Art and Mathematics

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I get pretty frustrated when I hear again the old argument about how art in schools is an option and mere fluff in the education of a child. Creating art is not just expression, it is problem solving. And art is mathematics. I say this as a former math major in university. As an artist I am constantly using one form of math or another.


People tend to tell me that math belongs to the realm of the left brain hemisphere (logical lobe). But I see it as right brain (the spatially thinking side), aided by the left lobe’s strengths. Like the notes on a page of sheet music, mathematical formulas are only symbols representing something else.

I had a real problem (not like those crazy-speeding-train-word-problems in my mathematical youth). This was the second time that I tried to place an order with a limestone supplier only to get absolutely no response! [And yes, they are still in business!] So, needing a large stone and having just returned from Italy, I took out my tape measure and started eyeballing a couple of limestone bases that I had bought for various exhibits. I got lucky and found one just large enough.

While I hated to give up a lathe-turned tapered stone cylinder, I also knew that if a quarry had chosen to go to the expense to shape this stone, she had to be a beaut. And she is!
But I needed a 4-sided pyramid shape (missing the top point), not a circular form. So, out comes the math work (Mr. Phillips would be proud) . . . and I only had one shot at it. That is what makes stone carving so exciting!

Here are a few progress images, as well as the finished stone. This is part of my bronze and stone figurative sculpture titled, “Against the Dying of the Light”. I received this order just as I was leaving for Italy and he is now almost complete!

Pratolino Sculpture Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my final post in this series about the Parco Mediceo di Pratolino, I wanted to talk more about the grounds. My absolute favorite part was how large and old so many of the trees are. I must admit that I had a hard time NOT climbing them. However, it is forbidden there and since this park is under renovation, I certainly want to respect the rules (this time!). The brochure states that there are over 900 trees that need to be monitored in the monumental areas.

After the sudden deaths of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 17 October 1587) and his second wife Bianca Cappello, their villa and grounds were abandoned. Many sculptures were moved to the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy.

Today, there are information signs showing sketches of the former villa, of which I include images here.


Granduke Ferdinand III of Lorraine brought the park to life, but turned it into a romantic garden in a style that was popular at the time. In 1872, the Russian Prince Paolo II Demidoff bought the estate. One of the structures still standing is called The Villa Demidoff and I include here an image of a sculptural decoration high up on the front corner of the building, perhaps a coat of arms.


Walking across the vast green lawn, I was delighted to recognize a sculpture by Lorenzo Bartolini – and correctly so! Meaning that I am happy that I am starting to become familiar with more of the Italian sculptors to the point of being able to recognize their work before being told whom the artist was. Pictured here is “The Demidoff Monument.” You may see a lot of his plaster originals used to create his naturalistic marbles in the Accademia in Florence (where Michelangelo’s “David” lives).



Not far from this spot there is a symmetrical split staircase. At each turning point, there appears to be a tunnel underneath, but everything is locked up, so one can only imagine. Still, there is the same grotto-like mixture of (some painted) stone and brick, like what you see behind Giambologna’s Giant not far away.



This last image is a detail shot of what is left of the stairs. I just love this Italian combination of stone and brick! And I am not sure, but those might be caper plants. I have been told by a couple of knowledgeable friends that capers only grow in walls.


Since 1981, the grounds have been the property of the Provincia di Firenze, with the intent of using them as a public space. There is still so much work to be done and much of the land is closed. However, it is a lovely space and there are gems to see right now. The Parco Mediceo di Pratolino is open mainly from May to September. Free.

Seashells and a Dragon

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my last post, I told you about Giambologna’s gentle giant sculpture in Pratolino, Italy. If you were to follow the path in front of the pond to the right, circling the brick and stone figure of Il Colosso dell'Appennino (“The Apennine Colossus”), you would discover … a dragon!


In the mid-1500s, Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 17 October 1587) hired architect Bernardo Buontalenti to create a holiday house of sorts for his amore, the Venetian Bianca Cappello. Buontalenti was also a stage and theatrical designer (and even has a flavor of gelato named after him!), which perhaps made him the perfect choice to design this fantasyland, blending technology with nature. It is said that he created “The Garden of Wonders” because of its “artificial grottoes, water tricks, and statues.” Most signs of this fun architecture are gone now.

However, behind the sculpture of the giant and under the dragon lies one of the artificial grottoes, inside of the gate you see in the image. The highly textured walls are decorated with sea shells and colored patterns, in a very different sort of mosaic. You may see the dark entryway of a tunnel or cave just south of the center of the second image



I was reminded of my visit to Hellbrunn Palace, just south of Salzburg, Austria. The backdrops for the Wasserspiele trick fountains had a similar textural effect. And of course, a mosaic of seashells makes sense when it come to fountains and water tricks.

