Finished Mural Painting Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

So, on Friday afternoon I returned to Caprese Michelangelo, east of Arezzo, in the lovely Italia. I worked on as much of the acrylic painted mural as I could finish that evening, making corrections that could dry fast on the figures, creating light areas in anticipation of oils. That night around 2 a.m., I applied acrylic varnish on the entire mural. As Sandro Zecchi, of Zecchi’s Art Supply in Firenze, Italia recommended to me, I used a mixture of half glossy and half mat, mixed with a wee bit of water.

Saturday, I got an early start on the oil painting part, namely the figures. My friend and mural teacher, Victor Goikoetxea, came over and took a quick look at the Michelangelo Museum on the top of the mountain. Then he joined us for dinner at La Buca di Michelangelo before heading off to his own space in the Tuscan countryside.

I ended up working after dinner until 4:30 a.m. Saturday night. And Sunday, I started up again around 9 a.m. and this night I never went to bed. Because of the scheduling of my ride to Arezzo to catch the train, I had to be finished with the mural and packed up, ready to go by 7 a.m. Those who know me well know that I love the mornings, but not after the nights. And the night always gets first dibs on my attention.

However, I got my second wind about 5 a.m. after taking a break to wander out in the moonlight to pick and eat some grapes an hour before that. I finished almost everything, except the flowers on the two potted plants, some minor details in the figures, and also, I had intended to put a nude man into the hole behind the real wooden window. Equal rights, you know, but also as a gift for the woman of the house. But that will have to wait until spring since my friends are leaving Italia soon.

Here are the images I took around 6 a.m. today. One is the view from the door on the left as you enter the room; the other from above the center of the Jacuzzi. I hope you like my mural. It is approximately 200 x 400 cm. I, for one, am pleased with my first mural (as an adult), but exhausted.

Please feel free to leave a comment on my blog entries, if you feel so inspired. Thank you for sharing my artistic journey with me!

Mural Process Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Here are two progress images on my mural in Caprese Michelangelo, Italy, the birthplace of the great Michelangelo Buanarrotti: one with shower cap, one without. Two days to go and I just enlarged the pool. Yes, this makes more work for me, but the artwork will be better.

Tuscan Mural Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

     I have been working day and late evenings on this mural, with little time to write. I have been changing things a little as the mural painting progresses here in Caprese Michelangelo (east Tuscany), Italy. I include a few images here, with others being posted on my professional page on Facebook. If you click “LIKE” I believe you will receive updates of images in your Facebook newsfeed. Here is that link:
Facebook: Kelly Borsheim, Sculptor Page

     Back to work for me. I have started the figures today! Oh, for art techies, I am using Zecchi’s and Maimeri brand of (Italian) acrylic paint. Sandro Zecchi has become a friend and he and his staff were very helpful in helping me get what I need for this project. Grazie a tutti!

Happy birthday to two special people in my life: Lei and Bethany! You are both so lovely and true.

Anghiari Italy

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.

Sculptor Vincenzo Gemito

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Hello. Back in May I wrote about one of my favorite sculptures in the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy. He is Il Pescatore (The Fisher Boy) by Vincenzo Gemito

Imagine my delight to be in the museum honoring the birthplace of sculptor Michelangelo in the village of Caprese Michelangelo and finding more work by another sculptor whose work had impressed me! Among the other exhibits in the museum, there was a section on the Napoliteano artists, as collected by Enrico Guidoni.

I am being lazy today (well, actually a bit distracted since I want to get back to my art-making. So here is what the museum write-up said (I photograph these things sometimes to help me not misquote or misremember something):

Gemito and the Neapolitans

Displayed in the adjoining small room is Guidoni’s Collection of artists from the area of Naples [Italy]. Among these, for the number of preserved works, stand out those of Vincenzo Gemito (Naples 1852-1929). The sculptures of Gemito presented here in the museum are in large part made from bronze, some of these being unpublished. This great sculptor is noted for his wonderful small bronzes that often represent the most recurring popular Neapolitan themes: the little fisherman, the rascal, the old man and the woman of the people. His works are characterized with a strongly expressed realism and an extraordinary production capacity typical of the Neapolitan schools of the period.

Two graphic works by Vincenzo Gemito, a Self Portrait (oil on paper) [1908, detail shown here] and an important otherwise unknown sketch Portrait of Charles V, shows Gemito to be an excellent designer with a classical upbringing yet impulsive, nervous and stiff at the same time.

Alongside the works of Gemito are displayed those of other noted Neapolitan artists, such as De Martino, D’Antino, Barbella, Cataldi and De Matteis. The latter named artist, little known in the history of art, aroused the collectors interest in Enrico Guidoni, who dedicated particulare attention to the collection of his works and the study of the artist.

I include here some snapshots of other compositions of fisherboys that appear to be done after 1876 when the Bargello’s Il Pescatore was completed by Gemito. The first sculpture is titled L’Acquaiolo - 1880, while the last two were both given the same title (“Pescatorello”) with no date given.

Enjoy! And DO visit Caprese Michelangelo in the province of Arezzo, Italy.

