Nitram Charcoal Art

Charcoal Work-In-Progress by Kelly Borsheim

Dear Art Lover,

I have always loved black and white images, and am typically pretty impressed when I see a well-done charcoal drawing. I never thought that I would have the patience to even attempt such a thing. But love is love and oh so hard to resist.

Just before Christmas I received a wonderful e-mail from Jerzy Niedojadlo. He is the new owner of the famous Nitram Charcoal company. I was dismayed years ago to find out that the Nitram in France would no longer be producing its quality drawing products. I bought as much Nitram charcoal as I could afford, in fact. Nitram (the founder Martin Gros’ first name spelled backwards) began from humble beginnings after World War II made it difficult to find work. Not actually born as its own company until the late 1960s, it dramatically improved its quality after a large order boosted the business. You may read more about Nitram’s beginnings here:

http://www.nitramcharcoal.com/blog/the-history-of-nitram-charcoal

Jerzy is a working artist and was inspired to go to France with his partner Patricia to learn the techniques from Martin’s son, Daniel. They now own the business and have moved it to Canada. And last year about this time, he sent me a Nitram Baton to try out while I was living in Croatia! Learn more here:

http://nitramcharcoal.com/

Recently, Jerzy wrote to share with me a new video about Nitram that debuted at the CreativeWorld Trade Show in Frankfurt, Germany, last year. I feel honored and excited to have several of my own charcoal drawings included in this production. I hope you enjoy this showcase of charcoal art as presented on youtube.com [my work is seen at 1 minute 4 seconds, 1:04]:

https://youtu.be/ebyaniXdtrg

+++++++++++++++

Enough - Charcoal Drawing
Available
by Kelly Borsheim

It is January and this month I celebrate 15 years as a full-time artist! Wow.. thank you for being a part of this adventure. Your support has been invaluable. I would like to celebrate by making it easier to buy some art that moves you. Here goes:

·         15% off on all available sculptures. The pricelist is here:
http://www.borsheimarts.com/pricelist.htm#sculpture

·         15% off on all available 2-D work, from paintings and drawings in any medium to giclée fine art reproductions.

·         If you buy two or more Borsheim Art Works
before 15 February 2016,
you will also receive
a $50 framing gift certificate
to use as you like. This is a
Special Offer
from Don Elliott at
The Frame Shop/Franklin Barry Gallery in Indianapolis.

Buy Art

These offers end February 15, 2016. Prices you see on the Web site are BEFORE the 15% savings offer. Thank you for your interest!

If you would like to read the full art newsletter for January, including see a new work on the easel still, please visit:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/20160111_ArtNews-NitramCharcoalDrawing.htm

Thank you.  Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

http://BorsheimArts.com

Closing 15 May Manifest Gallery DRAWN

Dear Art Lover,

     Only two days left in Manifest Gallery’s toughly juried exhibition, DRAWN 2015.  Thirty six works by 27 artists were chosen out of  1188 entries from 394 artists.  I am thrilled to announce that TWO of my Nitram charcoal and pastel drawing made it into this special event.  I hope that you may be able to see the exhibit.  

DRAWN 2015 dates:
17 April : opening
15 May : Final Day of Exhibition 

Manifest Gallery
2727 Woodburn Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
www.manifestgallery.org

You may see my contributions to the exhibition [besides this detail in their promo pic] in my previous post here:

http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2015/04/manifest-gallery-drawn.html

Thank you so much for your interest in the arts! 

Kelly

P.S.  Happy happy birthday, Sweet Aunt Christine!

Manifest Gallery DRAWN

Dear Art Lover,

TONIGHT in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Manifest Gallery, is an art opening.  36 works by 27 artists were chosen out of  1188 entries from 394 artists.  I am thrilled to announce that TWO of my charcoal and pastel drawing made it into this special event.  I hope that you may be able to see the exhibit.  It goes for almost a month.

DRAWN 2015 dates:
17 April : Opening Reception [sadly, I will not be able to attend, but a party is a party!]
15 May : Final Day of Exhibition 

Manifest Gallery
2727 Woodburn Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
www.manifestgallery.org

 

Here are the drawings of mine:

Portrait of Niccolò da Uzzano (After Donatello)

64 x 46 cm (25" x 18")
charcoal with pastel / carboncino con pastelli
grey Roma-brand paper

http://www.borsheimarts.com/charcoal-drawing/2008/niccolodauzzano.htm

and:

Écorché -- The Archer

64 x 46 cm (25" x 18")
charcoal / carboncino
Firenze-brand paper

http://www.borsheimarts.com/charcoal-drawing/2008/ecorche.htm

Peace,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Don Elliot Franklin Barry Gallery Indianapolis

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Happy birthday to Don Elliott!  Recently one of my long-time art newsletter readers asked me how I have built my art career.  Hmmm, I thought my art newsletter was a large part of sharing this journey.  Hahha, oops!  But, nonetheless, one of the things that I do is exhibit my art and do it in a place that permits me to meet new people.  Such was the case when I invested a whole lot of money to exhibit in New York City in 2005 (when I lived in central Texas).  

