Art Renewal Center Salon Art Award

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I met my friends Henna and Naomi on the Ponte Vecchio the other night so we could walk together over to the British Institute here in Florence, Italy, to watch the film “The End of the Affair.” Henna congratulated me for becoming a semi-finalist in an art competition. I had no idea of what she was speaking. It is good to have friends to keep you posted on your own life!

Allora:

“THE ART RENEWAL CENTER is proud to present the award winners and finalists in our fifth International ARC Salon® Competition. This year we had well over 1600 entries from 30 different countries . . . . With so many quality entries, we found it necessary to add a semi-finalists tier to help narrow the field . . . ” per Fred Ross, ARC Chairman

So, out of all of this, my artwork made it to the semi-finalists:

http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2009/Salon/winners9.asp
(this page has links to the other winners too)
I entered so long ago, but I think this was the competition in which I entered the sculpture category, with the bronze “Warrior Spirit”.

So, I still have work to do! Thank you for following along on this journey with me.

And thank you, Henna!

Entwined Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am preparing a lot of new drawings, a few paintings, and I hope still to finish another sculpture for my solo exhibit here in Florence, Italy, at Sei Divino. The exhibit is titled “Kelly Borsheim: Luce dall’oscurità” (Light from Darkness) and starts on the 16th of April. Here is a preview of one of the new drawings, “Entwined.” And yes, this is one of the ones I was hoping to finish before the model Ernesto left (see previous blog entry).

Since I started seriously drawing, I have enjoyed drawing hands. I also find myself intrigued by mystery and high contrast. The idea of ‘being entwined’ (versus entangled) with something strikes me as romantic without being suffocating. And this pose with the hands over the chest feels comfortable. (The ‘two thumbs up’ reminds me of the sculpture I carved in stone of manta rays, “Encounter”.)


“Entwined” was drawn on Roma-brand paper using only charcoal and pastels. This original drawing is 20.5 x 64 cm (approximately 8” x 25”) and he is available from the Borsheim Arts Studio. He will have his public debut on 16 April in Florence.

Thank you for your continued interest.
Kelly

Art Model in Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Artists depend on good models for great figurative art. Here in Florence, Italy, a lot of artists have worked with a great male model, Ernesto. He has worked for Florence Academy and also Angel Academy of Art, as well as posing privately for artists, including myself. Ernesto is wonderful to work with and is also a terrific person.

So, you can imagine how difficult it is for artists here in Florence to lose Ernesto. He and his girlfriend are leaving Italy. Ernesto’s last day of modeling was last Friday at the Angel Academy of Art. So, as much as his girlfriend told me that he hates surprise parties, that is just what he got.

Student artists and teachers alike signed a card and pitched in to help me buy some torte (cakes). The chocolate cake with the powdered sugar on the left was made by scratch by our friend Skye Campbell. The other two cakes (one fruit covered in typical Italian style and the other a chocolate torta with a wee bit of alcohol inside) came from Patrizio Cosi on Borgo degli Albizi, near Piazza Salvemini. This is one of my favorite pasticcerie. There are many wonderful pastry shops here in Florence, but I happened to be drawing another model, Sarah, that afternoon at a friend’s studio on Borgo Pinti, and logistics being what they were . . .

I still cannot tell if he was really surprised or if he had a heads-up, especially when he whipped out a bottle of limoncello to share. Limoncello is a famous lemon liquor made in southern Italy (although I have several Italian friends here in Florence who enjoy making their own as well). Allora, the drinks, fruit, and chocolate were pouring! It was a sweet gathering.

Anyway, since I rarely post photographs of people on this blog without their permission, I decided to share with you a charcoal drawing of Ernesto. This drawing was created by my friend Joseph Farris, during Ernesto’s last modeling session at Angel. He is not finished with it, but I was at Joe’s flat earlier today photographing other works of his and asked him if I could share this drawing with you.

Next time, I will show you some of the works I have been creating of Ernesto. I have been working furiously to try to finish these (or get them to a point in which I could finish them) before my friend leaves bella Italia.

Ringrazie tanti, Ernesto!