Fine Art by Kelly Borsheim: Artist in Florence, Italy and Texas

Poppies Tuscany

2012-05-26T19:22:00.005+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This self-portrait would have been so much easier (and better) if I had enlisted the aid of another photographer, but I just felt like touching base and sharing my joy in the Tuscan red poppies with you.

For those of you in the USA, I hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend and feeling grateful to those who lived a life of service with the best of intentions.

Angel Academy Florence Italy

2012-05-16T08:48:00.002+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Not much time for writing these days, but I wanted to share that this week, I will have finished my painting of a plaster sculpture cast from a Carpeaux. I will post an image of that painting once she is finished and I have time to take a proper shot. In the meantime, please enjoy these images of my life at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy…

Caption for above: Sophie gave me these flowers recently. She bought them as possible still life models, but they did not work with the other objects. I asked, “Why me? Lots of people here would love some flowers.” She said, “Because you gave me flowers and I love that memory.” Then she had to remind me that several years ago, I used to ride my bike to school from Via Leonardo da Vinci. I passed a large wall full of jasmine and would pick some blossoms each morning. Once in the studio, I placed jasmine on each woman’s easel. [I would have also shared with the men, but I only had so many stolen scents.] Timing is everything and that night (last Thursday), a 70-year-old + Australian model, Victor, told me that it was his birthday and I gave the bouquet to him. He was delighted! And I think the world is all connected.

Caption for above: Martin applies charcoal “war paint” on my face. Several of my colleagues are cheering me on to the finish line with my cast painting.

Caption for above: This is my next cast painting, the Roman man with the helmet decorated with lions. I love his little pouty mouth, as if his helmet is too tight. Ha!

Happy birthday, Dad!

Community of Artists Florence Italy

2012-05-10T08:20:00.000+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

My life in Italy has been quite different from my last decade or so in America. In Texas, I was mostly alone working on my art out in my home in the country. I liked it. I loved it, really. I have always enjoyed being alone when I choose to be, regardless of how few or many people may be around.

To be honest, I did not know if I really wanted to enroll in art school … or any school ever again. I am not a patient person on many levels and I felt hard-pressed at times to finish my college degree. But I am really enjoying being at the Angel Academy here in Florence, Italy. While I still treasure the time I can find to be alone, I am relishing so much camaraderie in being with other artists. We work so hard and long, but there are laughs that we share, although I suspect that a lot of “outsiders” might find our humor a bit dull (puns on shapes, tones, lines… that sort of thing – generally nerdy humor, if you will). For example, the delight in objects… recently Luca brought in a collection of items he bought in Istanbul: A pair of knives in elaborate brass sheaths, small lanterns, Asian tea pots, and other exotic things. The fun lasted perhaps only 15 minutes as many of us stopped our painting projects to take a look at items from Luca’s collection, ahhing and oohing over each one and trying to figure out what the history behind some of the items might be. We looked, we touched, we played with some of them, and we passed them from one to another so that we could appreciate each object on our own. The most popular item was the traditional wedding headdress for an Asian woman. Several of us tried it on. Here is a snapshot that Caroline took of me wearing the headdress. I am standing in front of my cast painting (a painting of a plaster cast model made from an original sculpture), the Carpeaux. I am not quite the “Girl with the Pearl Earring,” but a moment of feeling a bit royal was lovely.

Angel is a painting school and is very strong in still life painting. In fact, I was surprised that this school could change my mind about still life art, not having been interested in it much at all before I came here. We do support one another in our choices of objects (models, as Jered calls them) and the compositions we attempt. It is a wonderful environment. One recent afternoon, a student gave the Maestro John Angel a gin and tonic (hey,… it was ALMOST five o’clock and I have never seen this happen before here), which he offered to share with several of us who were curious about the taste. [I tried it; I will try most anything. But it did not appeal to me much… tonic is too sweet and lingers on the tongue, making me want to drink some water to wash it down. I will stick to my vodka or girly liquors, thank you very much.] However, another female student laughed and asked, “Maestro, are you bribable?” He joked, “No, but I am flirtable!” I smirked, “Subtle.” And we all burst out laughing as he gave me a hug. Not all days are charming in this way, but there is some joy in each day with these other artists. I find that my heart is a little less lonely than it might be otherwise.

Last evening lots of “Angels” and I attended the opening reception for the Florence Academy of Art alumni exhibit. Wow… and I love the interaction between AAA, FAA, and the Charles Cecil Studios. Oh, and the newest classical art school in town is the Russian Academy. The Corsini Stables hosted the art event and the place was packed with artists last night. And as a little plug, I was surprised and flattered when I met a woman who already knew of me and even remembered a blog post from years ago! We were standing near the vintage cars and when I mentioned the photo of model Vida [“Il Dono”] and me inside the car, I did not need to introduce myself. The woman exclaimed, “I know YOU, Kelly!” Later she and her husband saw the Princess Corsini and we were all invited to come out to an event happening in her garden soon. Not lonely at all – Firenze feels so surreal sometimes!

War-Torn Tabernacoli Tuscany

2012-05-07T08:35:00.003+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

On a recent weekend, I took some more painters out to my friend’s home in the countryside outside of Firenze, Italia. After a little walk around the vineyards and olive trees to get them acquainted with the landscape painting opportunities (and the fresh country air!), we ended up speaking with the neighbors here. There are multiple families nearby, but many of them are all related.

Bruno is in his 80s. He and his older brother Renato (who turns 90 years old this July 29th) grew up in their Tuscan “farm” during World War II. Bruno again brought out a picture he has of part of their family home at the time of the war. I had seen it before, but some things are worth doing more than once and my friends enjoyed the “live history.” These Italians seem to like me since I am American and they remember well that American soldiers stayed with them as they prepared to take back Firenze from the Germans. Bruno is in this first image as he shows off his bit of history to my friends.

We had asked about the tabernacle on the outside of the house. My friend Llewellyn is also interested in these. [Perhaps you will remember … or like to read … my art newsletter about the tabornacoli fiorentini that I wrote about some time ago.] Apparently, the original artwork in the tabernacle was a Della Robbia. This is a collective name for a historical family of ceramic artists and the studios are quite famous in these parts. The typically religious Della Robbias tend to be blue and white (white figures with blue glazed backgrounds), but not always. I must admit that they are not generally to my taste, but I have enjoyed some of them and their look is often easily distinguished from other terra-cotta or porcelain artwork of the time.

Bruno and Renato’s Della Robbia was bombed and destroyed during the war. Llewellyn is holding the image of the war-torn home, showing the tabernacle on the right. Later, the family commissioned a female artist with the last name Poggi (I believe), another well-known name in these parts, to create a new “Madonna and Child.” The last image is taken with the restored niche.

Happy Birthday, John Borsheim!

