Wedding Couple Portrait Painting

Dear Art Lover,

Wedding portrait painting Detail Groom

     So, back in October or November, I posted some images and gave you a description of a challenging project that I had to do. It was requested that I paint a portrait of a couple who are getting married next month. The bride's favorite color is hot pink. The groom wanted his favorite sports teams of the Denver Broncos included (colors are bright orange and navy blue, with a horse symbol) and a crucifix, not just a cross. She wanted the painting done in the style of Seurat... lots of dots and a high key painting (meaning few real dark tones). And of course, none of the photos that I received were the favorite of both of them in the same shot and I could not work from life with the ocean between us. 

     I have received permission from the couple to share the images here of the finished portrait. Meet my sister Danielle and her future husband Joe. So, this past weekend was Danielle's Bridal Shower. Because I was told back in December that I required surgery on my knee [with a six-month recovery time], I had given up the plan to attend the wedding in the US. So back in early January 2017, I shipped the painting secretly to our mother. It was still wet, but I had to go all the way to Firenze, Italia, anyway to ship another painting that I had sold. The packaging was great [Thanks, MBE-Firenze] and the painting arrived safely to the US and surprisingly stayed a secret! Recently, our mother (an artist as well) stretched the painting for me and the groom's grandmother bought the frame. Two of these images are from the shower this past weekend. The others I took here in Italy before shipping the art.  

     I should note that I did not pull off the Seurat look.  Part of that is because a portrait artist has to learn to read feedback from the commissioning client.  People do not always say exactly what you need to hear to do what the speaker wants.  My feel on the feedback that I got was that more realism was desired than what I see in Seurat.  Also, the original comment was, “I really love the lady with the big butt by Monet.”  I could not think of or find a big butt by Monet, but of course, I remember the famous profile of the woman in the park wearing a Victorian-style dress with the added butt poof.  Hahah.  So, I read my sister’s comment as that she likes the high-key color palette and that she enjoys seeing choppy paint strokes.  And I am very happy that she and her future husband love the painting.

     Also... the doctors gave me alternative therapies, so I am preparing to attend my sister's wedding after all. Sweet reunion with my family!

Wedding Portrait Painting, Detail Bride

Art Workshop in Tuscany

    On another note:  Are you interested in traveling to Tuscany, Italy, to take some art lessons?  I have been asked to teach again and we thought this time to try it in the hills, close to my home.  If we get enough feedback, we might try for a workshop in September or October.  I have taught all sorts of things including pastels, charcoal drawing, still life painting, portraits, anatomy, stone carving, and more.  The landscape is lovely here and one idea is to do more of an artist’s retreat.. More painting time, afternoon critiques.. But even if I teach full-time, we are thinking of a small group.. six maximum?  I am open to shaping the class to what YOU want to work on, so please send me your desires about what you want to learn about art.  The location is between Firenze (Florence) and Lucca / Pisa.  If you see my posts on Facebook, you may have a better idea of the landscape and beauty to which I am referring.

Art workshop in Tuscany Italy - send your requests for what to learn

     If you like, please have a look at some of my sculpture online here:

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

Peace,

Kelly

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

Mermaid Bronze Sculpture

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I always loved the Grimm fairy tale of “The Little Mermaid.” Here was depicted a creature who had no soul (but wanted one), but knew what love really was. As a young girl, and even now I suppose, I am touched by the story of her figure falling in love with a human prince, saving his life when his ship capsized, and allowing another girl to take the credit and the joy.

As luck – and the nature of a good story – would have it, the Prince fell in love with the girl he thought saved his life. However, our heroine went through great personal costs (her lovely singing voice traded for a pair of legs to replace her tail, but sharp pains were felt whenever she walked or moved with those legs) and finally met her prince after she transformed on his beach. While he became enchanted by the youngest daughter of the Sea King and loved her in his way, she never gained his romantic love.

As his closest companion, she had to endure watching him marry another. On top of that, she loved him too much to refuse his asking her to dance for them all at the wedding, despite the physical pain the movements gave her. She had no voice with which to complain. The rules of her world dictated that as the sun came up the morning after her beloved had chosen another, her life would end and she would become sea foam, returning to the ocean, her natural life cycle cut way short.

During the night of the wedding, the little mermaid’s older sisters swam to the boat where the festivities were taking place. They, too, had been to see the Sea Witch. They traded their graces for a special knife. If the little mermaid were to use that knife during the night and kill her beloved and his new wife and let their blood run over her legs, she would have her natural life as a mermaid back and could return to her royal family.

The Little Mermaid stood in the dark bedroom of the slumbering newlyweds that night. Love completely overwhelmed her as she gazed down upon them. She could not harm them. She left them there and went to meet the sun. Her body became lighter and lighter. The sea was before her. But she felt herself lifting higher and higher. . . until she began to see small figures in the air beside her.

Because of the pure and unselfish love she had shown, she was being given a second chance to gain a soul. She had become a “Daughter of the Air.” Depending on the joys and sorrows of the children she was to witness, there was a faint possibility that over much time, she could gain a soul. It was not love, but a soul is something, isn’t it? And it is interesting that gaining a soul depended on the behaviours and whims (or love?) of others. Well, Grimm IS the name of the author, after all! Ha.

Sadly, from my point of view, the prince and his bride never understood what happened. They were oblivious to her pain. They never appreciated that in the hands of another, they could have died. They never knew how much she loved them. They never knew what happened to her. And worse, perhaps, they never knew that they could help her in her new search for a soul.

What I always liked about the ending is that idea that we do not know how our choices, our smiles, our groans, affect others. So, should we not do all we can to lighten the load instead of possibly denying one a soul or at least a chance at happiness? I have never seen the downside of a genuine smile.

Art Anniversary Promotion: Get more art for your buck. Hurry, this one-time offer expires on 15 February 2013.