Ballerina Becomes a Whale

Dear Art Lover,

     Okay, despite the title of this post that I found amusing, no, I did not force feed any ballerinas!  I have returned to the Cava Nardini (Nardini Quarry, in English) to start to carve stone again.  Last fall I started to carve a piece of green marble with white veining that I bought in Pietrasanta, Italy, from a friend of a friend while I dropped off a new composition at a local bronze casting foundry. http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2016/RockTowersFrogGardenSculpture.htm

     I wanted to learn how to stay at the abstract level, perfect for a stone with a busy pattern of contrasting tones.  I saw a ballerina throwing up a large piece of fabric above her and her flowing gown.  You may see images in one of my blog posts about this stone carving here:

http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2016/10/autumn-in-quarry-vellano-tuscany.html

     While the doctor told me that I should not try to carve stone until four months have passed after the removal of the cast on my broken right wrist, he also told me that after two months I would feel mostly back to normal.  I do not.  I do not have the flexibility back and when I try to push the hand to stretch it, there is pain still.  The cast was removed on 30 June.  My first thought was that if I am not “normal” after the two months, maybe it will be six months instead of four before I should attempt to carve stone.  The vibration too much, too soon, could ruin my wrist for the rest of my life.  I do not want to screw this up since my knee has still not healed.  I am nervous about why things are not getting better.  

     Still, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, although I might be the one with the hardest head.  The symposium at the quarry is mostly over and the weather has cooled dramatically from this summer, to what I would call perfect carving weather [now that it has stopped raining].  I recently began returning to the quarry to start work again on my ballerina and the other black crystal marble piece I bought at the same time.  I justified that now that I have a car, I am not obligated to spend an entire day there if I need to call it a day sooner than the others.  I also brought more of my die grinders from Texas this past spring and decided that I could grind these chippy rocks, since a hammer and chisel will only destroy them anyway.  I have been using my left hand mostly, while trying to exercise my right a bit more than I was at home.

     I had been watching a crack that was obvious in one section of the dress of the ballerina where a white vein met the green, but we all thought that it MIGHT be a small section since the crack seemed to fizzle out.  One seasoned carver asked me if I wanted to put some glue into the stone, but I am old school… if I know there is a crack in the rock, I need to remove the dead stone and redesign.  Glue seems to me to be just a Band-Aid. 

     And then it happened:   the rock separated.  The section was where I imagined, but deeper.  And, once I pulled off the piece you see in this first image, you may see in the second image that there was now exposed the larger issue [see the crack where I put the red arrows].  The original bottom for the ballerina sculpture is the plane on the right [not visible].  Her billowing fabric is the curve on the left/top edge of the stone.

     It was not difficult to remove the rest.  This was about one-third of the stone!  I was upset, even though I knew the fear was a probable reality.  But then, I justified that my intention was to learn something new and to push myself into abstraction a little bit more.  Ok, so the idea changed, but the exercise is still the same.  Imagine my delight when I looked fresh at the larger piece of rock and saw a whale!  In fact, the leftover tool marks from my diamond disc reminded me of teeth or at least the mouth of the sperm whale… hahah.   Do you see it here?  I am not so great with Photoshop, but tried to draw a thin red curve to follow the flow that made me feel the ocean.

 

Do you see the whale form?  No longer a ballerina in any event.

     The shape is not perfect for that, by any means.  Nor is there enough rock to create accurately the form of the whale, but that still was a bit of the point, no?  I turned the stone to other views and other positions.  I got a kick later at home when I saw the tree coming out of a fish-shaped form, as if it were a vase.  I was so busy looking at the marble that I did not compose my shot other than trying to find something dark behind the marble to show me the form.

Fish Vase?  ;-)

    From the viewpoint in the image below, I actually saw a standing figure – with a triangular neck and head, short triangular arms, and carrying some sort of a pack on his back.  Do you see that also?  Or something else?  Or nothing promising?  

Figure carrying a sack on his back?

vertical jumping whale, maybe?

     In my lips series of stone carving, [see the Zebra Lips as an example here:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/stone.htm

], I tried to create other shapes on the back side of the lips.  Not sure that the transitions were all that successful, but the morphing idea intrigues me still.  How to start?  Well, I remembered my friend and mentor Vasily’s voice, “Start with a line that shows your idea.  Make everything else support that line.”    And so, I leave you with my note-taking on the green marble to refine the curve of the whale form that I showed you earlier. Happy weekend!

