Morning Light at the Vineyard

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

When I first arrived at the Vineyard at Florence (Texas) to hang my solo exhibit there, there was much talk about a pastel drawing that I had just finished the night before. Apparently, just the week before, a couple had gotten engaged on the very spot that was the subject of my artwork! Well, I had been seeking the light …

Shown here is “Morning Light at the Vineyard” from the grounds of The Vineyard at Florence, Texas. This is the backyard of the “Villa Firenze” where my art hangs and you may taste some delicious wines (their award-winning Forte is my favorite). The vineyards themselves are off to the right of this viewpoint.

I used a handmade Italian paper that I brought back to Texas with me. The lightest part of the image is the pure paper. Are the shadows not wonderful! I have sold a couple of giclée fine art reproduction from this image, but will soon have the original back on exhibit at the Villa Firenze.

Come on out this weekend for their spring arts fair and the “Old World Stone Carving Competition.” There will be about a dozen stone carvers working for your dusty pleasure and I will be creating on an angel in pink limestone.

The Vineyard
8711 FM 487
Florence, Texas 76527
Contact: KAMBRAH GARLAND at 512-924-7447 or ph. 254.793.3363
www.thevineyardatflorence.com E-mail: stonecarvingevent@gmail.com
The competition will be judged on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm by no less than 3 independent judges. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places will be given.

Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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And a follow-up on the Greenhouse Gallery’s Salon International 2011 (oil painting competition). I was so excited walking into the gallery with over 400 paintings hung floor to ceiling (what is called “Salon Style” hanging) – two women showed me where my painting was and there was a big white ribbon on it! Whoot! I must admit to a childlike delight (literally jumping in the air) and an overall giddiness throughout the reception … and weekend. The award was the judge’s Honorable Mention. And the painting is “Buskers in Firenze” and depicts my street performing colleagues Mimito and Francis that I met while I was streetpainting in Florence, Italy.

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And I recently received notice that voting for the People’s Choice Award goes on through the 20th of April. I could really use your support in this and I understand that one computer may vote every 24 hours. I hope that you will visit the page below and choose the star rating of your choice by clicking on it. (left start is low score of one while the far right star is a high five).
http://Kellyborsheim.see.me/aw2011

Thank you so much for your interest and support!

Libri Riviste e Fumetti

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Back to memories of Florence, Italy, … I knew that at some point I would paint Piazza Ciompi in Florence. There is a seemingly random-appearing raised platform of stone with square columns and repeating arches over it, right next to a flea market - antique shops that are more like sheds. This platform appears to have had no purpose other than marking one part of an edge of this mid-sized piazza.

During one of my many walks past this structure, I noticed the light filtering into the city and between these square columns. To my delight, a young woman was enjoying a moment in the winter sun reading her book while leaning against one of these columns. I stopped in my tracks and began to work out the painting in my mind. Later, as I got closer, I realized that she was a friend of mine! Even better.

I will introduce this new pastel painting (only a 9” x 12” on panel) this weekend. Her title is named after the sign on the “shed” behind the reading girl. It says simply, ”Libri, Riviste E Fumetti”, Italian for “Books, Magazines, and Comic Books.”

Naturally, you are invited to my last event of the year:

Sunday, December 12, from 2 to 6 pm.
The Curiouseum Arts Weekend inside the Community Renaissance Market
6800 Westgate Blvd. (NW corner of Westgate and Wm. Cannon)
Austin, Texas 78745
Tel.: Ruth: 512.744.3411 and Susan: 512.925.4085

Music lineup:
David Perkoff plays flute and saxophone from 2 – 4 p.m.

The Flying Balalaika Brothers play Russian folk music & a wide variety of other styles from 4 – 6 p.m.

There will also be a fashion show happening at the other end of the building from the gallery. Please pass this one to anyone you think might enjoy this kind of variety on a Sunday afternoon. Thanks!

Flying Balalaika Brothers

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I never can answer the question “How long did it take you to do this?”
But I suppose I can say that technically speaking (if you do not count years of training and drawing), this next work took me two years – to the date even.