Carving Stone in Tuscany

2012-05-01T23:21:00.000+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I needed to get grounded again and get my hands on some stone. Two years ago, a friend and I went to Carrara, Italy, and brought some marble back to Tuscany. I am lucky because he has given me permission to use his tools and his home to get to work on carving one of those beautiful Carrara marble pieces. [My tools are still in storage in the US.]

I am having an exhibit at Brenau University in Georgia next February and March. I really try to have at least one new work in each new exhibit, and this one will feature only my sculptures (maybe a few drawings… we curate later this summer).

Because I am painting in Florence, Italy, six days of the week, I will not have a lot of time to carve in the countryside outside of Firenze. But … progress is progress. I first chose the stone and measured it against my hand. Once back in my flat in Firenze, I began to sculpt a very loose maquette of my idea. I will refrain from spelling this out for the moment, but it is a figurative work.

It has been a while since I carved something this small, but I am ok with that for the moment. It is odd using someone else’s tools. My otherwise generous mentor Vasily Fedorouk (whose work will be included in my exhibit at Brenau, per my request) always warned other carvers: “There are three things that I do not share: My guns, my wife, and my tools.” But seriously, most of my problem is that I have been a bit scatterbrained while trying to collect what I need to work and I get sidetracked easily as I am playing hostess. So, for example, I have never used the 4-inch (or European equivalent size) grinder with the safety guard in place. The guard really cuts down on access to the stone. Also, my favorite blades are mounted with a flange on the inside so that I may slice a flat surface (without the attachment nut getting in the way). After these shots were taken by my friend Olivia, I did go back to the studio and find the handle since that helps me get the control I need to feel safe with this tool.

Each time I visit here, I stop into the neighbors to say hello. Giuliana often wants to know what I am up to and how long I will stay. She is kind to me, like an Italian mamma, and often has something for me. That weekend, she brought me two extension cords before I found one here. This place is not intended to have stone dust and chips around (so clean-up takes a bit longer), but at least the neighbors I asked did not mind the sounds at all.

I think you can see the penciled-in circle on the top of the stone. That is the head of my figure. I did not get much done last weekend, but I did not expect to. [A midday sprinkling stopped the painters for a wee bit, as well.] However, I did what I could with that one tool, so it was a good stopping point. I have one shot at this and I needed to take some time to see what tools I have at my disposal. Now, I must research what I can buy in Tuscany to supplement these tools (arnesi, in Italian, in case you were dying to know) and then decide whether or not I should buy here or have sent over from the US what I am missing. Not knowing if I will be able to stay in Italy means that I am still living the life of limbo and I find that annoying. I think, though, that I should just start building my life here and let the future know that I am here to stay and will manage to do it!

So, I leave you with an image shot not far from my carving site. This is a typical Tuscan view and I have yet to tire of it. Enjoy the poppies!

Subtlety in Painting Arm Study

2012-04-25T02:11:00.002+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Anyone who has had almost any contact with me might recognize that I struggle with subtlety. For this post, I asked my witty brother Paul to give me a comparison for how subtle I am. I was looking for a phrase other than the overused “bull in a china shop” visual. Granted I caught him while he was rushing out the door to the airport once again, but he delivered a few quips not unlike our family’s humor (on a bad day). So, apparently I am about as subtle as a:

...fart in an elevator
...streaker in church
...boner at the playground (ok, that's gross, but I can't help the brainstorm)
...punch in the nards

(Thanks, Paul.)

I have been thinking that maybe my approach is ALL WRONG! Instead of trying to portray myself accurately, but perhaps more charmingly, why not try to improve my skills in being subtle?

So, here is my latest painting study in oil. This one is an arm study from a live model. I used a toned canvas that I prepared in advance a couple of weeks before. And while the project is the paint the arm, one must paint the tones surrounding the arm because … everything is relative. This study was done at the new location of the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. There are dark green walls behind the model, designed specifically for their programme.

Anyway, I quickly show you the steps for my painting of a woman’s arm. I first sketched in oil the gesture and shape before designing the shadow shapes. I drew in the shapes surrounding the arm – her robe wrapped around her waist and parts of the chest. I then put in my first guess at the background tones so that I could better relate her skin to those other forms in context. For this study, I am only concerned about getting a rough estimate of the proper hue. I really want to get the proper relationships in tone. For example, I wanted to note how the shadow side of the lower arm relates to the shadow that falls on the robe right next to it. Or how much lighter the arm is than the background.

I have then laid in, using the fat part of the brush, not dabbing the tip, the shadow shapes on the body. Then I can add the basic flesh tone I created for this project. The next step is designed to help me figure out warm/cool relationships. You might notice in Images 2 + 3 how high a chroma the transition tone that I created has. I need to grey my basic flesh color, so that as it darkens , it also cools in color.

With each pose (of about 25 minutes) session, I refine my tones and hue, and even correct the shapes. The color is not accurate (the model has a more yellow complexion, for example), but the relationships are and hopefully you see a more 3-dimensional looking arm.

The Angel Academy recently moved to a new location just outside of central Florence. I love the new studio (we can LAY on the floors when so moved … they have not yet had too many spirit spills!) and I love not having to haul supplies between two studios, as before. This Saturday, Angel is hosting an Open House. Come see what happens in these doors if you happen to be in Florence, Italy, this Saturday. It is free, of course. I will be there with some friends at some point, but if you want to see me, please contact me and suggest a time. I will probably be there around early to mid-day since I want to leave the city to go to carve marble this weekend. Details follow.

To celebrate its relocation, The Angel Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, in collaboration with the Amerigo Vespucci celebrations 2012 will host an Open House

Saturday April 28th,
10am - 5pm
Via Nardo di Cione 10
Florence, Italy\

Where visitors will have the unique opportunity to observe the working studio and meet faculty and students.

The Angel Academy of Art
Via Nardo di Cione 10 50121 Florence Italy
Tel./Fax 055 - 246 6737
www.angelartschool.com
email: info.angel@angelartschool.com

New Blog http://angelacademyflorence.wordpress.com/

Please check out The Academic Process lecture on YouTube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsiP2pUT2qQ

Happy Liberation Day, Italia!

Florentine Humor – Santa Trinità Church Italy

2012-04-22T14:52:00.001+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I love hanging out with the boys. And just as in any group, each one has its own personality, according to the members involved. One of my groups of guy friends are the Florentines. They are a bunch of boys, older than me, and they have known each other for years, some since childhood. They, especially Simone, show me a lot about Florence, Italy, that I might never hear of any other way. I am about to tell you a story that illustrates something of the Florentine humor. If you do not like jokes that would be … let us just say, “Not PC (politically correct)”, you may want to skip this post…

So, I often meet these boys at Le Giubbe Rosse, a restaurant famous for its support of all kinds of artists for over a century. It lies at the edge of Piazza della Repubblica, near the carousel. One night the boys and I were walking over to Piazza Santo Spirito for aperitivo. We passed by the Church of Santa Trinità and this triggered a story from Simone, as the other boys chuckled at my amusement and surprise by the art.