I find this recollection interesting considering that Francesco is reported to have started this villa and gardens for his future wife Bianca Cappello, while he was still married to his first wife Johanna of Austria. Reportedly, Francesco’s father Cosimo I de' Medici decorated significant parts of Florence with a more Austrian taste to make Johanna feel more welcome. I wonder what Francesco’s thoughts were . . .

Johanna of Austria does not appear to have had a happy life in Tuscany and her untimely accidental death resulted in plenty of rumors, especially after the wedding of Francesco and Bianca. Oddly enough, Francesco and Bianca died on the same day and the villa was abandoned for some time. If you would like to read more about the circumstances of these deaths, just click on the names in this blog post.

Scientific Itineraries in Tuscany

Discover Tuscany: Includes link to more images

Giambologna Sculpture Pratolino

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Before I left Italy, I wanted to go see the huge sculpture by Giambologna in the Parco Mediceo di Pratolino. This free and mostly green space is about 12 km from Florence, along the road to Bologna.

I would have taken some images of the beautiful scenery up in the hills on the way there, but I was a passenger on the back of an Aprilia racing bike and really wanted to hold on. [At one point, I felt an instant and dramatic pain that made me wonder if somehow I had gotten an electric shock from the moto. After disembarking from the bike, I was told, “Oh, that was the sting of a wasp as his ass went through his head: What you might call ‘roadkill’.” True enough: About five minutes into the park, I had forgotten about the small red raised bump the size of a dime on my forearm.]


From 1568, the Park in Pratolino began as a private estate of the Medici family, Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 17 October 1587) is reported to have built the space designed by architect Bernardino Buontalenti for his then mistress-later second wife Bianca Cappello. Giambologna created his giant figure titled Il Colosso dell'Appennino (“The Apennine Colossus”) in 1579-1580.




The figure is so cool, with the beard becoming a wonderful compositional device that also adds so much emotion to the sculpture. Signs say that the sculpture is made up of brick and stone, but I cannot quite figure that out. The bricks can be seen in a few places, where one can glimpse the underlying sculpture. The stone part, with its stalactite shapes and textures, strikes me as more like cement. In Roma six years ago, I heard a tour guide say that cement was actually invented by the Romans – and centuries before I ever thought it existed. Tour guides are not always accurate, but the thought does give me pause…

There is an artificial grotto underneath him (more about that in the next post) and in front is a large fish-stocked pond. This pond has the largest lilies and pads that I have ever seen: appropriately beautiful.


I love this view of the giant through the woods. Imagine approaching such a thing for the first time, not knowing it was there. You might wonder if that was truly a face that you could see in-between patches of green. This sculpture is truly fascinating.


I include here a few images by sculptor Simon Steele, including this last one, taken from a distance. It is a good composition, but also shows you how large this sculpture is in comparison to the land. And the centuries-old trees here are simply gorgeous!

The park is generally open from May through September and is free.

Giambologna’s most famous sculptures include the bronze “Fountain of Neptune” in Bologna, the first commission that made his famous; the marble “The Abduction of the Sabines” (incorrectly translated as “The Rape of the Sabines” and also given its title by someone else after his composition was completed); and the bronze Mercurio in the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy.

Other links of interest:
Scientific Itineraries in Tuscany

Discover Tuscany: Includes link to more images

Tuscan Vista Pastel Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This next artwork was created as my way of easing into en plein air painting. This is the unforgettable view from my bedroom window in the countryside outside of Florence, Italy. Landscape artists tend to tell me that they do not understand how I can go life drawing since the figure is so complicated. But as an artist who started with the human figure, landscape painting has always seemed intimidating to me. There is so much information!

So, I sort of cheated, I guess. Instead of being out in the open air, I set up my easel inside the house next to the bedroom window. Each night (that I was home), I drew for about an hour or so. At first, I thought I would just make a square composition because that was all that I could see from one vantage point. But later, I decided that I liked having more on the right, with the distant hills and more olive trees in the foreground.

I feel lucky to be here. And I am enjoying my love affair with pastels. And, of course, with Tuscany.