On December 1, 2008, I did some “negative shape” drawing exercises from a model named Katie in Florence, Italy. Now, once the drawing is done, you may not be able to tell that I created it by drawing only the dark shapes, relating each non-touching dark shape to the next dark shape. But this is a very powerful exercise that helps me refine my observation and recording of shapes.

As usual, I create these studies with pencil on drawing paper. In the image below, you can see that I did another drawing on the same sheet of paper, but in a different direction since the other drawing was of the entire figure and I needed the length of the paper. I do not always use my sketches to create derivative works, but sometimes I just enjoy the shapes or the lighting or the gesture and cannot get the images out of my mind. Such was the case Katie’s face.


For a couple of years now I have been experimenting with pastels on black paper. And so it seemed natural for me to transfer my pencil drawing onto black paper and fill in the Notan (white and black tones only) design with whites. Wow, what a change of effect!

This artwork is one of the new works I will debut at my last event of the year (and naturally, you are invited):

Sunday, December 12, from 2 to 6 pm.
The Curiouseum Arts Weekend inside the Community Renaissance Market
6800 Westgate Blvd. (NW corner of Westgate and Wm. Cannon)
Austin, Texas 78745
Tel.: Ruth: 512.744.3411 and Susan: 512.925.4085

Music lineup:
David Perkoff plays flute and saxophone from 2 – 4 p.m.

The Flying Balalaika Brothers play Russian folk music & a wide variety of other styles from 4 – 6 p.m.

There will also be a fashion show happening at the other end of the building from the gallery. Please pass this one to anyone you think might enjoy this kind of variety on a Sunday afternoon. Thanks!

Palazzo Vecchio Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Anytime that I receive an invite into someone’s home in Florence, Italy, I try to go. Not just to improve my social life, but because every single space in centro is laid out differently and each one has its charms. I am sure that Medieval Italy never conceived of cookie cutter condos, even though space was at a premium at times. Bathrooms have odd shapes and a tiny window might be snuck in wherever it could fit. And there are often narrow passageways to the rooftops.

I was doubly delighted when I could see the Palazzo Vecchio at night from the terraza on the roof of a friend’s place. The silhouettes of the buildings between me and this seat of Florentine government made for such interesting shapes and I was seeing so much color in what seemed a neutral colored building that I knew I had to paint it.

I hope that you enjoy this work of art, a pastel painting on Firenze-brand paper. I am finding myself more and more drawn into the world of pastel pigments – pure color, as well as the color and light applied to a dark surface. The energy changes so much by the choice of the base. I like mixing warm and cool tones: makes government seem so much more interesting, sì?


Palazzo Vecchio – Firenze, Italia
46 x 64 cm (18” x 25”)
pastel painting on black Firenze-brand paper
$1200 + $20 shipping and handling

Art Reception Sei Divino

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I recently finished hanging another solo exhibit at Sei Divino’s here in Florence, Italy. I am off to Spain tomorrow to visit one of my models (and friend) there. But I am really looking forward to coming back to Italy for the art reception on the 19th, especially since my cousin Heather will be here. She has been invited to play volleyball in a tournament and it will be the first time we have met outside of the US.

Here is the info. The exhibit is open now, with a tentative closing date on the 26th of June. The reception is 6 p.m. on June 19, a Saturday.

Sei Divino Wine & Cocktail Gallery
Borgo Ognissanti 42r, Firenze, Italia [Florence, Tuscany, Italy]
Tel. (011 39) 055.217791 [ or call Kelly +39 334.245.0129 ]

Inaugurazione / Art Reception: 19 Giugno 2010 alle 18:00 +

Artist Kelly Borsheim

Kelly Borsheim è una scultrice americana che ama disegnare e dipingere. Michelangelo ha portata in Italia nel 2004 ed è stato qui a Firenze nel 2007 che divenne una madonnara. E 'stato in via Calimala, che ha imparato ad amare la pittura con i pastelli. Nel suo corpo attuale di lavoro 2-dimensionale, si combina la sua formazione classica presso l'Angel Academy of Art (Firenze) con i suoi disegni in strada, combinando luminosi, pastelli colorati (pigmento puro) con le sottigliezze si può esprimere con il carboncino.