The Church of Santa Trinità is not far from the bridge of the same name that crosses over the famous Arno River. It is a lovely church, inside and out. There are three pairs of doors that face the street and are necessary for our little tale. (Only the left two are shown in this first image.) The tall doors are made of wood with carved bas reliefs on them that no doubt tell a story. But I am sure it is not the story that I am about to tell you.

You “read” the lower panels on these doors, starting at the most right and moving left with each new line…

Panel 1, above right: “Dear God, we have done so much of what you have asked of us, and yet, there is still so much to do. We are tired and unhappy. It has become difficult to work for you and we want to make a sciopero (strike).”

Panel 2, above left: “No, God, I apologize, but I am unable to perform the mass tonight…”

Panel 3, above right: “No, God, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry, but this has gone on too long without reward.”

Panel 4, above left: With resignation, “Allora, ok, God, I will perform one more mass for you, but it shall be my last.”

Panel 5, above: “Dear God, I want so much to honor you and believe again in your kindness. But I must ask you, what is this altar boy doing underneath my robe? Why is he touching me there … “

Panel 6, below: “… when I want him to touch me here…”

Happy Earth Day: Earth without Art is simply “Eh”

Mucha House Florence Italy

2012-04-15T11:24:00.000+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
One of my favorite buildings outside of central Florence, Italy, is what I simply call “The Mucha House.” I am not sure if this building done up in the art deco style is a private residence or an architect’s office or what, not being THAT nosy.
One of the “perks” of my current illness is that all scents seem to be amplified. My first day in the new studio at Angel Academy of Art had me reeling with a mixture of new paint, glue, body odor, aerosol paint (as students created black boxes for their still life compositions), smoke (which assails my senses so much worse than usual), perfumes, and a few other smells associated with construction and people and rain. The good news is that I can also smell the flowers even stronger than before, not that I wish to stay sick for this. So, you may see in this image here that the wisteria is in full-bloom, all over Firenze, in fact. I am loving that and hope you enjoy this image of “The Mucha House.”

Morocco + Illness

2012-04-12T16:29:00.001+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
Two days into my trip to Morocco and I was already telling a friend that I had made a mistake and wanted to be home sooner than planned. But since I had not yet been to Marrakesh, I decided that I was being a baby and to just get on with it. I could not believe the amount of trash everywhere, the lack of bins (and those were mostly empty), and the mentality that accepted that as a way to live. And I am no neat-freak, although I do hate litter. And the flies around the food . . .

However, two days into Marrakesh and I tried to buy a flight back home to Italy. Ryan Air would neither let me change my existing flight, nor would they accept either of my credit cards for buying a brand new ticket. [Other airlines were far more expensive for a last-minute flight.] Of course, despite my frustration, it was not all bad, and I show you some images here. I explored some of the more out-of-the-way places in Fez and Marrakesh, constantly looking for the light and interesting shapes.

While I had been warned about the come-ons, I did not really understand that practically every conversation with a local was expected to be paid for with either money or sex. It was not flattering; it was annoying. And I was really unhappy waking up on the bus from Essaouira because the guy next to me had stretched his leg out into my space alongside my leg. He pretended to be asleep, but in fact, was fondling the underside of my knee with one hand while his other worked on my lower hip! I wanted to punch him, but I had been told that this is a country in which it was legal to rape a woman (but illegal to try to remove her veil, for that would be disrespectful) and was afraid that I would instead be blamed for having an enticing leg. I am only slightly joking here.

Ex-pat locals, as well as some hostel staff told me that I should just ignore everyone. But that is not often why I travel! Most of the time I just smiled to people (even as I was shaking my head “no”) and I was happy that many responded in a lovely way. Even the rejected hustlers would sometimes shout after me, “Thanks for that smile, Italia!” [That nickname was because I preferred to speak Italian when I did choose to speak. Oddly, the word seemed to spread as people I had not seen before addressed me as “Italia” on first greeting.] Most of the women seemed shy but happy to receive a greeting from me. A smile really is great international currency.

Anghiari Italy

2012-03-26T07:07:00.003+02:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I just spent another lovely weekend with friends in Caprese Michelangelo, the little village where the great sculptor was born. Many people think that Michelangelo was born in Firenze, Italia, but he only moved there as a baby with his family. Caprese added his name to theirs later on in the little town’s history.

On our way back to Arezzo, where I was to catch the train back to Firenze, we stopped in Anghiari, of the famous Leonardo da Vinci fresco fame. [They have been trying for a looonnnnggg time now to discover whether or not Leonardo’s lost depiction of this famous battle in Anghiari does in fact lie underneath an artwork by Vasari in the Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze.] There happened to be an antique car show going on in the main piazza of Anghiari. It was quite a lovely chance viewing, especially considering that the annual market in neighboring Sansepolcro had lured away many locals and tourists from all over the region.

These images are from Anghiari. What has all this to do with art, the topic of this blog? Well, I learned that the bronze statue that you see with his arm in the air has a problem. The bronze sculpture depicts Giuseppe Garibaldi, the man who is given credit for the unification of Italy. I was told that he is supposed to be pointing towards Roma (Rome, for those who think proper names should be translated). However, once the sculpture was completed, everyone realized that in order for Garibaldi to point where he should, his bum would be facing those entering the piazza. Unacceptable! So, the Italians decided to have him point directly opposite the direction of Roma. Go figure … and a lesson for artists to do their homework!

I am off to Morocco in a few hours, so will probably be out of touch for about two weeks. I hope to have some lovely images to share with you after I get back to the bella Italia.

TASTE Florence Italy

2012-03-22T08:57:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
A couple of Sundays ago, I had the kind of day in Italia that makes me feel that life here is simply surreal. At least it is often spontaneous! Originally, I had thought to visit a dear friend outside of the city, but I had also received an invitation to see the current exhibit inside the Palazzo Strozzi here in Florence, Italy. What is a girl to do, but try to squeeze in both social occasions on my one day outside of the studio?

So, my friend Roberto (another artist) and I met at the carousel in Piazza della Repubblica early on the Sunday morning and together we went to see the art exhibit “Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists” (on exhibit 3 March-15 July 2012). We also had a gander at the Strozzina.

Between Roberto's amused observation that Sunday morning by the name "Strozzina" (the Contemporary Art Section inside the Palazzo Strozzi) as a curious play on words (he believes was intended) and another friend Luca's subsequent explaining to me of the Italian language (esp. Tuscan), I am getting a fun education. The suffix "ina" means "little" -- so "Little Strozzi" is a cute way of saying "not the main gallery." But the verb "strozzare" means 'to choke' (or 'to strangle') and strozzina is also Italian slang for a (female) LOAN SHARK (someone who will cause you a lot of pain)! So, if indeed intended, is that Palazzo Strozzi's official comment on contemporary art? [Or just the stuff they exhibit? ha!] But I digress… we were not as impressed with the American Impressionist mostra as we had hoped to be, but there were several remarkable works of art in the exhibit.

