The Black Menorah: The Black Menorah Is a Story-Poem and Masonry Mosaic Artwork That Tells the Tale Of: Light Verses Darkness, Good Verses Evil, and Right Verses Wrong.

By Brian Lee Estill

The Black Menorah first came to my imagination in 2004. At first I drew it in my notebooks and painted it on my clothes. In 2010 I created the mosaic. In 2014 I refurbished the mosaic and grouted it with glitter grout. Thats also when the story-poem came to me. I wrote the poem in three daysthose three nights I had nightmares. I was visited by a very angry and ugly demon.

I think of the black menorah as a symbol of my faith, more than the cross or Star of David. What is the black menorah? It is a shadow of whats to come. What does the black menorah mean? It stands as a testament that good will always prevail over evil, that light will always conquer darkness, and the next right decision will always be better than the next wrong decision. Simply putdont give up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524591342

Brian Lee Estill

About the author When Brian was sixteen years old a friend of his helped him get a full time job was hod-carrying for bricklayers. It was the summer of 1992. He stayed in that occupation until he graduated high school and joined the Marine Corps. In 1997, Brian suffered a career ending injury and was honorably discharged. He moved back to Louisville 1998 and attended a three year apprenticeship in Masonry; graduating in 2001 with a Certificate from the Kentucky Department of Labor. He worked in the Construction Industry until the economic crash of 2008. In 2009, while still unemployed, he would begin to mosaic like he used to lay stone. He calls his brand: Masonry Mosaics. But then; something strange and unusual happened to him in the summer of 2009. Brian heard an invisible voice telling him to “Slap those stones, and tell them to wake up!” So he did.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Brian Lee Estill. 757530

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-5245-9135-9

   EBook      978-1-5245-9134-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 07/31/2017

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

Table of Contents

Who I am

Why This Book Was Wrote? My Vision Statement.

The Back Story Of My Artwork

About The Black Menorah Story-Poem

The Black Menorah

Explanation Of The Asterisks In The Black Menorah Story-Poem

The Other-Half Of The Black Menorah Story-Poem

Other Fine Folk-Artwork By Brian Lee Estill

Description Of Artwork

THE

Black

MENORAH

logo.jpg

Acknowlegdments

Thank you YHWH for giving me the time and space to write and finish this book and for giving me these people and business:

The love of my life:

Tia Alvis

My big brother Frank, and the rest of my brothers and sisters

My children and nephews

My Photographer and Graphic Designers

Curt May, Kyle Eberle, Patrick Johnston, Matt Mason

Business: Masonomics Inc., River City Development, Crown Trophy of Louisville.

Who I am

Hi there friends,

My name is Brian Lee Estill and I am Kentucky’s Greatest Folk-Masonry-Mosaic-Artist. In fact I am the world’s first Folk-Masonry-Mosaic-Artisan. I know that is true because I made that title up myself, plus I googled it the other night. You see, if you’re going to be great in this life, you need a great title and that one is mine.

I have been a brick and stone-mason in the Louisville area for most of my life (25 years). Louisville is my adopted home. I was born in Heidelberg, Germany. I’m an army brat. My mom and dad were born in Louisville, and most of my family is here. And plus I love this city and the Southern Indiana area.

I graduated from Detrick Vocational School and Atherton high. At Detrick I studied Masonry and worked in that trade for the last two years of high school. After High school I joined the Marine Corps. When that didn’t work out I came back home and started working with my uncle in his body shop. When that didn’t work out, I went back to the only other thing I know… which is Masonry.

I served a three year apprenticeship at the now defunct Construction Training Institute that was located on Poplar Level Road. I graduated in 2001 with a Certificate from the Kentucky Labor Department. I am very proud of that and the fact that I have had a hand in building schools, churches, hospitals and some of the nicest homes in Kentucky and