Invite to Personalities Wine Art People Exhibition

Dear Art Lover,

As I began to unpack my art in front of Amerigo and Carmela, proprietors of VinOutlet here in central Florence, Italy, they started having some ideas and seeing possibilities.  They were immediately drawn to some portraits that I had created some time ago of some of my artist friends.  The portraits are a bit unusual in that they are white pastel on black paper.  I did the series out of curiosity.  Before this, I had created tone drawings with a variety of darks (charcoal and pastel) on light paper and I wanted to know how much one could stretch the range of tones by using only white. 

[leggere qui di seguito per questo invito in italiano]

First, the invite:  VinOutlet is featuring some of my artworks and you are invited:

Art Opening:  "Personalities:  Wine, Art, People"

Friday, 9 May:  6 - 9 p.m.

VinOutlet at Borgo Ognissanti 70/r

50123 Firenze, Italia   [Florence (FI) - Italy]

http://vinoutlet.it/

Tel.  +39 055 26 70 495

Come on out for a fun evening and start your weekend well!

Some of the personalities are:

• "Hélène" has been paired up with Negramaro Organic "Pirro Varone."  This red wine comes from Apulia, a region in southeast Italy.  Negramaro comes from a very warm place with lots of personality.  "She is powerful, but not overwhelming," said Amerigo Coli.  "Red is the line that links passion to good food."
  
  
• "Jessica" calls to mind the more elegant Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato "Il Firmato."   This red wine consists of 100% Ruché grapes and hails from Piedmont, the region most northwest in Italia.  She comes from an almost forgotten grape.  It was thought to have been destroyed when many Italian grapes took a hit back in 1910 after some imported plants from the USA included an insect for which Italian (and even Spanish and French) grapes had little immunity.  However, in the 1950s a young priest was sent to the region to try to rebuild it after the war.  He discovered the grape in a small field near the church and shared it with different farmers who revived the autochthonous grape.  This wine conjures images of feminine flowers, having soft and very perfumed scents of rose and geraniums.  Ruché has a 14.5% alcohol content.  She bites, but you do not feel the bite [or so Amerigo assures us!]
  
  
• "Dana" is paired with Tegolaia Travignoli Supertuscan 2005.  This red wine is from Tuscany.  She is a more international wine, but is aged in small French oak barrels.  The smaller barrels give the vanilla or chocolate, sometimes spicy bouquet to the wine.  The phrase "SuperTuscan" refers to a wine made from blends of grapes that are grown in Tuscany, but which have a foreign origin.

I hope you enjoy this collaboration between VinOutlet and Borsheim Arts Studio.  You may access both the wine and the art online, but would it not be much more fun to just come and see us in Florence?

http://vinoutlet.it

http://BorsheimArts.com

Salve a tutti gli amici dell'Arte!

Appena ho mostrato le mie opere ed i miei quadri a Carmela e Amerigo, proprietari di Vinoutlet a Firenze, abbiamo subito iniziato a parlare di idee e cose da fare. Entrambi sono stati attratti immediatamente da alcuni ritratti di miei amici artisti che ho creato qualche tempo fa.
Sono ritratti un po' fuori dall'usuale, sono infatti pastelli bianchi su cartoncino nero. E' una serie di disegni fatti quasi per curiosità. Prima di fare questi in bianco e nero, avevo creato disegni con una varietà di chiaro-scuro (carboncino e pastello) su carta leggera e volevo sperimentare e capire quanto fosse possibile espandere la gamma di toni usando soltanto il bianco.

Alcuni dei miei lavori sono in esposizione da Vinoutlet e siete invitati all'evento:

"Personalità: vino, arte, persone."

Venerdi 9 maggio dalle 18.00 alle 21.00

Vinoutlet Borgo Ognissanti, 70/r

50123 Firenze - Italia

Tel. +39 055 26 70 495

Vi aspettiamo per una serata divertente ed iniziare bene il fine settimana!

Ecco alcune delle personalità:

"Hélène" è stata abbinata al Negramaro "Pirro Varone". Un vino pugliese, proveniente da una regione ricca di sole e personalità. E' un vino con personalità ma non irruento" come dice Amerigo Coli. "Rosso è il trait d'union che unisce la passione ed il buon cibo"

"Jessica" ricorda invece il più elegante Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato. "Il Firmato" è un Ruchè in purezza che arriva dal Piemonte, frutto di un uva riscoperta negli anni '50 che si pensava distrutta dalla filossera arrivata dagli Stati Uniti agli inizi del '900. E' stato un prete delle campagne di Castagnole a rivalorizzarla ed a far arrivare il suo nome ai nostri giorni. Ruchè ricco di profumi floreali di rosa e geranio. Un po' come Jessica, i suoi 14,5° mordono ma dolcemente.

"Dana" è stata abbinata al Tegolaia, Supertuscan 2005, rosso del Chianti Rufina e fra tutti, è il vino di gusto più internazionale, come il personaggio di Dana che ha viaggiato il Mondo in lungo e largo. E' invecchiato in barrique francesi  che ricordano sia la vaniglia che le spezie più piccanti.

Sperando che questa collaborazione fra Vinoutlet e  Borsheim Arts Studio  sia di vostro gradimento  vi aspettiamo numerosi per scoprire il "gusto dell'arte".

http://vinoutlet.it

http://BorsheimArts.com

Wine, Women, and Wood

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my last blog post, I invited you to Florence, Texas, to watch stone carvers at work and see an arts festival at The Vineyard. That happens both Saturday and Sunday.

Now, Saturday NIGHT, is a different kind of event. I will be leaving Florence around 4 p.m. and headed to south Austin. Won’t you join me?

27 March Saturday evening: 6 - 10 p.m.
"Wine, Women, and Wood"
The Curiouseum inside the Village Green South
6800 West Gate Boulevard
Austin, Texas

featuring Kelly's sculpture and 2-d figurative art paired with Fine French Woodworking by Brittany's Thierry Amisse! Add some wine, pate and a demonstration of Petanque (France's version of boccie), and we've (Susan and Ruth) got a VERY curvaceous evening planned! Live music too! For more info, call Susan Buhrman: 512.925.4085 or Ruth Glendinning 512.744.3411


Both events are FREE. Invite your friends too!
Thank you so much.

Fine Art and Wine - Pozzo Divino, Florence, Italy

I attended a fun art opening for my friend Letitia "Tish" Lowe this past Thursday night.
It was held at Enoteca Pozzo Divino (In Italian, most adjectives follow the noun. pozzo divino = 'Divine Well' but also is a nice play: if Pozzo di Vino,
it would mean 'well of wine'). This beautiful building offers wine tasting, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar: Italian staples.
Owner Pino and manager Ernie (Ernesto) are gracious hosts and you should love to visit this place on
Via Ghibellina 144R (R in the address means "red" and denotes a business address), across from the famous Teatro Verdi in Florence, Italy.

Tish had many paintings on exhibit that evening, some of which were portraits of fellow artists. I include here her
rather large and dynamic portrait of Jason. He was on display downstairs in the wine cellar. Is this not just an exquisite setting for beautiful art? 'Love the brick and wine, although
too well-lit to be considered an Edgar Allen Poe setting.
Another portrait is of another artist here in Firenze - Theresa. This image also shows my bronze "Ten" on exhibit.

So, come to Firenze and enjoy good wine, tasty oils and vinegars, and classical art.

For more information about Tish Lowe, please visit:
www.tishlowe.com

For more information about Pozzo Divino, please visit:
www.pozzodivino.it

ciao dopo! (See ya later!)