Well, in any event, my other friend cancelled our visit, so Roberto and I sauntered on over to one of his favorite places for lunch – Antonio’s, near Piazza Salvemini. I have known Roberto since 2006 and he introduced me to Antonio that New Year’s Eve as we ducked under a half-closed door to buy some last minute goodies for our all-night party that night. Antonio even let Roberto take a picture of me with him behind the counter (that image is on another laptop at the moment or I would share). However, I include here a snapshot that I took of Antonio and his wife after Antonio took one of Roberto and me (see that one in my Facebook albums…). We ate quite well and Roberto even topped it all off by ordering for us this lovely cheese that is a specialty of the region outside of Firenze (but still in Tuscany). Served on a bed of rucola. Mmmm.

And then we experienced Lagniappe: Antonio told us that he and his wife had to stay there to work, but had two tickets to TASTE, a food festival that was happening that afternoon and into the early evening. He offered them to us. Roberto and I looked at each other and thought, “Perché no?” I had only intended to be out for the morning before getting ready to take the train, so we headed over to Roberto’s closer home to get some coats and caught a bus over to the event.

It was a lot of fun – free tastings of wine, cheeses, tea, (they had beers there too), meats, and foods that are all fresh and from Italy. Yum, yum, yummy! Of course, once we finally closed that place down, we decided to head to a new bar and discovered that we knew the twin bartenders from another place. Lovely to see that their dreams to own their own bar had come to fruition! Anyway, here are some snapshots from TASTE in Florence, Italy. There are more on my Facebook pages. Enjoy and happy Spring!

Jean Baptiste Carpeaux Sight Size Art Painting

2012-03-11T00:22:00.005+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I spent at least three hours per weekday now doing my first color copy of a plaster cast of a sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875). I am including two images that I was able to find of his work online. The cast that I am creating a copy of was cropped (the elaborate hair is too complicated for the intended purposes of this cast) and I wanted you to have a better idea of the kind of sculpture that Carpeaux created.

I am doing an exercise in subtlety, learning to paint with colors (yes, a simple palette), playing with tone, hue, and chroma. This first image shows you my basic Sight-Size setup. The Sight-Size Method refers to the process of setting up one’s canvas in such a way that the model (in this case a plaster cast) will appear to be the same size on the final artwork. In some ways it is a much easier way to train one’s eye/brain/hand coordination since mistakes will be more apparent.

I position myself, standing, about two meters away from my work. You may see the “scotch” (what we say here in Firenze for masking tape) on the floor where my right foot goes. I have also placed some scotch on the wall behind and below the easel to mark my “click-in point,” which helps me remember exactly where I have lined up my body (eye) with the canvas so that I can repeat my vantage point when studying the subtleties of shape.

I start by deciding where the top of the cast is, and then the bottom. I take my steps forward and place a sketchy thin wash of paint onto my canvas. (I am still heavy handed with this, hmmm.) After that, I step back to my vantage point and decide how much correction I need either up or down. It is very unusual to place the mark perfectly the first time. Try it!

I have continued in this way, pacing back and forth, until I have sketched in a construct for the outer (large) shape. Next, I go in and determine what is shadow and what is light within that larger form. Note that the jaw appears too thin, but I have not actually drawn the shape of the head or the jaw. I have designed the shape of that large shadow that includes the jaw, ear, neck, and part of the chest. You can see that my drawing is not exact here – although I did not see it as so far off while I was doing it. [The two marks of paint that you see in the top right of the canvas were demonstrations of the extreme types of stroke one can make with a brush, depending on technique and how much paint is in the brush. For this stage I use VERY little paint and more of a dry brush.]

In this next image, you may see how I have developed the shapes. Because I have been working over several days, my paint had dried and thus, my work got sloppy as I painted darker when refining the shapes in the area of the ear. Note that background is added as needed to help me see the shape. We see in form or mass more than in lines.

Now, I add the background. I am not a very good painter and I have discovered that this project intimidates me because I want to do it right and yet I know the areas in which I am weak. This Carpeaux copy will test me and train me. However, the approaching spring and my missing marble carving is adding to my lack of focus and fear of failure on this project. My background colors are too cold, even as I began to apply them with my palette knife. (That was fun and I would enjoy learning to paint with a knife!)

In this last image, you may see a plaster cast of an eye from Michelangelo’s “David” and a sight-size painting of it to the right (in “grisaille” – white and black). The artist working next to me must sit as he works, and rolls his chair over a carpet! [I am not sure why the carpet is needed because I would have thought that rolling over it would have been more difficult than the tiled, hard floor.] His lower vantage point gives us the ability to work in a closer space within the studio while working on different art projects.

Back to my Carpeaux: Once the background tone is in, I not only can start to determine the relative tones within the subject, but I can also clearly see that my sketch is too large! I had to laugh because when I walked into the studio that next morning, it was if I had experienced ”stone expansion”! “Stone Expansion” is a term that carver Scott Owens coined to describe that feeling (rationalization – ha!) when the marble is cut away to satisfaction, but the next morning appears to have grown overnight! I was hoping (or more accurately, my ego was hoping) that the drawing expanded because I had not wanted to lose my lines as I applied the paint and only painted beyond them. However, once examining the work, I saw that many shapes were off. I am still refining these as I continue the process.

Yesterday, I was told that, "Painting is merely a matter of correcting mistakes." Hmmm, maybe living is too.

Sculpture Challenge PAWS

2012-02-28T23:46:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This Saturday is the annual Sculpture Challenge, hosted by Philip and Michelle Hoggatt at their beautiful location for Carved Stone. Located in Dripping Springs, Texas, it is a quick drive southwest into the beautiful Texas Hill Country. The event features stone carvings in a variety of styles and stone.

I have three stone carvings in this event, two of which you have probably not seen completed before, except perhaps in images online. I have written to you about the marble “Gymnast” and you may preview her online at:

www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2011/gymnast-marble.htm

My newest carving is in a new stone for me: a pink limestone from Texas. This work was mostly carved during The Vineyard at Florence’s sculpture competition in the spring and fall on 2011. I finished her in November and delivered her with the others to Philip and Michelle’s sculpture garden before I left Texas.

“Ascension Invitation” is a combination of a variety of ideas that I have been working on in my studio, but is the only one that has been fully realized. I had been designing a series of figures set inside of a vertically oriented rectangle topped with a circle. The other shapes, such as the angel’s wings, fell into place as I thought of turning a wall design into a three-dimensional garden sculpture.

I like the word ‘ascension’ for its upward connotation, the meaning in astronomy as “the rising of a star above the horizon,” and well as one dictionary definition of “to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.” And invitation seemed like a fitting word because of the stairs in the composition, with the angel pointing the way.

I hope you enjoy. I left the stone unsealed because limestone is perfect out of doors. And when it rains on this stone, she turns a deep color of pink. I hate to lose this variety of color by sealing a stone that so wants to breathe!