Kelly attualmente divide il suo tempo tra il suo studio nel centro di Texas e in Firenze, Italia. Lei è rappresentata dalla Barry Franklin Gallery di Indianapolis, Il Curiouseum a Austin, Texas; La Galleria Crucible, Norman, Oklahoma (tutti in USA), e al Museo Gilardi, Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italia. Borsheim opere d'arte sono in collezioni private negli Stati Uniti e in Australia, Canada, Italia, Francia, Paesi Bassi, Regno Unito e Nuova Zelanda.

*****
Kelly Borsheim is an American sculptor who likes to draw and paint. Michelangelo brought her to Italy in 2004 and it was here in Florence in 2007 that she became a streetpainter. It was on Via Calimala that she learned to love painting with pastels. In her current body of 2-dimensional work, she combines her classical training from the Angel Academy of Art (Florence) with her streetpainting, combining bright, colorful pastels (pure pigment) with the subtleties one can express with charcoal.

Kelly currently splits her time between her studio in central Texas and in Florence, Italy. She is represented by The Franklin Barry Gallery in Indianapolis; The Curiouseum in Austin, Texas; The Crucible Gallery, Norman, Oklahoma (all in USA); and at the Museo Gilardi, in Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy. Borsheim art works are in private collections throughout the United States and in Australia, Canada, Italy, France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Kelly Borsheim – Borsheim Arts Studio
www.BorsheimArts.com
Tel. +39 334.245 01 29
sculptor@borsheimarts.com


****
Artwork pictured here:
"Le Scale dell'Eros" (The Stairs of Love)
pastelli con carboncino [pastel with charcoal]
68 x 49 cm
copyright 2010 Kelly Borsheim

Please join the artist with her visiting cousin Heather at the art reception on 19th June.
ci vediamo li'! grazie mille.

La Giostra Pastel Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Hello! I suspect you are busy like me, so I just want to spend a short amount of time introducing you to my newly completed pastel and charcoal drawing. She is one of the current Italy-inspired series, specifically of Florence (Firenze, as she is known in her own language). The title of this original artwork is “La Giostra” which means “Merry-Go-Round.”

One of my friends remarked that this is a cool merry-go-round because it invites all ages. The kids will enjoy riding on the horse while the grown-ups can snuggle up in the moon-shaped carriage. In reality, I first fell in love with this giostra in Piazza della Repubblica when I noticed that there was a painting of a bare-breasted woman on the inner wall, between the mirrors. I cannot imagine that even existing in America and I found that quite charming.

However, for various reasons, I decided to replace her with a male nude figure (except for his headband). I borrowed him from Michelangelo, as a nod to one of the most famous offspring from the Renaissance City.

“La Giostra” is 23 x 17 inches. The pastel and charcoal drawing was created on the Roma-brand paper that I brought back to Texas from Italy. She will debut this weekend at my Open Studio here in central Texas. So, please come on out!

Some people have commented that they thought the event was Saturday only, but no – it is both Saturday AND Sunday from noon to 5 pm or so.
More information: www.borsheimarts.com/exhibits.htm

You are Invited -- and Bring Your Friends!

Borsheim Arts Studio
223 Greystone Lane, Unit A, Cedar Creek, Texas 78612
Phone: 512-303-3929

6 & 7 February 2010, Saturday & Sunday
noon - 5:00 p.m. each day

NOTE: In effect now through 28 Feb 2010:

9-year Anniversary Celebration:

January 11 marks the 9th anniversary of when artist Kelly Borsheim sold her beeswax candle business and "took the plunge" to a life as a full-time artist. Here are the ways you can benefit:

• Enjoy a 20% Savings on ALL Giclée orders taken before 28 February 2010! Details: www.borsheimarts.com/giclee.htm
  
• FREE Giclée up to 18" long (up to a $200 value) or 20 FREE notecards with each painting commission received. (Your choice of available images.) Offer expires 28 February 2010. Information about how to commission a work of art, as well as some images of my past commissions, is online at:
  www.borsheimarts.com/commission.htm
  
• FREE shipping and handling on all art purchases (sculpture and 2-dimensional art) arranged from today through 28 February 2010.
  
