Artists and Models Croatia

Dear Art lover,

     What one of my friends calls my “Exile from Italy” will soon be over.  If they let me back in, I mean.  I do not think of this time as exile since the law is clear and it is not unreasonable.  Besides, I am in Croatia and have made new friends, and visited more in Serbia.  I walked along the sea a lot, stayed warm during the winter, watched a lot of stars in mostly clear nights, and made some art.

     I hope that you have enjoyed the images of Umag, Croatia, that I have shared with you.  I have many more, but for now, I want to share some images from the day the family here had a big get-together while all the grandkids were in town in early March.  They invited me to join their cookout, including shooting hoops in the driveway.  That is an activity I remember from watching my brothers growing up.  It warms my heart being around three generations enjoying each other’s company.

     My portrait of Miranda and Boro was presented and I was very pleased that the kids and grandkids liked it and said that I had captured the affection and care between the head of their family.  Every portrait artist hopes for such praise because we all know that we see ourselves differently from how others do.  What a loving family!  I later joined the older generation, Miranda’s two sisters and their little brother, as well as other friends, when she had a birthday dinner the following weekend.  I hope that we stay in touch!

Artist Kelly with portrait models Miranda and Boro - Umag

     To see images of the painting in-progress, and the mathematics behind my design, please visit here:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/painting/2015/TakingCare-PortaitCaretakingCoupleHealthcare.htm

     You may participate in my attempt to raise funds to pay a bronze casting foundry, even if you cannot pledge, by helping to spread the word to your contacts, but also... Leave a comment on my Kickstarter project page site.  Or ask a question.  Activity from many sources helps the Kickstarter staff see interest and they may choose my project as a favorite, getting it better seen amongst their funding clients.  thank you so much! 

Casting Call: I’m Melting . . . Melting! Into Bronze

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/borsheimarts/casting-call-im-melting-melting-into-bronze

Destroy to Create: Melted wax sacrificed to pour bronze sculpture. Hot art: Make it happen before these wax figures are truly lost.

Thank you so much for helping me make some bronze art a reality,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

P.S.  Happy birthday to my sweet little brother Michael and my crazy lovely cousin Heather.

Rollerblades

Dear Art lover,

     With such a wide and wonderful paved sidewalk along the Adriatic Sea here in Umag, Croatia, I thought I should get some wheels for better (further) exploration.  What I discovered, however, is that some perks contrast with some less-than-ideal circumstances.  

     I mean that as much as I love walking the sea without much company during winter in a town full of summer tourists, I also cannot access touristy things.  After several attempts to find some rollerblades and being told that there were none in town during this time of year, I found some to try.  The good news is that they were available for half price!  Sadly, they were four sizes too large.  I hoped that perhaps wearing several pairs of socks would fill the gap, but both the saleswoman and I agreed that it would not be a safe solution.  The rollerblades were simply too large.  However, she took this snapshot of me in her store, so we had some laughs.  

     Sadly, she also told me that there are no bicycle rentals in off-season.  So, I walk alone . . .

I like it here.  The people are really nice, even though I have made a point to stay pretty much alone while I work out a lot of things.   

     I will be launching my fundraising bronze casting project on Kickstarter.com soon, so if you have had a hankering to get some bronzes at good prices, March will be the time.  I included some early bird special offers for quick-acting supporters.  With bronze prices and labor at an all-time high, I can assure you that these prices will not be offered for long.

     Also, I am still having technical difficulties.  I tried a new service to distribute my art newletter (a subscription list, free).  I sent this out about a week ago.  Sadly, I am having mixed reviews.  Too many people near the end of the list have told me that they have NOT received the newsletter in their e-mail boxes.  If you are one of those and I have not already heard from you, will you please let me know?  I need to give the company feedback so we can determine what the problem is.  Thank you!

     In any event, here is the newsletter online about Tantalyzing Tasmania:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/2015_02_ArtNews-TasmaniaLandscapePainting.htm

Please share this with anyone you think might bust a gut over it-ha!  Thank you.

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Sea Shell Hunting

Dear Art lover,

     I find it interesting what one learns about another in simple shared experiences, such as collecting sea shells by the sea shore.  I have at least two friends that I have had the pleasure of doing that with over recent years.  Funny, they both prefer the perfect shells.  While I find the perfect ones beautiful and amazing in design and execution, I tend to adore the ones in which the broken exteriors reveal some of the beautiful forms inside.  The good news, of course, is that we will never “fight” over the choices the other one desires.  That is always a relief… as when in high school:  you were glad when your best mate had different tastes for dating.  If not, things could get ugly. Ha.

