The Unwritten Future

Dear Artlover,

Thank you for such a warm response to my recently announced new oil painting “New Year’s Eve.” This is your last art newsletter from me this year, although I intend to have a few more blog posts before this year’s New Year’s Eve.

I have been talking with a few friends recently about the topic of courage. People often tell me that I am so brave to do … fill in any activity you like. For example, many times they will say that I was brave to just pick up and go to Italy. My friends have had similar experiences. But is it brave to do something that you feel needs to be done, especially when you recognize that what you are currently doing is not working? I had stopped growing. I went to Italy to become a better artist. It took me longer to get there than I had hoped, but somehow I knew it was necessary to be surrounded by the art there and to see for myself how it was possible to live with many different forms of art everywhere. [It is amazing, by the way!]

This new bronze is titled “The Unwritten Future” and is a play on my bronze “Cattails and Frog Legs.” Instead of the original amphibians, one man hangs by one hand from the end of the cattail, while another man sits on the lily pad below, watching in anticipation. Sure life can throw in her little surprises, but in essence, we all have an “unwritten” future until we have made a choice and taken the corresponding action.

I like the particular view of the bronze that I have chosen to share with you now. The shadow cast by the sun implies that the hanging man will not drop, but will choose to grab hold. It is optimism in a precarious situation.

This is one of the more than 20 sculptures and about 30 two-dimensional artworks on exhibit NOW in my solo show at the Quattro Gallery in Austin, Texas. Please go by and say hello to gallery director David Sackmary and get a gander at the art while you are there.

THIS SATURDAY, November 12th is the LAST DAY of this exhibition. I hope you can check it out. I will be there for a book signing from 2 - 5 p.m. (see below).

“Places and Poses: the Art of Kelly Borsheim”

Quattro Gallery
12971 Pond Springs Road (Inside Audi North Austin)
Austin, Texas 78729
Gallery Hours: Tues-Friday, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
Closed Sundays and Mondays.
[Take the McNeil exit from Hwy 183 in NW Austin. Pond Springs Road is NE of the intersection of McNeil and 183. You will see the Saab dealership right before Audi.]

For more information, Tel.: 512.219.3150 (Audi); David Sackmary (gallery director) = 512.924.7498

Dates:
Exhibit: NOW through 12 November 2011

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Book Signing: "My Life as a Street Painter in Florence, Italy"
Full-color book with 330+ images
By Kelly Borsheim

Saturday, 12 Nov, 2 to 5 p.m.
Quattro Gallery, Austin, Texas



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Book Signing: "My Life as a Street Painter in Florence, Italy"

Thanks to artists Penny Arrowood and Jeanne Rhea, as well as Event Coordinator
Sharon DiGiulio, I will have my first book signing in NORTH CAROLINA!

Here are the details:
Book Signing: Sunday, 20 November 2011
noon to 2 p.m.
Jerry's Artarama: Art of the Carolinas
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
Tel. 919-876-6610

[The above image of my exhibit at Quattro Gallery was taken by David Sackmary.]


As always, you may find details about events here:
www.borsheimarts.com/exhibits.htm


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I hope to see or hear from you soon. Thank you for reading and sharing in my adventures. By all means, forward these invitations to anyone you think would enjoy them.

Thank you,
Kelly Borsheim

New Year’s Eve Art Texas

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Almost two years ago, on New Year’s Eve, I was outside here in my Texas studio carving on the marble “Gymnast.” It was starting to get dark, and then I realized it was getting darker than it should be for that approaching dusky hour. I felt the sudden change around me. A frisky wind whipped up. The air smelled cold and crisp. I remember laying down my tools and running over to the field, the only place in which the trees give way enough for me to see the sunset better. Even then the orange glow of the setting sun was broken up with the ragged silhouettes of treetops. It felt magnificent!

I cannot really explain my excitement. It was energy that I simply absorbed from the surrounding fragrance, wind, temperature, color, and light. I remember shouting, “Come look at this sky – it is fantastic!” No one came. I learned as a child that it is amazing to see something naturally wonderful, but so much better to share the experience with someone else. And thus, I decided that I would try to capture in a painting the excitement in the dark clouds that seemed to funnel the light of the falling sun.

I started the painting that night, sketching it out onto the largest canvas I had on hand. But life and other projects took me away after that magical evening. The canvas of clouds remained untouched for over a year. Each time I looked at it, I felt that I had failed to capture the smell of the fresh air that night and I began to doubt that the painting would mean anything if it were just another sunset. Over time I realized that I wanted to add something to it, but could not think of anything that was not overly contrived.

And then it happened . . . divorce has some perks. I have been living a life in transition, or at least limbo, for a long time now, but 2011 has been the year of action and stepping away. This spring the idea for my painting emerged as quite natural. So many of my artworks have been personal and oddly, perhaps, those seem to be the ones most admired among those who share their thoughts with me.

I am losing my home and my studio. However, my former husband John, who has been a dear friend to me for about half of my life, has let me stay in his home this year so that I may have the time to finish my stone carvings, pack up, and figure out my new direction. I started this spring by sorting through our photographs, including our wedding album. And it made sense for me to incorporate my favorite wedding photo into my art.

Finding the universal through the personal has been my approach for much of my art career. And it became my hope that my painting would not necessarily be seen in a negative light or even give-off a negative feeling, in the same way that my bronze “Together and Alone” has not.

As I created this newer version of my painting, I wondered about her title. Ultimately, I decided that the original title “New Year’s Eve” was perfect. The phrase references an ending in the terms of a beginning. So, with no further delay, I introduce to you my newest oil painting (30” x 40”) called “New Year’s Eve.”

