Shelah Horvitz grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts. Her mother, Frances Bieler Horvitz, had attended the Boston Museum School and started teaching Shelah how to draw and paint from the age of four. Shelah holds a BA in English Literature, a BS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and an MFA in Painting from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has studied remotely with many atelier-trained artists, particularly with Will St. John and Stephen Bauman. She won the Gold Medal in the 2024 Guild of Boston Artists New England Regional Juried Exhibition, and has been a Finalist in four Art Renewal Center salons and at ModPortrait at MEAM in Spain. Her most recent solo exhibitions were with Stone Sparrow Gallery in New York City.

As the story goes, every Friday evening when three stars appear, the veil between the worlds thins and Shabbos begins. The feminine side of God (called the Shekhinah), who rules the earth, meets the male side of God (El), who rules the sky, and for the space of one day, heaven and earth are integrated and both God and the world are whole. Because this is a time of joy, the Shekhinah — also called the Shabbos bride — dances to greet her groom.

Shelah’s artistic influences are innumerable, but when she painted this piece, she was thinking specifically about Abbott Handerson Thayer and Thomas Dewing.