San Giovanni St John Summer Solstice Rituals

Dear Art Lover,

I love Nature’s holidays.  And while I am moving slower than usual these days, I tend to post and share stuff on Facebook.  Here was part of my Italian lesson today:

Kelly Borsheim

5 hrs ·

la mia vicina mi ha appena detto, se ho capito bene, che quando lei era giovane, c'era qui, nella nostra zona/paese, una tradizione per il giorno di san giovanni. se non piove, ma gli erbi nel campo sono bagnati, la magia esista [come oggi?] le persone chi sentano male devano prendere le fiori di san giovanni [gialli?] in vaso con olio di olive. poi riposano nude fra gli erbi bagnati in campo [non lo so per quanto tempo]. un giorno dopo, mettano questo olio sopra il corpo dove sta male e un miracolo, guarisce! e vero? pero se non funzione, sembra un giorno divertente, o almeno .... diverso. ma vorrei sapere se ho capito bene da lei e anche se questo tradizione continua. grazie e buona festa di san gioanni!

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Giovanni Pescatore Mio giorno

Mariacristina Aranel Fëaloss È l'olio di iperico, Kelly.
Un fiore giallo che cresce nei campi in questo periodo. Lo raccogli, lo metti in un barattolo coperto di olio di oliva o riso o altri e lo lasci al sole per un mesetto.

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Ilaria Corno ...si tratta dell'olio d'Iperico, si fa macerare olio e fiori freschi al sole per 15-20 giorni, poi si filtra, ottimo per scottature e problemi di pelle

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Mariacristina Aranel Fëaloss La tradizione delle erbe e i fiori di San Giovanni (che deriva dalla celebrazione celtica di Litha, il solstizio d'estate) è una cosa diversa.
Durante la notte si raccolgono nella campagna erbe e fiori, si mettono a bagno con acqua e la rugiada, si lasciano riposare, e con quell'acqua si lava il viso e si fanno riti. Si dice abbia proprietà belle per la pelle... E un pizzico di magia. ;)

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October Ottobre Non importa, qualcosa che faccia con ""l'olio d'oliva""". . . molto BENE !!!

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Then, my fabulous friend and Italian cooking teacher Judy Witts Francini shared this gem with me [and it is in English], so enjoy especially with a Waterhouse painting heading up the text!

http://thebittersweetgourmet.com/st-johns-eve/

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Now to share with you my own little Pagan-esque  painting:

Reflections of a Studio Model

60 x 50 cm [about 23.6 H x 19.7 W]
Oil Painting on Canvas
© 2015
AVAILABLE $1800 - contact Kelly Borsheim

More views:  http://www.borsheimarts.com/painting/2015/ReflectionStudioModelWeepingWillowTree.htm

Peace,

Kelly Borsheim, artist

Solstice Nature's Holiday

I took this shot from my window on 7 Dec.

Dear Art Lover,

     The solstice has arrived again.  I hope that you have peace in your life, as I have found with my new life in Italia.  I will get to move into my new home just before Christmas and each day, I find myself happier than the day before.

    Today, I was amused after we picked up a couch that was offered to my landlord.  However, they made their calculations and knew that it was going to be difficult to get it INTO this old Italian stone house.  My images here showed how they were successful in getting the long couch into the front door, but not around the bend in the hallway and staircase.  Plan B was to take the couch back outside and shove it in through the window of the room of its final destination [one floor up from a slanting hill ground surface].  The boys had to remove the shutter frames and interior windows to make enough room through the stone walls.  My images are not so good since I needed to help the guys from inside the house, but I hope you may get the idea.  

I wrote about this sort of thing before here:

     http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.it/2007/11/moving-furniture-florence-italy.html

     While I have been painting in the house next to mine, I gave that up to prepare gifts and help with the many decisions in furnishing an empty home. 

Thank you for your interest and best wishes for the season.

Ti voglio bene and Happy Solstice!

Kelly

Umag Croatia

Dear Art-loving friend,

     So, in order to remain legal with the Italian government, I have now relocated to Croatia.  Umag, to be exact, is a city by the sea in a region called Istria.  It is not very far from Trieste, Italy, and in Istria, many people speak Italian.  Some, I am finding out, also speak English.  As of this writing Croatia is a part of the European Union (EU), but not yet a part of Schengen Territories.  It is that latter that concerns me. Croatia expects to become a part of Schengen around mid-2015, so I am lucky that for now, I have Croatia as a solution to my escaping Schengen for 90 days.

     I am thus far enjoying being in a place in which I know so few, and yet feel fortunate that my new landlady and her family have been wonderfully kind to me, especially in inviting me to share Christmas Eve with them.  Umag has a lovely harbor and old town, which I hope to explore more as I get over the cold that I acquired in Florence not so long ago.  I am mostly over it, but I tend to hang onto those sort of things longer when I do not take them seriously and start getting too active when I am still fighting the virus. 

     Anyway, here are some of the images I have shot thus far.. I hope you enjoy the serenity in them.

This is what is left of an old Roman gate; now a "sculpture" gracing the front of City Hall, Umag.

 These that follow I took during the sunset of the Solstice.  I love Nature's holidays:  One of the few sunny days here recently:

My Christmas Eve... with landlady Miranda and her family.. Isn't she adorable?  Hard-working too:

Tons of lanterns were lit before their fires lifted them above the old town (the church is outlined in lights.

     And in case you missed my recent art newsletter about Carrara and BLIND stone carvers, please click here:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/2014_12_ArtNews-CarraraBlindStoneCarvers.htm

Thank you.

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     If you are enjoying this blog, the writing and/or the images, you may help keep it coming by supporting the blog… make a donation on the blog itself (in euro or dollars, via PayPal links on this blog site.  Or click on my affiliate link to Amazon.com and as you buy for yourself, Amazon will thank me a wee bit.  A third way you may help is to forward this blog to someone you think may appreciate it.  The more readers, the more comments online, and wallah… lovers of art and Italy [and Croatia] unite.

http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com

Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm,

Kelly 

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Daddy Longlegs

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

One of the benefits of working outside is noticing all of the “critters.” The other day I got to see a single ladybug on my marble “Gymnast” sculpture project. I do not really see ladybugs that often here, and that red round body contrasting with the white marble was fun.

More recently, I approached my marble work to find a Daddy Longlegs hanging out under the figure’s right arm. They are harmless and friendly enough. But I do worry that I will damage one of those delicate legs. I shooed him away, but then realized that my electric rotary tool apparently had no juice. After trying several sockets and wiggling lots of wire parts, I took it into the shop to take things apart.


Inside, one wire just pulled out WAY too easily. Most wire is coated with only the tips showing exposed metal. In this case, this tip had broken off inside the tool. Fixing it was just a matter of cutting away more of the plastic tubing around it and reattaching the wire.


When I returned to my carving site, my Daddy Longlegs friend was back, hiding under the left arm this time.

Nature's holidays are best - happy solstice! The skies were solid clouds (still are) over my home in central Texas, so I missed any chance of seeing the lunar eclipse last night.