     In addition, I recently published my September art newsletter with the theme, “Wind, Water, and Wisteria” because alliteration is just fun.  You may read the whole thing online with lots more images here:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/201709_Artnews_WindWaterWisteria.htm

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

Water Raindrops Hurricane Watch

Dear Art Lover,

     I seem to have water on my mind a lot lately, as you will see when I publish images of my next two charcoal drawings in my upcoming art newsletter. 

 http://www.borsheimarts.com/newsletter.htm

     Here in Tuscany, Italy, we recently had a decent rainstorm.  I am often enchanted with the light before, during, and AFTER a storm.  This one left us with raindrops everywhere, a bit magical!  I include in this post a few of my favorite snapshots walking around my home the other day.  

     Also, I have a special offer on a work that I did in Texas on the same theme.  I was down in Brownsville waiting for my father to finish some pilot exam he had to take.  “Raindrops on Shell Ginger” was how I amused myself in the garden.  Noticing Nature’s wonders is a joy we should choose to experience.

Raindrops on Shell Ginger

18" x 14"
Pastel on dark green Sennelier paper
© 2010 Kelly Borsheim

$600, ships from Austin, Texas

http://www.borsheimarts.com/pastels/2010/shellginger.htm

Only $600, she ships in a frame for protection, but it is a simple frame and I imagine you might prefer to choose another one.  If you are near Austin, Texas, you may pick the work up there instead of having to pay for shipping.  Zip = 78702

     However, I am not always sure that watching Nature’s wrath is an experience worth choosing.  Almost every single one of my family members in Florida has chosen to stay home this weekend and await the terrible Hurricane Irma.  As I write, I just saw an image in which someone compared Hurricane Andrew [which destroyed both my brother’s and my father’s homes in Homestead, Miami-area 25 years ago] to Irma.  Irma looks about THREE times the size and you probably know she has already caused a lot of havoc and death!  Watch with me:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/irma-atlantic-ocean

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

Shelter from the Storm - Lemon Tree

See the big dark spot in the sky?  Need new camera: Dirt is inside

Raindrops on Rosemary

My neighbor's dog Yoda enjoyed running around with me.

Pietro Nardini Alpine Climber

Dear Art Lover,

Pietro Nardini, long before I met him

     Last year about this time I met Pietro Nardini on the bus from Pescia to Sorana, Italy.  He is now mid-80s and quite thin.  He is no relation to the Nardini family who owns the last remaining stone quarry in this area called Valleriana, and sadly, Pietro has no family left.  He still chain-smokes with no desire to slow down in that.  We got into a conversation after I called my landlord to confirm that I was on the bus and would arrive to his village in about twenty minutes.  During the call, I handed my phone to Pietro.  It turns out that his house shares a wall with my landlord’s house.  Before we got to Sorana, Pietro asked the bus driver to stop the bus after a bend in the road.  He wanted me to get off!  But all was well.  He had seen my landlord working with a wood pile and did not think that I saw him.

     In late July of this year, I was invited to lunch by a friend and met a family that is new to Sorana, a village in Tuscany.  By chance, they are also neighbors with Pietro.  I do not know if he remembered me or not from the bus, but when he saw me outside, he invited me to come inside his home to see his little private museum. 

     He was a climber of the Alpine mountains!  This entry room to his home, which is upstairs, contains a good collection of minerals and gems, old photos, and mountain climbing and spelunking [caving] gear.  He started out the tour by pointing out an image of him with a cow who has quite the funny expression on her face.  He told me that this was his wife because he was too ugly to have gotten a real woman.

Pietro Nardini on 30 July 2017, in his private museum, Sorana

    Pietro is missing the index finger on his left hand.  I did not ask how.   In one of the photos that I share with you here, he pointed out that he is one of the ones dangling from a wire off the edge of a vertical cliff while the other rescue-workers stood on the flat plane above ready to help. 

One of those two suspended is Pietro.

 

     I hope that you enjoy these images.  I saw Pietro again last week and during Sorana’s annual bean festival [with dinner and dancing in the main square!].  He said that he never eats much and only once per day. It shows.