Happy Birthday, Skye in Australia!

Sculpture Museum Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Continuing my report of the small town of Caprese Michelangelo
in the province of Arezzo, I wanted to share with you a few more of the sculptures on exhibit in the Museo Michelangiolesco.

This first one just caught me off guard and made me laugh. This museum celebrates the birth of Michelangelo. His works strike me as dark and serious most of the time, and this bronze titled “Il Pollo Innamorato” (“The Chicken In Love”) by Giulio Galgani in the year 2000 is hardly that. I thought it was an idea well depicted.



This next sculpture in wood, “Scultura Multiforme” by Mauro di Scovola, was a bit confusing for me and I am not sure even now what I think of it. I can see obviously at least one female torso, but there are so many elements of Escher-like qualities and other symbols, perhaps, that I had a difficult time relating to this work. Basically, regardless of how curious I felt, the overall effect for me was not beautiful and for this, I think it has failed (for me). And yet, I included it here, so . . .


Another room exhibited the following sculpture and struck me as a moment that I had not previously seen sculpted. Decimo Passani, a Florence-based sculptor created this colored plaster piece titled ”Bambino che cade dalla sedia” (“The baby (boy) that fell from his chair”). I like the energy, the texture, and the naturalness of this artwork in sculpture. Not kitsch at all.


Although there are many more works of sculpture and even a few drawings on exhibit in the museum (some more of which I will be sharing with you tomorrow), my main complaint is that the exhibit is set up in such a way as to make viewing the art really difficult. I understand the need to protect the art from theft and dust, but the plastic enclosures were full of glare and frankly, horrible. It was lovely to be able to see outside into the surrounding green areas, but I wonder if it would have been better to place some light curtains over the openings and install lights overhead. They could be placed in positions to minimize reflection on the Plexiglas. My images are horrible largely due to the fact that I could not find a good viewing position.

Still, the museum is worth a visit in a charming location in central Italy. When I was there, the Michelangiolesco Museum and its lovely grounds on the hilltop were open Monday through Friday 10:30 am to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 10 am to 7 p.m. Tickets are four euros each, with discounts for groups and children.

Museum Caprese Michelangelo

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my last post, I spoke about my visit to the birthplace of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

In this post, I wanted to share with you some of the scenery of the museum in the small town of Caprese Michelangelo, north and east of Arezzo, Italy. Inside the buildings are copies of many of the great works of Michelangelo, but there are a lot of other artworks on exhibit as well.

I love the omaggio to classical storytelling in art in this bronze sculpture and bas relief combination that you see in the first image. The young Michelangelo rests in a twisted pose (cleverly predicting his dynamic figure poses that changed the art world) as he gazes up into his future. Although my image does not show it well, each of the boy’s future sculptures is envisioned in varying levels of dimensionality, moving from high relief close to the young artist, to extremely low relief (upper left).



Unfortunately, I could not find the artist’s names on several of these outdoor pieces, although they are assuredly more contemporary works. I think what I am trying to show here also is that just because you have seen the original works of Michelangelo, do not think that this museum is only full of copies of the great artist. It is worth a trip and quite a beautiful area.



And I can highly recommend the food at the nearby Pensione e Ristorante Buca di Michelangelo. And if you find yourself there during the week, please stop into La Pecora Nera [The Black Sheep] shop and say hello to Simona and perhaps even her husband Andrea.

Birthplace of Michelangelo

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Recently I returned to the birthplace of Michelangelo Buonarroti for a party that one of my collectors held in their home there. The morning after the party, I revisited the renovated Museo Michelangiolesco that celebrates the life and work of the famous artist and architect.

One of my first and most important teachers, Michelangelo was probably born in the Palazzo del Podestà, the home of his parents Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti di Simoni and Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena. At the time of his birth (6 March 1475), babies were born at home and not in a hospital.

Podestà is the title for a delegate from the Florentine government who worked this area. Michelangelo’s father held this political post for six months during this time. Palazzo is the Italian word for “palace” but this stone house looks quite simple by today’s standards. I included a detail shot of the stairs leading to the upper floor where the living quarters were, but you may see a better image of the (left) building on the museum’s site.




Some of the furniture in the home is contemporary with Michelangelo’s time, but are not original to this space. Other furniture, such as the bed, is a reproduction in a Renaissance style from the 1900s. Also in the home are reproductions of works of art in which Michelangelo was a subject, including my two favorites: monochromatic sketches by Francescho Furini titled “Michelangelo sul letto di Morte / Michelangelo on his death bed” 1627-28 and “La Madre di Michelangelo incinta cade da cavallo / The pregnant mother of Michelangelo falls from her horse” created in 1628.

The name “Michelangelo” was added to “Caprese” in 1911 and this charming little town is north and east of Arezzo. When I was there, the Michelangiolesco Museum and its lovely grounds on the hilltop were open Monday through Friday 10:30 am to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 10 am to 7 p.m. Tickets are four euros each, with discounts for groups and children.

P.S. I hope that you enjoy my little self-portrait with Michelangelo! Ha.