• Interested in trying out my Layaway Plan? From now until 28 February, enjoy a reduced down payment of only one-third the full price instead of the normal half. As always, no finance charge if payments are made on time. For details, visit: www.borsheimarts.com/pricelist.htm
  

THANK YOU for your interest!

Happy Birthday, Great Aunt Lil!

Erotic Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

It is very frustrating, but sometimes my work is not permitted to be exhibited because of “rules” against nudity in art. This despite the fact that most people are extremely complimentary of the sensitivity in which I portray people in their most vulnerable state (or so they tell me).

So, if you cannot beat ‘em, . . . join ‘em.

And I actually feel a bit excited to be joining the ranks of many of my predecessors, including lots of the “Big Boys” such as Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Théodore Géricault, Rodin, Pablo Picasso, and my friend and mentor Vasily Fedorouk. Even Michelangelo painted quite a lascivious “Leda and the Swan” composition. I suspect that besides the Japanese, Egyptians, and the Greeks, every culture has birthed some form of erotic art.

While exploring various compositions, I was trying to think of a title to inspire me and keep me on track. I was seeking eroticism, not vulgarity. My ex-roommate Elena, from Italy, unknowingly named this pastel and charcoal drawing. She and I happened to be corresponding shortly after I began work on this piece. She often addresses me as “tesoro,” which is Italian for “treasure” and is a term of affection among the Italians.

Thus, I would be happy to introduce to you my first published work of intentionally erotic art.

”Tesoro!”
22” x 16”
Charcoal and Pastel Drawing
Roma-brand paper
$1800 (+ $20 shipping + applicable sales tax)
by Kelly Borsheim

And I wish you a sensuous and joyful 2010 full of passion and amore.

Pastel Drawing Colorist Method Part 2

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog entry about the Colorist Method of applying pastels to a drawing.

OK, in my last entry you saw that I put warm colors (reds, oranges, and yellows) into the light shapes of my disegno and cool pastel colors (greens, blues, and purples) into my shadow shapes.

Now, I am ready for the next step. That is, trying to put in more "accurate" colors into each shape. I put the word “accurate” in quotes because this is actually a subjective term and up to the artist to decide. Here in today’s first image, you may see that I have started with the angel’s wing and have begun to add blues to the face. Based on my experiences painting in the streets of Florence, Italy, I have learned that I do not want to fill-in the shape entirely. Instead, I prefer to use big scratchy type of strokes that allows plenty of the color underneath to have its day in the sun. (You can tell I used my right hand this time; see the direxions of the strokes?) I also know from street experience that I will turn this nasty look into something more refined once I blend the pastels.


In this second photo, you can see that I have now blended the face. And, of course, I see all of my horrible shape errors. Those facial features are so off! And just like street painting, blogging about my works-in-process is like hanging my dirty undies out over a busy street.

I worked all day again today until late afternoon when I headed to Zecchi’s Art Supply to buy some specific pastel colors before I went to draw at my Open Studio tonight.

I must prepare for my exhibit’s publicity and invitations, so please bear with me as I get past my press deadline soon.
Thanks and thanks for reading!

If you like what you read and would like to help support this blog(ger) / artist, click here . . .

Pastel Drawing Colorist Method

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

The first time I worked with pastels was in the streets of Florence, Italy, as a street painter. Everything about it, it seemed, was new: working large and flat, working with chalk, working with color, and a very different type of physicality as compared to carving stone. I am still not sure what I think of my work as one of the madonnari.

