When Sharon Meieran and Fred Cirillo, two Oregon-based doctors, planned to marry, they decided the ceremony would take place outdoors and would incorporate Jewish rituals to honor Sharon's heritage. Instead of a traditional Ketubah, or Jewish wedding contract, the couple chose to commission an artistic interpretation of their union.

Neither Sharon nor Fred is constrained by tradition or conformity. Both had successfully established careers – he in music and she as a lawyer – before boldly deciding to pursue medicine. The couple embraced their new direction with a mixture of purpose and flexibility. They soon became dedicated medical students who took time out to explore the far reaches of the world.

In order to reflect the couple's deep sense of commitment and openness to all life's opportunities, I decided to make a circular object, reflecting the symbolism of the wedding ring – a form with no end. I also incorporated sections of text that the couple had chosen and written, ranging from inside jokes to serious statements of commitment, designed to inspire contemplation.

The Ketubah is created from handmade paper, thirty-six inches in diameter with a natural deckled edge. Each section of text appears on a torn piece of paper adorned with fiber, leaves, copper symbols, and musical notes. These pieces of paper – in various shades of white – hover above the base, high enough for the fragments to take on natural curves, reinforcing the authenticity of the content and the couple's originality.

Through their marriage, Sharon and Fred are committing to each other, but they are not alone. With each deeply connected to their families, I incorporated the presence of family members as witnesses, supporters and participants. Parents and siblings each contributed an artifact, each encased in a copper drawstring bag and hanging on the points of a Jewish star around the circular Ketubah. The individual bags are identified by different colored ribbons – the only color in the piece – and are embroidered with each giver's initials. The commitment is made; the circle is complete.

Reaction

The ketubah Lisa created exceeded even my exaggerated expectations.

Lisa did not simply design a marriage contract, but embarked upon a month–long process of creating the most lovely, wonderful, meaningful, personal ketubah I could have imagined. She contacted our close family members and talked to them in depth about us, and our relationships with them, and then obtained from each of them something special that she beautifully incorporated into the design of her piece of art. She used gorgeous papers and leaves, symbolic of Fred and my love of nature, in a circular design representing the never–ending bond between us. I am sitting here and can't put into words the beauty and magic of the ketubah she made for us. What I can say is that it is not only a personally meaningful and profound representation of the bond between Fred and me, our families, and our communities as a whole, but a piece of art that would stand on its own even without deeper meaning. It still amazes me that she was able to accomplish this. The ketubah stands as a centerpiece in our home, and will always be one of our dearest treasures.

"A Little Boat that Floats"—Sharon Meieran