     So, along this rocky beach I found north of Umag, I was enchanted to find these tiny shells.  Because one of the friends referenced to above, Kumiko, cherishes the tiny beauts.  She likes them perfectly formed still.  I picked some up for her, as well as lots of tiny broken ones for me. 

     My friend Ruth pointed out to me many years ago that perhaps the reason I can so easily recognize fear in others is because I am consciously grappling with my own fears.  On my day sifting through shells recently, I wondered if the reason I want to hang onto my friends who like perfect is so that I reach just a little bit higher.

     You know, perhaps, the famous quote by Michelangelo:  The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.

     Oh, enough philosophy.  I am getting closer to having a place in which to carve stone.  You cannot believe my excitement!  I have much to do before my sun sets!  Enjoy my little self portrait in the setting sun on the Adriatic Sea.

Like nature images?  Check out Tantalizing Tasmania:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/2015_02_ArtNews-TasmaniaLandscapePainting.htm

Please share this with anyone you think might appreciate it!  Thank you.

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Green Tulips

Dear Art lover,

     I imagined my Valentine’s Day to start with brunch of kiwi, oranges, and cheese with fruit tea.  Then I would do some writing, research, and later painting; maybe a break by walking to the sea for the sunset.  Once back home I would then make a lazy dinner of salami slices, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and cheese layered in a tortilla.  No cooking and very little washing up.  I thought I might celebrate in the evening with a wee bit of Bailey’s Irish crème and some lovely new flavored dark chocolates I found locally.

Balancing triangular stone along the sea north of Umag, Croatia, surrounded by native red (iron-rich) clay

     However, my family nickname of “Grace Kelly” does not only describe my physical moves in sarcastic terms.  Earlier this week, I stepped “into it” again with words I used and found myself within a sadly familiar argument with someone I dearly love.  Every time this happens it bothers me seriously for days.  On the 11^th, I took a long walk north along the sea and tried to figure out why I do this time and again with this person (and others, if truth be told).  I tried to find a solution.  I do not really think that one exists.  So, the only good thing is that with each confrontation, I come away with a better understanding of how I feel, what I really want, and why I do what I do.  It may be the best I can do in this case.

     So, last night, I did not sleep.  With so many things on my mind, sleep has been elusive for several nights and last night even moreso.  Allora, I write, as I have done all of my life that I can remember.  It is a cathartic experience, a physical release through the arm and a tactile experience with ideas and paper.  The Bailey’s Irish Crème turned out to be breakfast around 5 a.m., I think.  Finally a bit of rest, and then …..Hahah… and lunch was the chocolate. There are few rules on these sorts of things, right?

     My friend and fellow stone carver Mary Tanner of Nebraska [I am charmed that this is how she signs her letters to me] had given me a wonderful gift the day we met in Firenze:  a handy tote bag which features images of her scientific drawings of Smilodon californicus, fossils that came from La Brae tar pits in downtown Los Angeles.  I packed this full of my pastels and a pad of paper, just in case, and took it with me on my walk by the sea earlier this week.  I stopped in this spot shown here to eat a few kiwi and watch the sun go down.

     Thus, it was a good day.  In fact, it was a great day since several of the ideas in my head that have too long vague began to take a more solid form and are coming together in a cohesive and do-able vision.  I have my next body of work.. many parts are still vague, however, for me it is always that way.  And once I find a home and can start this particular work, the forms will emerge as we go.

     In addition to a lovely day, I want to share with you two pastel works on one easel in my little space here in Croatia.  I started them in Italy… now trying to play with color and other explorations while I am away from my normal space.  Green Tulips and Piazza at Night [the latter started out as Piazza Santo Spirito in Firenze, but I have only memory to go by at the moment and am still working with this one].

     I have also spent the week being technically challenged on several fronts.  I still have not found a way to send out my art newsletter, despite having signed up for a different program (which freezes each time I try to enter content).  My e-mail program has mysteriously stopped keeping copies of my sent e-mails.  Random weird and frustrating things are happening in various programs on my laptop and the screen keeps crashing.  The type font now also looks jiggy-jagged, making writing on this computer a bit of a headache.  Yet, virus scans turn up nothing.  My Internet research leads me to no solutions.  It has been a frustrating week.  

     However, those who HAVE seen the newsletter published on my Web site have written me to tell how much they enjoy the images there…. So if you can, share and enjoy yourself, please:  Tantalizing Tasmania:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/2015_02_ArtNews-TasmaniaLandscapePainting.htm

And, as always, thank you for your continued interest.  Share this with anyone you think might appreciate it! 

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

P.S.  Happy Valentine’s Day, there is still so much to love and for which to feel grateful.

Smilodon californicus, Umag, Croatia, Tasmania, sea walk, Mary Tanner, frustration, Grace Kelly