However, I meet interesting people and some fans. One is our newest street painter, a young woman of about twenty. One night she told me that what she liked best about my work is that I am “all over the map.” Doh! And I thought that I had found my voice years ago. Also, all art marketing and business gurus will tell you that Picasso was the exception. A professional artist cannot do too many kinds of art to survive and be taken seriously. And I am no Picasso (I am generally happy about that.)

So, here I am preparing new art for my exhibition here in mid-April, and EXPERIMENTING. Wait, I do not have time for that! This is a SOLO show. I must fill that space with only my work. Am I TRYING to sabotage my career? Hmmmmm. No, My theme is light emerging from darkness. And I want to explore this as thoroughly as one artist can in a short period of time.

Anyway, I recently read an article on EmptyEasel.com titled The Colorist Method of Painting with Pastels (A Four Stage Tutorial) by Robert Sloan

Following this pastel drawing method loosely (I seem to have a difficult time following rules), I created my disegno (drawing/design) in charcoal on a piece of Roma paper that is about 46 x 64 cm.


The first step in this pastel lesson is to place different warm colors in the light shapes, while different cold colors should be put into the shadow shapes. I was pretty straightforward on how I color-coded my design, only adding a darker purple in the darker shadows of the face and a lighter purple for the face in shadow.

No doubt this will be one of my projects in which some of my collectors will love while others will say, “Please stop this and go back to what you are good at.” I wonder what I will think?

Allora, if you are curious about some of my street paintings here in Florence, Italy, just skim this blog from the very beginning September 2007. Or befriend me on Facebook – I have a photo album there of some of my work on Via Calimala.

White on Black Portrait Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In keeping with this month’s anniversary celebration and my sale on portraits, I wanted to share with you this portrait drawing I created back in November from a live model.

I have been using charcoal drawings to learn more about subtlety in tones. Anyone who knows me knows that expressing subtlety is a challenge for me. I did many drawings with only charcoal on paper. In recent months I began to draw on a non-white paper and then add white pastel to push up the contrast of my images a bit.

This naturally led to my trying to create subtle changes in tone with only the white pastel on the paper, because if the white pastel and the black charcoal mix, one gets mud -- or a bluish white. Normally, I hate the tool called “the stomp,” but when I want to push my Rembrandt pastel into the paper I am using, nothing beats the stomp. A stomp is basically a very tightly rolled paper about the size of a short pencil that has both ends sharpened to a point. I also use this tool, plus various erasers to create a variety of whites.


In this portrait drawing of my friend and fellow artist Dana, I used only white pastels on a black Canson Mi-Teintes paper they label as “Luxurious paper with subtle texture.”
If I literally only drew what I considered to be the lights, the face would appear to float in all of this black, perhaps a bit like the Phantom of the Opera. And Dana has dark hair. So I chose to imply some hair and a neck.

This look is certainly different from others I have tried, but I am loving the exploration and what I am learning about form from these types of portrait drawings. I hope you find this portrait “Dana” of interest. She is available, too. How about that?

“Dana 2008”
original portrait drawing
by Kelly Borsheim
black textured Mi-Teintes paper
with white pastels
16 x 12 inches
$150 + $20 shipping (anywhere)

Street Painting Michelangelo Florence, Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

It may sound strange, but I paint in the street. In Florence, Italy, we street painters are called madonnari. Yesterday, I chose to draw Michelangelo’s Libyan Sibyl from the Cappella Sistina in Vatican City, Italy. I was fortunate enough to be assisted by this charming little gal from Canada. And thanks to her mother who took this image of us on my camera for me.

I try to save all of my “wet wipes” for when the kids come to help me. It seems a bit rude for me to invite people’s children to paint in the street and then send them on their way as a dirty mess. In truth, I enjoy watching how each child takes to the cleaning part of the job. Some are really cute in their methods, some thorough, some not at all interested in washing their hands.

I have to admit, I am as fascinated by the process of creating a drawing as much as the next guy, maybe moreso. Hence the following image -- I like how the street is visible as I pick and choose which parts I want to develop first.

