Art Workshop in Tuscany

 

One of the sample views of this area, from Castelvecchio in Tuscany

Dear Art Lover,

 

     I occasionally am asked when I will teach another workshop.  And 2018 is the year.  I am pretty happy in what I call paradise and home now.  It took me a while, but now I would like to share some of it with you.  So, I started my research to see what was already available to you so that I could offer something different.

     It seems painting is the thing, especially in plein aire.  And the subject is very well covered in Tuscany, Italy!  I decided that sculpture is too complicated for space, materials, and later shipping your project home.  However, as I was reminded when I broke my wrist this past June, bas-relief sculpture  is not only VERY do-able, but even more than 3-d sculpting, relief really lets your work on your drawing skills, your composition ability, and your story-telling.  Naturally, those are skills also used in painting. 

Detail, The Gates of Paradise:  Florence, Italy

     I have set this for June 8-15, 2018.  Hopefully, we will have fireflies as we have my last two Junes here.  Magical they are!  I will meet you in Florence, Italy, [Firenze, Italia] where we will tour some prime examples of bas-relief sculpture, including seeing the famous Gates of Paradise.  By that evening, we will have moved up into the Medieval village that I call home:  Castelvecchio.  It is one of ten castled stone villages in an area collectively called Valleriana, the hills just north of Pescia.  Pescia lies between Firenze and Lucca, another charming walled city in Tuscany.

     Here is the link if you are curious for details:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/workshop_Bas-ReliefSculptureInTuscanyCastelvecchio2018.htm

     Accommodations here are with families, who let out apartments or small houses.  The prices are affordable and in January I will be posting a few images and prices of a variety of places from which you may choose.  The economy in the mountains seems a constant struggle and I would like to help out as I can.  That means that I will help you secure the place you like the best, but I will not add on any fees and your lodging payments go directly to the homeowner.  We will have a great time in a really pretty area and I will share with you all of the art information that I can, with six hours minimum of studio time each day after our Firenze adventure. 

    So, if you are looking for a last-minute stunning gift idea for the artist in your life, even if that is YOU, perhaps this is the sort of experience that would really make your 2018 and beyond.

http://www.borsheimarts.com/workshop_Bas-ReliefSculptureInTuscanyCastelvecchio2018.htm

Peace, Happy Solstice on Thursday, and enjoy all of this winter’s holiday festivities.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

One of the beautiful views in Valleriana you will see during the art workshop 2018

https://www.patreon.com/KellyBorsheim

Yoda in the Snow

 

Yoda in Castelvecchio, Italy

Dear Art Lover,

     So, I was up till about 4 a.m. last night, determined to distribute my art newsletter to the subscription list before going to bed.  [Sign up here if you would like to receive this in your e-mail inbox:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/contact.htm ]  My neighbor has told me that if I close the shudders, my house will stay much warmer.  I did not move to be surrounded by trees just to close them off from my view, but recently, I thought to try this.  Thus, when I finally woke this morning, I discovered on Facebook that it was snowing in my village before I had even seen the outside for myself.  Oy!

     Shortly afterwards I let Yoda, my neighbor’s dog, out of his house, before a neighbor dropped by and whisked me off to her place for an impromptu lunch invite.  But afterwards, I let Yoda out of my house and he and the dogsitter went for a wee bit of a stroll before dark.  Here is a taste of our little winter adventure just outside of Castelvecchio. Sadly, the snow changed to rain as the day went on.  This is my first time seeing snow in Italy.

     Oh, so before I forget, this recent newsletter included a link to a new art workshop I will be teaching in June 2018 in Tuscany.  We will start in Florence, Italy, then move up into this Medieval village.. but no worries… the snow will be gone by June and instead, I hope that we shall see some fireflies!  Here is the link if you are curious:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/workshop_Bas-ReliefSculptureInTuscanyCastelvecchio2018.htm

Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

No, these are NOT palm trees, but "Cavalo Nero"

Gustavo Aceves Horse Sculpture

Dear Art Lover,

     Near Piazza Verdi in Lucca, Italy, not so long ago, I discovered a wonderful public art exhibition of horses and about migration [of people].  My last post: 

http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2017/10/gustavo-aceves-lapidarium-sculpture.html

featured images of Mexican sculptor Gustavo Aceves multi-figure “Passo Sospeso” sculpture work of humans and horses.  The entire show is titled “Lapidarium” and is just wonderful!       

     I quote part of the sign for this sculpture grouping [I rewrote a little to correct the poor translation to English]:

     These sculptures represent a sort of “monument to the vanquished,” a metaphor of the unceasing migration process over thousands of years. 

The leglessness made me wonder if the artist wanted this sculpture exhibited just above water.

     This truly monumental horse has his body split in half.  The back half has a tall form attached, perhaps representing a rider?  Behind that tall shape is a skull attached to a space along the “spine.”  There are backwards numbers (like many license plates) stamped into the torso of the horse, large sets and then many smaller ones.  I am not sure if the bones mounted at the top back end of the front half of the horse are to imply starvation or something else.  Compositionally, it aids the eye to look to the back half of the sculpture, with its gracefully curving top line mirroring the line of the horse’s neck.