Sculpture Challenge at Carved Stone, Inc.
WHEN: Saturday, March 3, 2012, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: 5300 Bell Springs Road, Dripping Springs, TX 78620.
http://sculpturechallenge.com/ (for map and more information)

Sculpture Challenge is a benefit for PAWS Animal and Humane Shelter. Admission requires a $10 per person donation to PAWS. All ticket proceeds benefit PAWS. Also, if you purchase one of the sculptures entered into the Sculpture Challenge, 20% will go to PAWS.

Why Beauty Matters

2012-02-27T16:50:00.000+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Sometimes it is what we take for granted – or even deem as not necessary – that turns out to be the thing that is the essential difference between existence and a life well-lived. I hope you enjoy the video link below. On the following youtube.com page, you will see links to more discussions along these lines.
Why Beauty Matters by Roger Scruton

Amerigo Vespucci Anniversary

2012-02-23T08:24:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
Today was one of those days that caught me “with my pants down.” I mean that figuratively, of course! That means that I regret not having my good camera with me because today I received a surprise invitation and it would have been wonderful if I had not left the house nude this morning (without camera). I did have my little Nikon, but that is a POS [Piece Of S...] camera, and hardly worth the effort (read WORST PURCHASE EVER!)

Upon arriving in the studio this morning, the Maestro John Angel asked me if I would mind spending my lunch hour at a publicity event with the Sindaco di Firenze (Mayor of Florence, Italy), Matteo Renzi, that John, Lynne Barton (owner of the Angel Academy), Anna, and Jered were invited to attend. He had his good camera with him and likes the photos I take.

Today, 22 February 2012, is the 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci, whose name appears on two continents. Vespucci was a Florentine and Florence wants to celebrate this year with Americans through a variety of activities. The three main classical art schools in Florence (Angel Academy of Art, Florence Academy, and Charles Cecil Studios) that use English as the primary language in school are involved in celebrating the arts for this occasion. I am sure that I will write more about this as the year progresses.

In this first image, the Angel crew (Anna, Jered, Lynne, and John) are meeting up with Charles Cecil (right) at the entrance courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio, which I had just visited in my last blog post.

The unveiling ceremony (which is what this turned out to be) was held in the Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala dei Gigli (Hall of Lilies), named in honor of the French, who have historically been defenders of Florentine freedom. [The Florentine fleur di lis has two extra stamen in its design, which otherwise closely resembles the French symbol.] You will see this French symbol in gold with a blue background on the walls of this room. Those are also there because much of the commissioned art back in the late 1400s was never completed by the same artists who had recently finished commissions on the Sistine Chapel in Roma.

Mayor Matteo Renzi . . . as a street painter, I am not sure what I am supposed to think of some of his actions… but then, in all honesty, other than his diverting traffic to the street on which I work on my hands and knees (see my book for more on this), I do not really know the full details of the struggles of the madonnari. I MUST learn more of the Italian language!

In this snapshot of the crowd, you might be able to pick out on the third row back: John Angel, Lynne Barton, Anna, and Jered Woznicki. In the row behind that, from the left: Charles Cecil and Sandro Zecchi.

This next shot is of the map that the three girls in Renaissance costumes and dolled-up hair unveiled. I must admit daydreaming through most of the several speeches, and not understanding the rest. However, I was told that the map of the world was actually purchased by Vespucci in 1424 from the Chinese! I cannot verify that at this moment, but I can simply leave you with the curiosity of the cat…

And finally, I was so thrilled to have been invited to such a cool thing and was thinking that it would be nice for me to have a photo of me with the Angel staff in this Palace. At the same time, it dawned on me that the reason I had lost the mayor was because his back was sitting right in front of me! He had taken the chair of the current speaker! I looked around for someone to use my camera to take a shot of me with him. One woman nearby was too enraptured by her phone and next thing I knew, a tall Italian man with an enormous press camera offered to take the shot for me. Ironically, the mayor’s eyes were closed in each one … so I leave you tonight with this image of us (with John Angel behind us) in the Hall of Lilies.

Florence Italy Palazzo Vecchio

2012-02-21T08:54:00.003+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
The Palazzo Vecchio (“Old Palace”) in Florence, Italy is the seat of the Florentine City Hall government. Like so many other buildings in Florence, it is also an incredible museum. Thanks to a posting on Facebook by Freya’s Florence Tours, a friend of mine and I got to enter the Palazzo Vecchio for FREE this past Saturday. I have wanted to see more than her courtyard for a very long time now, so what a fun thing to do on a winter day in the Renaissance City!

Having been disappointed with my digital cameras over the last several years, unable to take images with high enough quality to sell as affordable stock photography, I broke down recently and bought a Fuji X10. While I have not really sat still long enough to get familiar with its many features, it was quite easy to discover its panoramic 360 image maker! No doubt I will get better at this with practice, but I hope that you enjoy these handheld panoramas of the inside of the Palazzo Vecchio.

On the left side of this first image, you will see covered scaffolding as the search for a long-lost Leonardo da Vinci fresco is taking place. Links of interest:

National Geographic writes about search for Leonardo’s art in Palazzo Vecchio: cool photos.
Discovery News: Searching for Leonardo’s Lost Art: “At least $265,000 is needed to build a portable particle accelerator and a germanium crystal detector.” [sounds pretty cool, like science fiction, si?]

This third panorama is of the ceiling of the main room and the first one we entered after walking up one flight of stairs.

The rooms are certainly elaborate and I cannot even conceive of such a thing being attempted in anyone’s palace… but I was told that the Medici or other ruling families might never even leave the confines of this building. If true, one would understand the need for lots of eye candy!

Do you not just LOVE how they believed in child labor? I mean – do you see how many young ones are holding up the ceiling art?

I am including only a small sampling of the art on the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio, but you can see that the artists of the time were quite imaginative in the creatures and in the decorative way they arranged elements.

This last image is of a niche that I think should hold one of my sculptures, don’t you? Haha. One can dream, right? And, hey, why not? I could carve a stone figure that would complement this environment!

Florence Italy Figure Art

2012-02-12T22:55:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I have not decided whether it is because I have no shame or whether it is just because I am a horrible liar that I am about to share with you what I am. You may remember my blog post on 15 January 2012 about my struggles to learn how to figure paint here in Florence, Italy. I often feel like a bit of a fraud when kind people remark that creating figure art comes so natural to me. It does not. I work and work and work at it. No lie.

Despite the fact that after my first day of frustration and the next day Maestro John Angel gave me a compliment in front of the whole class, I am still trying to overcome my first bad day on this painting of Federica. John Angel does watch his students paint; even if he is standing far enough away that you think he is not looking at what you are doing. Of course, I also get lost in my own brain when I am drawing and am not much aware of my surroundings.