Normally, I am not much of an orange person -- the color is just too happy for me. But there are exceptions, usually when I see orange in Nature. However, this particular work of Michelangelo’s moves me greatly and any other color than orange might change the effect in a less impressive way. I also love drapery.

Here you see the work just before I called it a night. The distortion from the camera angle and lens is much better on this side. I took another shot standing at the head, and . . . oh, my . . .


Not being much of a morning person, I started this pastel drawing around mezzogiorno (noon). I think I washed up around midnight, but in truth, the reason that I did not finish the art is because I have more friends now than before. For example, my ex-roommates Dragana and Elena brought aperitivo to me in this evening since I was unable to leave my work and I took a bit of a break around dinnertime. We rarely get to see each other now that we live in different homes.

My last image for this post is of the destruction of my work. Granted the patterns in the stone street determine most of the movement of the water, I still find the apparent randomness intriguing. I was really happy with this drawing (except for the feet) and felt sad that I had not done it on paper the way many madonnari work on occasion. But what could I do? I must scrub the street painting away so that the next day, another artist may begin.

White Pencil Drawing of Nude Male Figure Florence Italy

Cari Amici,

Not too long ago, I hired one of the many charming Italian models here in Florence to pose for other artists and me for a two-hour sketch (including breaks). Since sculpting the bronze “I am You”, I became even more interested in how different individuals or specifically even men and women carry themselves.

So, on this evening, I asked Mauro to try to imitate the pose that you saw in the charcoal drawing of Ilaria that I posted yesterday. He really could not get into the pose, which I found interesting. But he did an acceptable job of holding the gesture that he did give us.

Here you see my work of a white pastel pencil on black paper. I am really enjoying this idea of light from darkness. I hope you do as well.
His price is 125 USD, plus $20 for shipping and handling. Contact me if you are interested in “Mauro in Light.”
Thank you for reading.

Kelly

Street Painting In The Rain - Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,
I debated about whether or not to bother with street painting on Saturday, May 17th. The chance of rain was 50/50 and I have so much work to catch up on, but I really need to earn some euros. So, I worked in the studio during the morning and watched the sky on occasion.

My friend Francesco came by two days before on his way to rowing and said hello while I was working. He later told one of my roommates that although he liked the drawing I was doing (a copy of a Bouguereau), he wondered if I might connect with my audience more if I drew something Italian or better – from the Uffizi. I have heard from many Italians over my years here that there is an interesting dynamic occurring in Florence between depending on the Renaissance for fame and beauty, and wanting to birth new art. Some feel that Florentines are generally having a difficult time with change. It is easy to understand the desire to change when your past is not so desirable, but what if your past is really great?

Allora, I decided to try a work from a famous character in Italian art history, the artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio. The work I am copying here is the “Sick Bacchus” from 1593. At least one American remembered that he had seen the original work when he and his wife visited the Galleria Borghese in Roma.

I rather enjoy the shapes of the lights in the face of this figure. I like the abstract quality in this method of working that I am learning here in Florence. I am still struggling with the brightness of pastels. I always seem to be looking for the darker colors and feel a bit limited. But I am sure that I simply need to learn more about color.

I had some strange experiences on this day with audience reactions. I was on my hands and knees, as is often necessary for viewpoint/perspective reasons. And a man walked around to the top of my drawing and asked me if I spoke Italian. I responded, “Si, poco,” with the waggling hand gesture of “a little bit.” And in Italian he said, “It is dangerous for you to work in that position.” He actually used the word ‘pericoloso’ (dangerous). And he waved and walked away. Wow. What am I supposed to do with that? Well, at least he walked around to speak to my face! ;-)

Later on, during the rain, another man walked by and said, “Caravaggio e incazzato.” [That does not look right for some reason (vowels, I think).] The thing is that it was spoken quickly as the man was walking away from me and I simply heard ‘Caravaggio’ and ‘cazzo’. That latter word is Florentine slang for a man’s member and is considered vulgar, even while it is used quite frequently in the streets of Firenze.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions about a potential insult, I asked Matteo, my fellow home-bound madonnaro, to explain. He told me that the man was saying that Caravaggio was angry now. Ok, I understand the words, but the meaning? Was the original artist upset that I was recreating his work in the streets or . . . Matteo said in Italian, “No, he means that Caravaggio is angry because the rain interrupts your work.”

