn how inspiring trees are for me. How enduring and yet accommodating they can be at the same time, living through great storms while staying put and simply tilting until the wind calms down. Trees are persistent, reliable, and always authentic, and these are all values I strive for in my creative and personal journey.