     I am currently working out details to offer an art workshop, perhaps focusing on anatomy and design since I will have a male model with the class.  This will be in mid-to-late May 2018 and will be near my home in the hills of Tuscany, between Florence and Lucca.  If you are interested and want to send me feedback on what you would like to work on to improve your art or even what you desire to see in Tuscany, please contact me.    

http://BorsheimArts.com/contact.htm

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

Happy birthday, Jamshid! 

Pietro shows me some of his favorite old photos of colleagues

A much decorated climber and worker in the Italian Alps

simpatici! 

Car Buying in Italy Sleeping Angel Summer Sale

Dear Art Lover,

     How many friends does it take to help a girl buy a car in a foreign country?  Well, in my case, in Italy, I would say more than a handful.  I was not really prepared to buy a car just yet.  I mean, that I WAS, after having gotten my international driver’s license when I was in the US and I gave myself three weeks to research and find a car to buy [before the license went into effect] so that I could go to the quarry and start carving a new stone sculpture.  But after falling and breaking my wrist, the need for a car so soon drove away.  

     Then it was suggested that I use my healing time to at least start researching what I wanted.  I asked on my Facebook page for much advice from locals.  That posting led to a friend tagging me for an old car for sale in my area.  It looked ok in the photos, one owner (a 90-year-old woman), less then 75 kilometers (which is pretty amazing, especially if you change that into miles!), and decent looking tires [but bad spare under the hood].  

     However, I was nervous and did not feel ready yet.  I did not respond to the ad for about a week.  In the meantime, I did more research, vacillating about whether or not I really wanted to take action now.  I am still paying off my trip to the US after all and I cannot physically drive yet.  But, hey, I might as well go see it and re-learn what to look for in a car.

     The man selling my future car met me at the bus station in Montecatini Terme, a town perhaps 40 minutes by transport from my home.  But he was in a hurry and I worried it was a scam.  I sat in the car, turned on the ignition, moved the gears around, but was unable to drive it (time and ability).  I took a few photographs that I thought my helping friends could use.  I asked where to put the oil into the engine, as well as where to check it, but stupidly did not even take a look at the oil myself.  Sheesh, what was I thinking?  

     This is only the second vehicle that I have ever purchased myself.  Before I got married, I usually drove whatever old car my father had to give me.  Once I got married, my husband made all the car decisions, often surprising me with a new-to-us Volvo 240 when he deemed the time was right.  But after college and before meeting “the man,” I moved to the big city of Austin, Texas, and bought a 1979 GMC Dura Van.  That was in 1987.  I paid $3,000 cash for it, with a partial loan from my father that I paid off sooner than later.  I had had a long-term dream to finish college, get a dog, buy a van, and drive to Oregon.  I did those things and in that order, coming back to Texas as an engaged woman.  In 2015, I gifted my van to a friend who does art restorations in Austin.  I loved that vehicle!

     Back to 2017 in Tuscany (and single again):  I returned to my new hometown in the hills of Italy via bus after my short visit with the 1998 white Fiat Panda.  I had a conversation with my landlord [and his brother, who recently replaced his old white Panda with another] and showed him some of the images I took.  Later that evening he spoke on the phone with the seller and then me.  Trustingly, I committed to buying the car that night, but it was not for two more days that I returned to Montecatini Terme to do the title transfer and get driven home.  My landlord was there and looked over the car [saw a weld in my future] and met the man he had spoken to a couple of times by then.  I was handed the keys as the man and his friend drove off in a little Smart car.

     I had bargained some, but gave all of my remaining cash towards the new car.  For those curious, the title transfer cost me 370 euro in cash [since I have no bank in Italy].  Had the size of the motor been larger, the fee would have been higher.  That is more than half of what I paid for the car itself!  My landlord took these snapshots of me with my new vehicle.

     I am still not driving. Although my landlord and another neighbor helped me get an amazingly low quote on car insurance for when I am ready, I am postponing buying insurance, hoping to sell some art first.  But also, my right wrist is still not strong enough.  I could not even take off the emergency brake!  Another neighbor, who really encouraged me to get a car and helped a lot in the research, came over to take a look.  He later drove it over to his property:  it is illegal to park a car without insurance on a public road.  So, the Panda is safe there and I can even see her from my windows.