And later, my coinquilina (roommate) Elena explained the different words that I had confused. ‘Incazzato” means angry, but a very strong, passionate word compared to the more usual ‘arrabbiato’ or ‘furioso’. She suggested that a “lady” might not use ‘incazzato.’ So, I sometimes swear like a sailor (as my father laments) in English, and if I keep hanging out in the streets, maybe I can soon start sounding like a Florentine!

I asked a couple of tourists to take some shots of me while working and include a couple here. In these, I have taken some powdered pigment (black) that I bought at Zecchi’s Art Store and am spreading it around by rubbing it into the pavement. Some madonnari mix the powder with alcohol or water and apply it with a brush, but since the rain was about to start, I figured I could just play in the “mud.”

One thing that I have learned from the rain is that once the drawing is wet, it is best not to touch it. My colleagues have taught me that if I cover the part I want to draw next (if I do not have enough plastic to cover all), then once the rain subsides, I can uncover the pavement and continue working in a new section.


Shortly after this last image was taken, I left. The rains were off and on and I decided that my time was better spent working in the studio. I have two charcoal drawings in the upcoming exhibit:

2008 Annual Exhibition of the Angel Academy of Art
Via San Niccolò 88/r
Florence, Italy
Tel. 055 246 6737
Dates: 23-24 May (Maggio) 2008, Friday and Saturday hours: 10:00-18:00
Reception: 22 May (Thursday evening): 18:00-21:00

Since I work at the school, I will be very busy this week, cleaning up the studio and helping install and strike the exhibit. I hope to share this exhibit with you as events unfold.

Thank you for reading!

Street Painting Madonnari - Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,

On Thursday, May 15, I began another street painting on Via Calimala in Florence, Italy. This time, I challenged myself with a Bouguereau – a child’s face. He created the original painting ”La Tricoteuse” (“The Little Knitter”) in 1882.

A bit of a stressful thing about street painting is that while your good days happen in public, but so do your bad days. I have learned that major errors that happen in the beginning of creating a drawing usually are a constant struggle throughout the process. In this case, it is difficult to get rid of the poor attempt and start again. You can see here in this first image that I have already done a horrible job with the eyes. I never did get them right (or the level of contrast on the shadow side of the face, the mouth, the chin, etc.).


The mother of the two German children that I invited to draw with me took this second image. The rules of the madonnari state that no other person is allowed to draw in our spaces. But those kids were so cute and interested and I happened to have a large area of white background, so . . . occasionally, rules must bend for the greater good. And yes, I did receive the mother’s permission to post this image of her children.


I madonnari (the Italian word for street painters) all had a large street painting festival in Nocera Superiore, south, near Naples on Friday and Saturday. I really wanted to go, but with my never-ending influenza, I worried that a trip might set me back again. However, since all the madonnari would be gone the next day, Claudio (the organizer) told me that I could leave my drawing that night and keep working on it the next day. I decided to take advantage of this and work at a slower pace. This next image is how much I had completed by midnight.

I worked in the studio on Friday morning, my last day with the model Ernesto. When I returned to my square on Via Calimala at around 2 p.m., here is what the street cleaner did with my drawing. You can see a lot of evidence of the texture of the street. Some spots, such as the two on the girl’s neck, do not accept pastel well.


Most of the drawing is still intact, so I set about repairing her, starting of course with the face. But shortly after that, the rains came – again! Allora, my one day as the sole working madonnari in Florence was a wash. I returned to the studio to work on my unfinished écorché drawing and prepare him for the upcoming exhibition this Thursday.

Ciao domani,
Kelly

PS Happy Birthday, Dad, and also to Aunt Chris.