Dear Art-loving friend,
One of the challenges I
have in the limbo life I have to live for the next year is juggling my art
career. I mean, how do I sell a painting
that is still in my home in Italia when I myself must remain outside of Italia
for at least 90 days now? Also, I have
been trying to branch out and exhibit in other countries. It is difficult and costly enough to manage
shipping art out of Italy and to places far away, but I must depend on others
to help me pull off all of these logistics.
It is quite a risk and also, I am in a state of total gratitude most of
my life as I am fully aware of how much I depend on others in order to keep
creating where and when I like.
In this most recent
situation, I am applying for a competition for which the application deadline
is over a month away. Also, results for
which artworks are selected will be posted in early February, but there is only
a two-week window to get accepted paintings to the gallery for exhibition! I will still be out of Schengen Territory.
To that end, I had
shipped a painting out of Italia VERY early [before I left Firenze] to friends
in the country of the competition and can only hope that judges accept my work
for their exhibition far away. I had no
choice in this since the Italian government needs the shipper to file the
proper paperwork to allow art to legally leave Italy. No one else can supply my passport. So, once that was in the works, I then wanted
to get my application in the mail. How
is that for the totally incorrect sequence of events!
All of this to say that
while in Trieste, I needed to go to that dreaded place… alla Posta! It is rarely a
place I look forward to visiting because it seems that almost ALL business
happens in the Italian Post Office.
Bills of all kinds are paid here.
Services cancelled here (such as my Internet some time ago); I was
horrified that one could not cancel one’s account in the supplier’s own store! But such is the law of the land. Also, the Posta
only accepts cash, no credit cards. And
having to have some unknown grand amount of cash to take care of unforeseen
costs after waiting in line forever just chaps me. [I know, I know: SPOILED!]
So, one of the first
things a foreigner learns is that as soon as you enter the Post Office, find the
yellow box and take a number. Which
category of number you choose depends on the business you need to take care
of. In the beginning and sometimes even now,
I will take several different numbered categories to reduce my wait time in
cases of confusion.
I share with you this
shot I took after I had looked around at my leisure with still no idea of when
my turn at the window would come. Note
that my ticket is “P” (for packages and letters), and there is not one P up on
the board! Good thing I had time “to
kill.”
However, the plus side
is that some of these post offices are lovely.
This one off of Piazza Vittorio
Veneto in Trieste is on the prettier side.
You are greeted by stone carvings, simple and lovely architecture and
even a large painting on canvas. This
one featured is “Allegoria della Posta” by an Austrian painter Franz Lefler (1831 – 1898). I can only assume that this painting was
created or at least installed around 1884 because the bronze plaque that gives
the name of the painting and the artist also states, “Restored 23 June 1994,
the 100th anniversary of the construction of the palazzo. Architect
is Friedrich Setz; Restoration due to the Rotary Club Trieste.”
While this painting is
a little too cute and the some of the putti
just a little too creepy faced for my taste, I rather like this painting. It is inspiring and serves to remind us of
what a truly good service the Post has always managed to provide, as far as
delivering packages and letters go, especially during the holiday seasons. Can you imagine human civilization without
some means of communicating? This
painting has all the elements of storytelling, from the globe, to the Earthly
reference of the tree branch, and the putti demonstrating all the ways in which
letters and packages are transported (apparently through the heavens).
So, thank goodness for ugly babies, lots of
birds, and a pretty gal here in translucent clothing.
My favorite might just
be the little one trudging along the cloud carrying a small, but obviously
heavy package on one shoulder. He seems
to be the only one not having a blast (reference to the horn player)! I also like the baby Hermes flying in from
Olympus. This does, for me anyway,
relate a sense of time.
Anyway, may you find
yourself grateful for things that others do, paid or not. We all have choices.
++++++++++++++++
On my way back to the
train station, through a curious meandering path (for I walk as I
speak/write), I found this small but
charming little deli type of shop.
Called “La Salumeria” and run
by some awfully kind ladies, I was lured in by the window display. One gal apologized profusely because they had
boxes everywhere as they unloaded new goodies and tried to fit it all
attractively in their little space on the corner.
While I was paying for
some sausage pasta that I bought for my new landlady and for my artist friend
Marino who found my new home for me, I was distracted by the pretty cheese
cakes. I think it was the owner Elena Debiasi who wrote down for me the
ingredients: formaggio di capra francese con papaya o con pepe rosa [French goat cheese with papaya or red pepper
(balls)]. Mmm… I love goat cheese, and
the other stuff too, actually. Sadly,
paying rent in two countries makes me keep spending for myself to a
minimum.
However, the ladies
here are so friendly and put so much care into their shop and goods that if you
EVER find yourself in Trieste, please seek them out. Find La Salumeria online or on Via C. Beccaria, 13 34133 Trieste, Italia. Tel.
040 361470. http://www.lasalumeria.eu
And in case you missed
my recent art newsletter about Carrara and BLIND stone carvers, please click
here:
Thank you.
++++
Happy birthday to my mamma!
++++
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online, and wallah… lovers of art and Italy [and Croatia] unite.
Thank
you for your interest and enthusiasm,
Kelly
~
Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher
I suspect that most
figurative artists, at least, create some erotic art at some point in their
lives. I can say that safely since
eroticism is quite personal and thus, the boundaries blurred for some people. I suppose anything goes with just the right audience.