Bony addition aids composition

     The blue-green patina (frankly, the easiest to create in bronze, other than black) contrasts nicely with the warm greens of the surrounding grasses and trees.  I think it is in a lovely spot, along the wall of Lucca, where it may be seen from within and down below along the road that circles the wall.  Perhaps you will get to see this exhibit?  Please pardon the big black spot in my pictures.  I need to buy a new camera since this is not-repairable, but I have had a lot of expenses this year and am postponing the shopping.

     Enjoy… I hope not too many photos! 

Happy birthday, Bob Barton!  

Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

P.S. IF original art, while affordable, is STILL a bit out of your budget, or the piece you adored has sold?  Or do you like arty things in different formats, to surround yourself with art?  Looking for a gift?  See my store online for pillow, phone cases, shower curtains, towels, tote bags, and yes, even prints on metal, wood, canvas, and so much more:

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-kelly-borsheim.html

Gustavo Aceves Lapidarium Sculpture

Dear Art Lover,

     I found myself in Lucca, Italy, recently, at the invitation of a new friend.  As the bus entered the station at Piazza Verdi, I saw the heads of horses.  They were sculptures and I was intrigued.  Knowing that I was early, I decided to wander over to have a look.  So glad that I did… and later, I even brought my friend over.

     Mexican sculptor Gustavo Aceves has created two massive sculpture works [one a single piece; the other an amazing parade] that is temporarily on exhibit in Lucca [I never saw for how long].  It is titled “Lapidarium,” although the only sign about the work implies the title is “Passo Sospeso” [Suspended Step] I will write about the large bronze horse in the next post.  This post is about the grouping of fifteen horses [the sign says, count if you like] that are exhibited “within” the famous wall around Lucca, in what appears to be a sunken area with arches.  My friend explained that the water and aqueducts passed by those arches behind this sculpture installation.

    I quote part of the sign for this sculpture grouping [I rewrote a little to correct the poor translation to English]:

     These sculptures represent a sort of “monument to the vanquished,” a metaphor of the unceasing migration process over thousands of years.  Part of a larger group, these sculptures travel along to many important sites around the world, such as Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and an archeological area in Rome (Mercati di Traiano, l’Arco di Costantino e la Piazza del Colosseo).  After this exhibition leaves Lucca, Italy, it will travel on to the Acropolis in Athens, Beijing, and Paris.  In 2019 it will arrive in Mexico, the birthplace of the author.

the gate aids the impact of the message, no?

     The artist has obviously used the same mold to create the horses, the male African-inspired figures that stand atop some of the horses, and I think even the grouping of skulls that line the torsos of the three horses in the rear of the “parade.”  Repetition is a common compositional device.  It gives us a feeling of calm, continuity, cohesion of the separate items as a whole, and sometimes security.  Our brain catches onto the pattern and completes and continues it, feeling good about the order of things.  However, too much repetition creates boredom, precisely for the reason that the brain knows what to expect and needs not look further.  In a large sculpture, such as this grouping, it makes economic sense for the artist to do this as well.  

Repetition and Variety

One feels the exhaustion and struggle, yet anticipation [standing figures]

My apologies for the dark spot in the upper left white on the wall-need a new camera.

Bus Station at Piazza Verdi is off to the left - wall of Lucca, Italy

Even the holes on the neck of the fallen horses are repetition

 

     That said,  the artist Gustavo Aceves, has then used other compositional means to break up this repetition.  Each horse is different in content.  Some have been cropped, with only the neck and heads positioned as some of the fallen during the great migration.  The horses still walking are positioned in slightly different angles to imply movement and individuality within the group.  But more importantly, and visually and intellectually stimulating, the bodies of the horses are unique.  Some of the bodies have wooden sticks and even masts or crosses, implying migration by ship.  One shows the famine in the exposed rib cage of a horse.  Some of the horses have large stitching across a leg or a face to imply how the journey wounds and yet, the march continues.  Others have human figures tied to wooden sticks, depicting slavery.  There is one horse that carries the load of horses hooves inside his back/wagon. 

The train tracks were another reinforcing visual to the idea

Powerfully conceived work of public art!

little suspended bodies are tied up inside of this horse

A much larger proportioned human corpse rests inside the horse on the right

Horse hooves must be a thing of value, or perhaps they were shoes/metal?

     Then there are the three figures in the back, obviously made from the same mold as the figure up front, but each individualized with netting and other small details.  They stand upon the necks of headless horses.  The bodies of the horses are made up of many skulls.  The visual language makes an obvious and clear heavy statement and yet the figures are beautiful at the same time.  The materials were not listed for this artwork but the surface texture looks like sand.  There are parts of horses’ faces that imply ceramic, although I think it was more likely colored or painted resin. 

Do the African figures represent people or more like mast fronts on a ship?

Three horse bodies at the rear are made up of human skulls.

     An exhibition of this size is expensive to transport and to install.  However, I loved this work and the placement of it in Lucca.  I am curious how the same sculpture grouping looked and will look in the other cities along this tour.  If you happen to see it anywhere else, please share your images of it with me.

Enjoy.. I hope not too many photos!

Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

P.S. IF original art, while affordable, is STILL a bit out of your budget, or the piece you adored has sold?  Or do you like arty things in different formats, to surround yourself with art?  Looking for a gift?  See my store online for pillow, phone cases, shower curtains, towels, tote bags, and yes, even prints on metal, wood, canvas, and so much more:

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-kelly-borsheim.html

View from the gate at the bottom

Imagine the quality of images from a GOOD camera!