At some point, he recommended that the class do as I was doing – cross referencing relationships using triangles. I have always felt that the more relationships I make (or notice) between specific points, the more my drawing will be successful. In this case, I had used my knitting needle to determine the position of the hand based on the line formed by a point in the shoulder and the belly button… or something similar that escapes my memory now.

I have failed somehow to get the gesture I once was happy with and I have yet to return to that first drawing that I erased during my frustration spell. Still, with refinement of the shapes I am designing, I hope to “scootch” my way back to something depicting emotion.

So, are you ready? Scary gets less so, I hope…

Image 1: really horrifying … no gesture, bad proportions. The only emotion I feel when looking at this is embarrassment.

Image 2: I am attempting to get the face, but it is still too narrow and poorly done. Her belly is way too round, and … need I go on?

Image 3: Frustrated with my own work, I chose to move on through the process. Here I have left behind the sketching in raw umber in favor of adding the light tones using Titanium White and Ivory Black. I have started the Big Form Modeling, the beginning of the process of creating the illusion of three dimensions.

Image 4: More shape refining, especially in the face, is starting to occur. My figure is looking better, but is still off on too many proportions.

Image 5: Another reason that I am here is to learn to be a painter. As John Angel has been lecturing us, poets use words, musicians use notes, and painters are in love with shapes. But also, we love the quality of PAINT! My tendency is to use too little. Ironic since it was originally the “squishability” factor of oil paint that led me to want to play with clay.

Image 6: By this time, Frederica had cut her hair into a shorter do that is quite attractive. In my attempt to refine the shapes in the face and still use this particular style of a grisaille (white and black) painting with a brown shadow tone, I have added yellow ochre to my raw umber to give some opacity to the browns.

Image 7: Still, so many problems with my shapes! However, I am starting to feel that I am beginning to capture her emotion of at least boredom. Sometimes the model looks teary eyed. She said this happens when her contact lenses start to bother her, but I actually enjoy the sad and pensive expression this gives her. It suits the slumped over posture as well, do you not agree?

And since I prefer not to end this session with any ugliness, here is one of the more subtle skies over my beloved Florence, Italy. Some days, I happened to walk out of the studio at just the most beautiful hour! Enjoy.

Designing the Figure Art

2012-02-03T23:59:00.004+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I spend half of my weekdays working with an art model named Federica. She is really cute and a trooper to model in the winter time. Like my apartment here in Florence, Italy, sometimes the old doors and windows do not fully CLOSE! The studio now has a piece of glass missing as someone tried to close an unreachable window all the way. Using a ladder and climbing as high as I could, I used a stick today to “secure” a piece of cardboard over part of the window. It was a horrible fix (the cardboard I found was not large enough), but as Federica and I agreed, “Meglio di niente” (better than nothing).

I include here some of my daily snapshots from some time ago to show you a bit of the process. I am painting a grisaille, but instead of using black and white, I am painting with Titanium White (Michael Harding brand) and Rembrandt’s Van Dyke Brown. It makes a warmer gray. I am painting on an primed linen (I think) canvas with a loose gray campitura (starting background color), tacked onto 80 x 40 cm stretcher bars.

Image 1: Blocking-in the mass of the figure, trying to capture the gesture in the form.

Image 2: I have now drawn in my contour lines of the figure’s main parts, the background props, and have even designed my shadow shapes and colored them in (except for the face). The face took more time because of the more intricate shapes that I needed to design. I say design because the goal is not to “copy” the live model in front of me, but to use her as an inspiration or reference for my own creation.

Image 3: Now the face. I am amused by this because this face reminds me of my cousin Carrie a bit. And NOT the model. We all tend to draw ourselves [family being a part of the same face(s) that we see most often].

Image 4: Now I painted in opaque paint two tones for each background segment… designing the darks and lights of the background (wall); the tall black box [box in light and box in shadow], and the stool (here not differentiated so well yet: the stool in light and the stool in shadow).

Image 5: I love this image! I added an averaged light tone to the figure in light. Now you may truly understand how my figure is really only a pattern of abstracted shapes! Federica had just gotten her hair cut into a new do – and it is really cool on her!

Image 6: Close-up shot of the abstract design.

Image 7: Here you can see that I have started creating the “Big Form Modeling” to change my 2-tone design into something that begins to look three-dimensional. I have always been a “butt and legs man” so I tend to start with the pelvis and work my way down.

Stay tuned . . .

Universal Through the Personal Artist Interview

2012-01-28T10:33:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Cool - this interview by Andrew Cahner on the site “Artist-Perspective.com” in California just went online: http://www.artist-perspectives.com/interviews/kelly-borsheim.htm

Abstraction of the Real Figure

2012-01-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
It is sometimes a strange thing to understand -- this getting to realism in art through abstraction. The idea basically is that the artist is not just copying from a model. She is creating a design based on what she sees in the model. I want to capture a gesture, for gesture is a physical expression of a thought or idea.

The following oil painting “Neela” is one of my favorites of my early paintings from life. I cannot believe it is still in my collection, but then I usually keep it in my home for my own enjoyment. This is an older work and therefore quite affordable.

Neela, the model, was sitting and leaning forward a bit as she read a book during her pose time. I often enjoy working on the extreme edges of the model room, as well as working in the shadows with backlighting. And I love backs. You may see here that even if you can recognize this image as a woman’s back, it is really made up of abstract shapes of light and dark. The triangles of the shoulder blades give you an idea of symmetry in the anatomy, yet are not exact repeats of form. You may enjoy the circular shapes, the pointier ones, and hopefully the long swirling dark shape that widens as it gets closer to its bottom and denotes most of the woman’s spine.

The cool thing about this process is that one can achieve a believable human figure that does not look like a photograph. I hope that you enjoy “Neela.”

A Better Artist

2012-01-15T11:04:00.004+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have been struggling this week as I try to get adjusted to my new life here in Florence, Italy. I have returned to the Angel Academy of Art to finish what I started years ago -- learning to improve my understanding of painting, especially the chemistry of painting. I left three years ago because -- and I am embarrassed to admit this -- another student was making me very uncomfortable in school and I could not get it to stop. I decided to leave the school, postponing my own education until this person had finished and gone. It was not difficult since I needed to continue to grow my own art career anyway.

My work moved in a slightly different direction in this period and of course, when I was back in Texas, I focused on my stone and bronze sculpture. I recently told Maestro John Angel and Jered Woznicki (my instructors at Angel) that I was nervous about starting up again because -- to my shame -- I had not even done a life drawing for over a year and a half (except for one 3-hour session with a friend).

Sometimes it is difficult to learn something when you think you already know something about it.

Being aware of this, as well as having watched other older students come in and flounder with their egos a bit, I really wanted to do as Maestro John Angel suggested, “Relax and it will come.” I wanted to learn the process thoroughly and it was important to “get it” early on so that I could “own” it and then be free to learn about what comes next. This was my mindset as I began to paint the figure in front of me. We were to use a medium-sized house paintbrush and wash in a solid shape on our canvases that matched the gesture of the model. The idea was to think in terms of FORM and MASS vs. outlines.