That event cost me around $10,000 (all on credit cards, I may add, a scary risk for me).  However, before that exhibit weekend was over, I had met Don.  He became one of my collectors then, as well as my new gallerist.  I remember clearly when he said to me, “Kelly, I love your work, but I must admit that it is going to take some time to develop a market for nudes in Indianapolis.” 

Not only do I appreciate his honesty, but I also feel really grateful that he has stuck by me all of these years when another gallerist might not have taken on the challenge of the Midwest.  Don has placed my artworks in collections in the USA and in Canada.  When I need advice on selling, I call him. When I need a frame that compliments my art, I give the project to Don.

 

So, “Cheers!” to a great guy.  Here are just a few of my artworks that he currently has on exhibit at the Franklin Barry Gallery… go on, visit.  Indianapolis has a lot to see!  [Don even has some notecards of images I took of the city during one of my many visits there.]

Franklin Barry Gallery / The Frame Shop
617 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Tel. 317.822.8455
Contact: Don Elliott Web site: www.franklinbarrygallery.com

“Lei” and “Lui” sold together or separately.  36” x 10” oil on canvas

“Towards Siena” 24 x 16 inches, oil on board

“Il Dono” (“The Gift”), 25 x 18 inches, charcoal and pastel on brown Italian paper

“Daydreaming of Yesterday,”  18 x 25 inches, charcoal with pastel

“L’Inverno” (“Winter”), 18 x 25 inches, pastel with charcoal

One of my functional bronze artworks: 

“Oh Boy!” (5 male figures in relief, wall hung), 15 x 9 inches, bronze mirror

And these artworks that are not on my Web site, a charcoal drawing “After Prud’hon” and a small acrylic painting from Fiesole, Italy, titled, “Buon Appetito!”:

Franklin Barry Gallery / The Frame Shop
617 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Tel. 317.822.8455
Contact: Don Elliott Web site: www.franklinbarrygallery.com

Happy Birthday, Don, and thank you!

Landscape Painting Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I will write more about the wonderful stone carving symposium in Castelvecchio di Pescia in northern Tuscany as I get my thousands of images organized.  (Should we still call digital images ‘photographs’?  hmmm, I have always had a problem with labels and categories.)  In the meantime, I am spending part of my day away from the computer and getting back to my adored charcoal drawings.  

Before I took off for my stone adventure, I went landscape painting with a couple of friends around Florence.  I have always been a bit intimated by landscapes… Nature offers us so much information that she can sometimes shut me down and I mentally wander off on some obscure path.  However, in my recent attempts with pastel in the gardens around Firenze, it became apparent to me that my first hurdle would be to get enough DARKS into the composition.  

Artists often hear about how the light of day is bouncing around and shadows are just not as dark as one might think.  (Perhaps this is more a conversation that emerged from painting from photographs since the human eye sees nuance more than a machine can decipher.)  But I need more dark.  So, I put away my pastels for the time being and decided to create tonal studies in charcoal.  I am a bit biased towards monochrome images anyway.

Isn’t my friend pretty, sitting there enticing all of the zanzare (mosquitos)?  I should have painted her in the grasses… In any event, this was during the time that I was not living in a home of my own, with most of my belongings packed up in boxes waiting for my new flat to become available.  Alas, I had no access to my tall easels.  I have a short torso and thus, once I sat down for the view I wanted, everything changed.  Haha.  

I decided that the light foreground grasses would become my subject instead of the obvious Florentine scene along the famous Arno River.  However, I first wanted to put in the darker background objects.  So, I sat up as straight as I could, wiggled around to get the information I needed, … and did I mention “going off on a tangent.”  ???  I got totally absorbed in drawing the land across the river!  Next thing I was aware of was the sun encroaching on our lovely patch of shade.  I have always liked the idea of sunshine, but not often the reality.  Or at least my being directly under her gaze.  

So, the grasses never got drawn.  However, I had a lovely nap.  It is what summers are for, right?

Happy birthday, Aunt Sue!