You may see this work and many others at my solo exhibit going on now:

“Places and Poses: the Art of Kelly Borsheim”

Quattro Gallery
12971 Pond Springs Road (Inside Audi North Austin)
Austin, Texas 78729
Gallery Hours: Tues-Friday, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
Closed Sundays and Mondays.
[Take the McNeil exit from Hwy 183 in NW Austin. Pond Springs Road is NE of the intersection of McNeil and 183. You will see the Saab dealership right before Audi.]

For more information, Tel.: 512.219.3150 (Audi); David Sackmary (gallery director) = 512.924.7498

Dates:
Exhibit: NOW through 14 November 2011
Artist’s Reception: Saturday, 5 Nov, 7 to 10 p.m.

Book Signing: "My Life as a Street Painter in Florence, Italy"
Full-color book with 330+ images
By Kelly Borsheim
Saturday, 12 Nov, 2 to 5 p.m.

I hope that you can make this exhibit because after it closes, I will be leaving Texas. No doubt I will be back at some point, but I cannot promise when. I will be heading off first to North Carolina to visit family, then Florida for the Art Basel Miami and more family. Then, it is back to Italy. It is a new day.


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Invitation Quattro Gallery Austin Texas

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Oh, you can tell it is October. People are buzzing about again and it is beautiful out! And I hope that you are not missing my posts too much – there is so much going on and I recently injured one hand, so am moving a bit slower. However, I wanted to invite you to my “Arrivederci Texas” art exhibit. I am so excited about working with David Sackmary, who has modeled for me in the past, but also has returned from Hawai’i to Austin. Texas, taking up his role again as the director of the Quattro Gallery. Here goes:

“Places and Poses: the Art of Kelly Borsheim”

Quattro Gallery
12971 Pond Springs Road (Inside Audi North Austin)
Austin, Texas 78729
Gallery Hours: Tues-Friday, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
Closed Sundays and Mondays.
[Take the McNeil exit from Hwy 183 in NW Austin. Pond Springs Road is NE of the intersection of McNeil and 183. You will see the Saab dealership right before Audi.]

For more information, Tel.: 512.219.3150 (Audi); David Sackmary (gallery director) = 512.924.7498

Quattro Gallery in north Austin, Texas, is hosting accomplished artist Kelly Borsheim in a very special exhibition this fall before she returns to Italy. Kelly tends to focus on introspection, specifically how our bodies express our thoughts. In this art event, you will see paintings and sculptures with titles such as “Together and Alone,” “Relinquish,” “Hindsight,” and “Pensive in Bologna.” Quattro Gallery is located inside the Audi North Austin at 12971 Pond Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78729. The exhibit runs from October 25 to November 14, 2011, with a reception on Saturday evening, November 5, 2011, and a book signing on Saturday, November 12 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.

You will also see some works from her “lips series.” These sculptures have been hand-carved in stone by Kelly and combine human lips with animal forms in an exploration of how Nature’s shapes commingle.

When this versatile artist began living part-time in Italy, she added pastel to her media as she learned the old art of street painting. She combined her skills from the street with her classical art training to create lovely images inspired by Italy. These are not your usual Tuscan landscapes, but a more personal look into Italian homes, streets, and courtyards. For more information, visit www.quattrogallery.com or www.BorsheimArts.com.

For more details and RSVP opportunity, check out this listing: http://www.preownedcertified.com/IHGNewsletter/Oct2011/Group/events.html

Fabric Art Quilt Exhibit Austin Texas

Last night I attended an art exhibit for Susan Lewis Storey at my friend David Sackmary’s Quattro Gallery in Austin, Texas. I had never met Susan before or seen her work, but I wanted to see what David had been up to. He’d cut his hair to a very flattering look since I last saw him. And I laughed when he introduced me to others as ‘the artist who strapped his arms up to the ceiling as he posed nude’ for my bronze sculpture “Warrior Spirit.” All I can say in my defense is that it seemed unkind to ask someone to hold his arms straight out in airplane position for hours at a time!

Ok, I am digressing again. Everything is connected, is it not? Susan had several beautiful and interesting art quilts on exhibit. She showed her “American Family Album Series” which I loved, having had a serious interest in vintage photographs myself. Last night I photographed this artist with one of her fabric works that depicts images of her mother as a young woman. It is quite charming and was one of my favorites of the evening.

Like many immigrating Americans, the ethnic family name was changed to help assimilate the family into the New World. Susan discovered that her Italian family name was Maffei which was changed to Murphy. (She created another fabric art piece to honor this heritage.) Rediscovering her Italian roots led her to create an image of hanging laundry in a small Italian villa – so typical of Italy and nostalgic to many people, including me. (I was always a bit warped, I suppose: I think that hanging laundry outside on a spring day is sexy.)

I also include here a close-up image of her fabric art piece depicting Italian laundry. Her process is unlike anything that I had heard of, but then I am not that familiar with the newer art processes. I may be wrong about this, but here is what I remember of her description of her process: She first scans images that move her into her computer. Then she plays in Photoshop to make those images into something artistic – exploring colors, effects, textures, etc. Then she treats her fabrics with some chemical that allows them to accept ink. Afterwards she sprays something on the fabric (and irons it?) to stiffen the fabric so that it will pass through her printer. And then she prints her images onto her fabrics. After that, she pieces the fabric together and creates the quilted stitching throughout the artwork and sometimes adds beads or varies the stitching for the home grown look of a real quilt.

Hurry to see this interesting work – I am not sure when the exhibit closes, but contact information follows:

David Sackmary at the Quattro Gallery:
quattrogallery.com

Susan Lewis Storey’s site:
susanstorey.com

Kelly Borsheim’s bronze sculpture:
“Warrior Spirit”