     I am still thinking of a design to paint on her.  I bought a small can of blue paint for metal.  As I told the man in the hardware store, “I just bought an old white Fiat Panda.  Everyone seems to have one.  How will I ever find my car in the parking lot?”  I want a design that helps me recognize my new baby, but not one that shouts, “Kelly just drove by.”  You know, in case I do something stupid.  [Oh, and the low insurance price came in part because the agent will install a scatola nera [black box] in my car.  It will know where I am driving [so it knows the local speed limit] and monitor my driving habits.  So, perhaps the first year, I will be constantly taking an exam.  And towards the end of this year, I need to take the Italian driving class and exams and earn my Italian driver’s license.  So, I get to feel like a teen all over again.  Joy.

     Ok, so here is one way that I hope to earn that insurance.  But really, anything I still have in stock or even many of the products, such as my book about street painting in Florence, or shower curtains, pillows, a phone case, prints on metal, etc. would help me while giving you something that I hope enriches your life… check out some of the art products here:  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-kelly-borsheim.html

Summer SALE: Original pastel, framed in wood, with glass and acrylic spacers [to protect pastel from touching the glass] $1500 [o 1200 euro se sei in Italia/Europa], world-wide shipping included. As usual, payment plans accepted.  Offer ends 31 August 2017.

"Sleeping Angel"

[Caravaggio-inspired original art]
18" x 24" [framed with glass and acrylic spacers, black wood]
Pastel on UART Acid-free Premium sanded paper
© 2010 - 2012 Kelly Borsheim 

http://www.borsheimarts.com/pastels/2012/AngelSleeping_CaravaggioInspired.htm

I look forward to hearing from you. 

Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

Go shopping and share with your friends:  http://BorsheimArts.com

Thank you!

Detail 1:  Soft texture on the male figure to contrast with...

Detail 2 : I really tried to rough up the texture in the sheets.

Childhood in Casignano

Dear Art Lover,

     Many years ago, I got to stay in a friend’s home in a magical place called Casignano.  It is in Tuscany, on the outskirts of Firenze.  I got to be friends with the farming family there.  As I write, the patriarch Renato is 94 years old.  When I first met him, he told me of being a little boy in the same house during the American arrival to help Italians liberate Firenze during WWII.  American soldiers stayed in his home, hiding out in the hills surrounding Firenze until the moment was right.  For this experience [and perhaps others afterwards], Renato has a good feeling about Americans.  I only lived as their neighbor for a few months in total over two years (having returned to the States between times), but my friendship with this family came about quickly and has lasted.

     I recently completed a pastel sketch of some of the dancing olive trees in Casignano.  During one of “our” olive harvest times, I saw little Marco, grandson of Renato, running down the hill and just goofing off while the rest of us picked olives.  I have always relished this memory because childhood has a freedom we rarely experience in later years.

 

“Childhood in Casignano, Italy”

12 x 18 inches    $650

Pastel drawing on UArt sanded paper

Copyright 2017 Kelly Borsheim

     If you like pastels, check out more of them here:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/pastels.htm

     For years I have returned to Casignano for the “raccolta delle olive” (olive harvest) each November.  Renato’s wife Giuliana cooks up a huge lunch for all of the workers, mostly family.  Natalino is one of Renato’s brothers and I have seen him year after year.  He is even in a previous blog post, as you may see in this image below.  Natalino is a name many Italians born on or near Christmas receive.  [Natale = Italian for ‘Christmas’ and the suffix “-ino” means “little.”]

      This past November, I could not get down there for the harvest.  I have a new home in the country some distance away from them and a new pair of brothers to help.  However, I was able to get down to Casignano after dark for dinner last November.  Like most families, this one had members coming and going and I did not get to see everyone for long or some at all.

    A couple of days ago, my friends posted on Facebook that Natalino has died.  So, I dedicate this blog post to him.  He was a “bravo uomo,” a good man and a kind man.

     For my fellow nature lover, I would like to share a few snapshots I took while on [the dog] “Gregory Duty” this past Thursday as my landlord volunteered for ambulance duty.  In Italia, this group of mostly volunteers is called the Misericordia.  Can you tell how I love the bees?  More images are on my Facebook page.

Happy birthday to my artist friend Hélène Delmaire!

Peace,

Kelly

P.S.  Subscribe to the art newsletter here (it is FREE):  http://www.borsheimarts.com/contact.htm

Gregory is curious.

See the bee approaching this wildflower?