Then we were to add the construct over our massed-in shape . . . simple lines that placed the parts of the figure (head, limbs, etc.) where they would ultimately go, without actually drawing those parts. This takes time because it is the foundation of the entire painting. It is not enough to have the proportions correct. One must find the energy in the piece at this early stage. Otherwise, no matter how technically proficient the painting is rendered, it will be dull.

Once you are happy with this, start to articulate those construct lines. This means that you will take a smaller brush and create the outer lines of the abstract shapes that will become the figure. For example, the leg has specific edges that show off various muscles and joints. These edges will all have their own slopes and lengths and will relate to all the other parts in a particular way. Once the articulation is done to satisfaction, the artist can then design the shadow shapes (vs. light shapes). This is the start of the tonal work that will define the masses.

I hope this makes sense. Anyway, I do not usually work quickly. I am horrible at measuring things since I have a sort of impatience about being that tight … or maybe organized. Try as I might, I rarely measure the same thing twice and arrive at the same number. (Is that not related to the famous quote about the “definition of insanity”?)

So, I was VERY surprised when I found myself happy with my proportions on the canvas! I could hardly believe my luck! I checked and cross-checked, comparing various widths and heights, even diagonals (since I see better in triangles), trying desperately to find a relationship between shapes that did not match those I saw in the model. I really wanted to make sure that I did each stage SEPARATELY and that I understood the process that I came here to learn. And I felt that I was doing things well. So, what was the problem?

I did not believe that I could do that. But then, during the model break, I looked at the works of the other students who had more experience at this than I do. And I was further along the process than they were. I have never been particularly competitive (except with myself) and thus, I do not look at the work of others in order to decide how my work compares. But in this case, I knew that some things take time and we work within a system. The teachers know how to pace the class, despite some students working at different speeds. I was too far ahead and I lost confidence.

When Maestro returned to the room, I asked him if it was too soon for me to be drawing the shadow shapes. He said, “Yes, you have done it wrong.” I wanted to argue, “But you have not even looked at my canvas and now you are on the other side of the studio!” But I rarely argue something if I know that I do not have all of the information. When I am drawing or creating in any medium, I am not often aware of what others are doing and where they are looking. How did I know whether or not he saw the work I was doing earlier?

Frustrated, I went back to my canvas and wiped out all of my lines, returning to the simple mass I had painted in the beginning. I thought that was the fastest way to let go of my ego and learn the process the right way. In hindsight, I wish that I had waited on that. Once the model was back in position, Maestro came over to my easel and described each step again. And I kid you not, I believed in every ounce of my entire body that I had done exactly as he demonstrated! Even the measurement points that he said I must consider were absolutely the same ones that I HAD considered and measured! Now, I really felt frustrated because he kept saying that I had done it wrong because no one gets it right on the first try. But for the life of me, I still had no clue where I took the wrong turn.

After class and close to tears (I HATE that about myself since it makes me look so weak when I long ago discovered that I must release that energy somehow and prefer it be in a peaceful manner), I again asked Maestro to tell me what I had done wrong. So then he said, “Constructs. You have never been good at making the constructs. No one gets that right on the first try.”

That night at home, a friend called to see how I was doing in school. I must admit that I got all worked up again as I relived my frustration. He cut me off with his hearty laugh. I was not amused. What’s he on about? He said, “You . . . struggle? If anyone would get it right the first time, it would be you!”

Hmmm. Now I knew that Maestro was right (sorry, Si). I had done it all wrong, but I would need to figure it out on my own. That meant that I needed to DO more … more constructs, in this case. In that instant, I had a flashback of the time that my friend Vasily Fedorouk yelled at me in front of our stone carving students. He apologized to me in private that night as we stood outside under the stars. But having understood where he was coming from and that, in effect, his gruffness showed his affection and passion for art, I told him that, “My grandmothers love everything (artwise) that I do. But they will never make me a better artist. You will, and so we are ok.” My friend is perhaps too often my cheerleader and I need to figure this stuff out.

The image below is of the first step in this painting process taught at Angel. [I still had corrections to make then.] Unfortunately, I could not document the other steps I did that day because my digital camera is dying. I really need to break down and do the research and get another camera quickly.

New Marble Sculpture Gymnast

2012-01-08T12:57:00.001+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I am still trying to get caught up after so much whirlwind these last several months. And I wanted to share with you a little bit of news, in anticipation of my next art newsletter. Here is the “Gymnast” marble carving that I have been writing about on my blog for a good part of 2011. She is currently on exhibit at Carved Stone in Dripping Springs, Texas. For more images, click here: http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2011/gymnast-marble.htm.

Because of a variety of questions that I have received, I recently rearranged the items on the right-side column of my blog. The “Search This Blog” feature is now much closer to the top (right over the “About Me” section) and I hope that will make it easier for you to find a topic of your choosing. You would have to visit the actual blog site (http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com) to see this column. Also, in a shameless plug, if you are enjoying these posts and would like to support the time and effort I put into the photographs and the writing, you may donate in any amount you wish (People tend to give about $20 per donation) via a PayPal link in this column. In addition, I am an Amazon.com affiliate and you may indirectly support this blog as you shop there – but first, you must visit my blog online and scroll down to the “Search Amazon” window box. Then just start your shopping from my page! Thank you so much. http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com

Lagniappe: How cool is this? Poet Claire Emba paired my pastel art "Songbird" with her poetry on her blog posting:
http://poetrybyemba.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4.html

Italy New Year’s Eve Tradition

2012-01-01T23:59:00.008+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
On the morning on 31 December, I read on a Facebook posting about Florence, Italy, that there was an Italian tradition for New Years: According to: Freya's Florence Tours - Freya Middleton: Don't forget to wear your red underwear to ring in the new year! Italians say it'll bring you luck in the coming year. Red wards off the malocchio (Evil Eye) and is a symbol of love, prosperity, and fertility... but it must be thrown away after New Year's Eve!

I was fortunate enough to have received four separate invitations for New Year’s Eve, each different in activity and energy. I wanted to try them all! But a girl only has so many hours in the day. Before bicycling into Scandicci to catch the Tramvia, I stopped in at my neighbor’s home. Giuliana had invited me to share dinner with her and her husband Renato. Their children all had other plans and I had told them that unless I could find a couch to sleep on in the city, I was not sure if I could go into central Florence for the huge casino (mess, chaos) that occurs there each New Year’s Eve. Everyone I knew was having guests.

But that day I received the invitation from a friend and decided to go into town. After expressing my regrets to Giuliana, she asked me to wait because she had a little gift for me. Imagine that! Can you imagine my surprised joy when I opened the wrapping and discovered a small pair of red panties! Oh, I was delighted! [My mother had guessed on Facebook that I would be going commando, so this was quite funny.] So, here is an image that Giuliana’s grandson Marco took of us. The image is not so happy as we worried about his ability to use the camera, but these are my sweet neighbors.