“Tuscan Vista”
46 x 64 cm (18 x 25")
pastel painting on dark green Firenze paper
copyright 2010 Kelly Borsheim
$1800 + $20 shipping (+6.75% sales tax for Texas-based destinations)

Bouguereau First Kiss Streetpainting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Last Monday, I assisted my streetpainting colleague Sukyong (from Korea) in recreating the Mona Lisa in chalk and pastel. In bed by 2:30 am that night, I was up early and streetpainting in Florence, Italy, again by 10 am the next day. My Japanese colleague Kumiko and I had agreed the night before to create William Bouguereau’s “First Kiss” (or as the Italians call it ”Il Premio Bacio”).

I decided on how I wanted to crop the image – the art of the madonnari is to create large works to make a spettacolo and then began making measurements in my space. I then sketched out most of the entire composition in white chalk. Just as I was wrapping that up, Kumiko arrived and we decided that she would create the masculine figure on the left, I would do the girl on the right.


Collaborating is often interesting and I think that Kumiko and I did a good job on this one. Although I have known this sculptor/madonnara for a couple of years now, we have never drawn together. You can see from this second image that she and I start off a little bit differently. While I was thinking of dividing my shapes into lights and darks and then layering in colors, Kumiko started off with a reddish base on the entire face, then adding darks and lights (and neutralizing the colors as she went along). I told her that her method was more like the classical painting method of starting with a campitura or more simply put: toning a canvas with a color that will show through a bit into the design.


After I smoothed all of my layers into the street with my palms and fingers, I stood up and back and had a good laugh. It looked to me as if I have drawn the face of a geisha, not a child! Kumiko agreed, jokingly suggesting that I just add a bit of color to the outer edge of the upper eyelid to finish the effect.


Bouguereau has always been difficult for me to copy because he is so subtle on his tonal contrasts. I have never felt gifted in the art of subtlety. I also love to draw hands and was enjoying this particular challenge today. Here I am laying in the arm (later to be trimmed down a bit).



Several times throughout the day, I offered a stick of chalk to a child. Earlier in the day, I must have met all of the shy kids. Later, two girls accepted. The first one is from England and was doing her “Oh my, this is hard work” pose. A future actress no doubt, her parents admitted. The little blonde girl is from Germany. I do find it fun to let kids participate. While technically, I am not supposed to have anyone help me with my work (unless they have paid the permit fee with me), no one has ever objected to my invitations to the children.




As the night wore on, my friend “Joe” that I wrote to you about a couple of weeks ago returned. “Joe” is the homeless poet from England who stole salmon and mushrooms in order to share lunch with me in the street. Well, he took a liking to Kumiko and I wish that I could share a few images that I took of him. He is very expressive with his hands and his body posture as he crouches down to speak with us.

Joe pulled out a new book he had started for pressing flowers and composed a poem on one page for my friend. To the left of the flowers he wrote:

Kumiko
Wake with a Smile
Walk with Grace
And the Day is Yours

He signed it to the right of his pressings, “So” with the “S” looking more like a long vertical squiggle and the smaller “o” tucked up inside the top curve of the “S.” I would not have realized that was what he was going for, except that he explained it to me. Here Kumiko shows off her gift.


Finally, I leave you with our final efforts. I must confess that the heart frame was actually my idea. This strikes me as funny since I do not particularly like hearts (in design – I tend to think they are too cheesey). However, for some reason the typical rectangular cornice seemed dull and I wanted parts of the wings to extend beyond the image border. I could not figure out how to make a circle around the composition without losing too much space around the figures’ heads, so … my desire for space and extended parts overrode my avoidance of cheese.

I include here a flash image and one with only the streetlight. I could not decide which situation I liked better. I was pleased with our work and Kumiko and I certainly have fun together: Not a bad way to spend my last day in streetpainting during this trip to Italy.

Crocodile Hangs in Church Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

So my last two blog entries were about the streetpainting festival in northern Italy in il Piazzale del Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie (the large square in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace) in the small town of Grazie di Curtatone.

After I finished my work, I took a look at others and also entered the church. I must say that I have never seen a church quite like this one. The sides of the church were lined with wooden columns and sculptures, but some depicted men being tortured and killed. Only, as one of my Italian friends explained, they apparently did not die. This church wanted to show the miracles that have happened, perhaps in this region.

That might even explain why there is a crocodile hanging from the ceiling near the back of the church (see the photo with the chandelier). Apparently a few years back, he was found in the nearby lake. His presence there must have been quite a shock and for at least the last two years, some madonnari have chosen to honor him in their streetpaintings.

Another side note on the wooden columns. Maybe it is just me, but I could have sworn that decorative patterns on these columns and side walls were made with light wooden body parts, namely hands and boobs. Those shapes are interesting and when repeated in lines, create a rather artistic effect. Still, did I really see nude castrated boobs in a church? Davvero?

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