I roamed around in town until meeting up with my friend Jacopo at Giubbe Rosse, a famous café and artist hangout for at least a century. The café is situated off to one side of the famous Piazza della Repubblica and as I approached, I could see the band playing already on a stage set up in the square. Once inside, I met some new friends and saw some other people that Jacopo had introduced me to the week before. I have to say that I was still tickled by Giuliana’s sweetness that I enthusiastically pulled out of my backpack the red panties to show everyone at the table. Hearty and understanding laughs all around – I wondered later if “my momma raised me right” and was grateful that my friends did not think me too forward.

I had to leave them before I really wanted to because I was due at Susan’s flat. Once there, I went to put on my good luck charm. And so it went that the last night of the year was spent visiting wonderful people and roaming the streets of the city. I got kisses and vodka. I watched couples dancing together in the streets and people emptying their champagne and other boozy bottles before throwing them down into the streets, smashing the glass to pieces.

Loudly booming fireworks were going off all over the city and as I walked along the Oltrarno side of the river, I had this image in my mind that this must be a small sampling of what it must have been like when the Germans bombed the city back in World War II, destroying all of the bridges except the Ponte Vecchio. We always have yin and yang . . . we destroy with bombs and on this night, we celebrated with bombs, of sorts.

The following images were taken in Piazze della Signoria AFTER the year had changed over, perhaps around 1:30 a.m. since I was elsewhere at the hour of midnight. The orchestra playing was a new addition from other Capodanno celebrations that I have attended in Firenze. The musicians were positioned inside the Loggia dei Lanzi, among the famous stone and bronze sculptures. I suspect that was to protect them and their instruments -- even drunks here will have a strong sense of respect towards the art, if not each other.

On the other hand, I am not sure what to make of this: an interpretation or disrespect? On Via Calimala where two of my street painting colleagues had created artworks earlier in the day, I thought that I saw Claudio’s Madonna crying. Well, she was, but because someone had spit on her face in order to give her this emotional response.

I did not wake until almost noon today. But I wanted to follow the Italian tradition to the full extent. This last image was taken of me right next to the Basilica di Santa Croce, moments before I put the red panties in the trash bin. Hours later, I returned to my home and went to give my auguris to Giuliana and her family, who were all finishing up their holiday dinner. I was invited to join in the meal and while enjoying a lovely afternoon with the entire family, I entertained them with my story about the fate of the red panties. Susanna laughed and said that it really is not necessary to disgard them in order to become “in fortuna,” I only needed to wash them! [Would one not do this anyway??? Where is the drama in that? Had I just insulted Giuliana?] They also agreed when I told them that my mother suggested that this tradition was created by those in the clothing business. So, Giuliana helped the local economy and I have my cherished memories. Happy 2012!

Art and the Nude

2011-12-31T13:36:00.000+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
For the past two years on my New Year’s Eve blog entry, I have shared more erotic art than I usually dish up for you. In the line of thinking similar to that of those living in Pompeii centuries ago, it was my way of wishing you a sensuous, joyful, lush, and prosperous new year.

However, this year I have not had the time to create something along this vein. Sad, really since I believe that art is the safe place in which we can explore all aspects of our humanity. That said, I still want to wish you a thoughtful abundance for the coming year. I hope that you can become more spontaneous (I linked this word because many people misuse it) and express yourself more often.

I recently wrote a little bit about my holiday with friends on Captiva Island, Florida. I stayed in artist Robert Rauschenberg’s former beach house there, owned by his collaborating partner and long-time friend, Darryl Pottorf. In entering the place, I found myself intrigued by a composition in red, black, browns, and white. I had this strange urge to photograph myself nude in front of it. This does not really belong on my “erotic art” posting because I do not know how to explain that I was not thinking sexual thoughts when this idea came to mind. Maybe more like “Nature Girl,” I dunno. That night, I did pose for my timer, but fully clothed, boots and all…

One evening, Darryl walked me over to the painting before we headed back to his place for dinner with more friends. He explained most of the objects or shapes in the composition. This was a painting about Robert Rauschenberg (Bob) and Darryl. Darryl’s art is very personal. It made me wonder if I should lose the thought of taking nude shots with this beautifully sentimental work of art. But the idea persisted and I did not believe that I was thinking anything disrespectful. So one night towards the end of my visit, I woke up just before 3 a.m. and went to work, careful not to disturb the other occupant in the house. I was back in bed by 4 a.m. I hope you enjoy this image, but more: I wish you truly beautiful experiences from each day forward.

New Year’s Eve 2010: “Anthurium”
New Year’s Eve 2009: “Tesoro!”

la bicicletta e la collina

2011-12-29T14:33:00.002+01:00

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I must admit that I really enjoy living out in the country, even if I prefer easy access to the city. It is so beautiful living in the hills, with views of distant snow-capped mountains. This is Tuscany. However, I have not yet made friends with my local collina (hill). I do love her when I leave the house. The way to go anywhere is basically … down. But after a long day or a fun evening out, she presents the opposite side of her coin and I find it difficult to ride my bike UP her lovely lines.

When I was a child of about 12, I think, I remember the very first day that I ate an entire Big Mac burger. I also remember another day in which I finished the entire can of pop (‘Soda’ or ‘Coke’ to some people). I felt SO proud! We often remember our “firsts.” And so I am looking forward to my new challenge of this collina. Unlike a Big Mac or a soda pop, this hill will make me a stronger and healthier person for tackling her!

The first image here is one of the lovely scenes I get to view on my way home. The second is a picture of my bike -- a gift from a friend. I took the image of my bike on Christmas morning and you may see one bag of artwork going with me on the ground beside the bike rack. I parked there and rode the Tramvia to get to the train station since I went to visit a friend in another city for the holiday.

And on another topic. I am fairly convinced that today was the second time I was way overcharged for something because I am not yet a savvy foreigner. In a small mercato, I bought two lemons (well, actually, one lemon and one small citron [cedra in Italian], a lemon-like fruit that is used to make the famous limoncello liquor down on the Amalfi Coast of Italy). I was charged 1.50 euros! [That is currently about $1.93.] I thought the price high, especially after he asked me if the price was ok (and I was remembering one half of that illustration by Norman Rockwell in which the merchant has one finger pushing down on the scale, see below). All doubt was removed when a woman nearby remarked, “Buon prezzo!” (A good price!) I was pretty sure that was sarcasm and a joke between them. None of the other customers heard this sort of comment.

The other time I thought I overpaid was when I purchased a new bike pump recently for 20 euros. I felt that was way too much, but since I had previously tried the two pumps that were in my current home without success; the woman at the bike shop had just put air on both tires for free; and I wanted no problems during the holidays when I suspected that the stores might be more difficult to access, I paid it. Besides, I am not in a habit of arguing about something when I really do not know the facts. And in a free market, there is the reality that something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Enjoy the Rockwell!