Guinea and Marble Carving

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I wanted to write some more about art, but this week it has been too cold to carve stone. I spent this past weekend labeling postcards, ordering giclée, and doing many other art-business tasks. Now, I am a bit happy that the weather is not so warm because I am working on a painting for a competition and need not the distraction of the marble.

Art News -- Pastel Workshop Savings:

Robert Adams of Hawaiian Art Journey recently told me that he would like to help celebrate my ten-year anniversary by offering a special savings to you:
$100 off (that is $10 x 10) Registration for Art Workshop "Pastels in Paradise with Kelly Borsheim" in Kona, Hawai'i April 17-22: Register BEFORE 28 Feb.


So, how about that? Now, I would like to leave you with these two images of some of the company I keep when I carve stone. These guineas are half-wild and wander around these parts, mostly kept by a neighbor. I feed them a bit too, which is why there is a jar of bird seed on my work table, blocking the view of my current work-in-progress, the “Gymnast” in Colorado Yule Marble. It would be wonderful if I could finish her before May, but for the moment she waits . . .

Gratitude Artist Life

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

11.1.11 (Today) marks my ten-year anniversary as a full-time artist. Before that, I was running my own business selling beeswax and candle-making supplies from my Web site and, during the winter holidays, shows. Lumina Candles & Art served me well. I had started it in the early 1990s after my friend Jamshid gave me a honeycomb beeswax candle as a gift some years before. At the time I just needed a hobby to compensate for my 60-hour workweek doing image preservation for a photo lab in Austin, Texas.

The preservation job involved retouching negatives with special dyes (sometimes with the aid of a microscope), and then making a print on fiber paper and painting on that. Not airbrush style. My work still looked like a photograph, like the original before damage. I was also fortunate enough to work on projects involving the preservation of images in the collections of such clients as National Geographic and the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, Stokes Imaging Services succumbed due to poor money management. I went down with the ship, but decided then (1995) to leave the photolab industry, learn what the Internet was, and take my hobby business more seriously while I continued to study sculpture.

My friend and fellow lab technician Mark gave me a 2-hour lesson at his home about what the Internet was and how to teach myself how to write my own Web pages using the free resources online. One of the best two hours I ever spent! I built Lumina's business up and quickly learned a lot about Web site content and marketing.


I took the art plunge in January 2001 because I had just spent the previous four months working incredibly long hours with very little sleep. I was up all night packaging beeswax orders to make sure that everyone had the holidays they wanted – at least what I had control over. I remember telling my father that January that I felt like the “Christmas whore” and I was exhausted. But that kind of crankiness also told me that I did not like who I was when I spent four months without making any art. I thought my family deserved better and I gave Lumina to some friends on this day ten years ago.

That first year as a full-time artist, I used up all of the money I had earned with Lumina, mostly in bronze casting. However, I also realized that my art had improved dramatically with full-time attention. To this day, no matter what my other concerns, it is my need to grow my work and express ideas that drives me. The fact that I keep learning more and more is what lifts my spirits.

I can also tell you that this is no easy road. But I have been very lucky and very grateful to all that have helped me along this path. While I still struggle with ideas of what it means to be self-sufficient, my understanding of generosity has expanded. My life is such that I have had to learn how to accept things from others more than most perhaps. I know that each person who buys me a meal, treats me to a museum, gives me clothing or a place to stay for the night, a ride or exposure to something great, tells someone else about my work or even finds me (or becomes) a client, saves me money or time and is part of what allows me to continue my life. Everything is connected. I no longer see a person’s generosity as belonging to “during that time” because I have learned that EVERYTHING that I receive from another FREES me to apply my own earned resources to my larger goals.

Pictured here is my half-life-size bronze sculpture “Reginald.” I began working with the model in the late summer of 2000. The sculpture then sat in my studio for many months while I shipped beeswax all over the US and beyond. I then cast him in 2001. That first casting was sold in October 2001 from my Web site to a gallery in West Hollywood, California. (I still have never physically met this repeat buyer.) Art sales from artist’s Web sites were not so common then. And if I had been surprised by what the Internet allowed me to do with candles and beeswax, I was even more grateful for what it could do and has done for art and artists.

So, with an attitude of gratitude, I want to thank you. No matter what the timing is or the duration of your joining me on this journey, you are a part of it now. Like it or not, we live in a culture which trades in (or values) money or time. Do not ever underestimate the power of a kindness you give another.
How wonderful, really.

Thank you,
Kelly Borsheim

Stone Carving the Head

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have been able to carve stone these last few afternoons – the weather in this part of Texas has been quite lovely and surprisingly warm for winter. Continuing work on my “Gymnast” marble sculpture, I decided that it was time to tackle the head of the figure.

The critical part of myself admonished me to just start on it and botch it early on in the process because I would hate myself more if I did all of that work on the rest of the figure BEFORE ruining the face. Thankfully at my age I fully understand that this is only the voice that spurs me to take care to do my best work possible, but …to get to it. The other reality is that my training is to work the figure all around, developing the composition to the same level everywhere.

When I find myself hesitating, I have learned to stop to figure out what my brain is telling me. When I find myself unable to make one part of the stone carving smaller even when I KNOW it must be done, it is because another section of the stone nearby is way too large. There is another part of my brain unwilling to make the necessary changes because it is still seeing the (spatial) relationship that currently exists. And thus, the next step is to take an action that allows the parts of my brain to come to an agreement. Seriously, this is the way that my brain works.


In this case, I am referring to the fact that I could no longer make myself carve the face smaller until I reduced the larger mass of hair surrounding the face. In these first two images you may see that I have begun to carve away the hair above the ears. I am also beginning to remove the “Helmet Hair” effect, by carving the marble closer to the surface of the temple and forehead. Hair lies on top of the skull, but when pulled back, it is not such a bulky form.

In the last two images, I show you how I did the same thing to reduce the size of the left half of the face of the figure. Because I want her ponytail to fall over the back of the gymnast’s neck in an asymmetrical way, her head remained bulkier on the left side where I had left lots of stone for hair. To help myself see just how much I needed to carve, I redrew my centerline down her back and remeasured.

It is true that everything is relative. And also: that making one change affects the other relationships in the composition. All I can tell you is that one of the best feelings in stone carving is not being able to remember what the stone looked like before you made your cuts. Thus far, I have not botched her face!


An aside: I have been getting a few inquiries about whether or not I will be returning to Italy. I am aware that some people read this blog because I have written so much about that charming country. Yes, I will be returning this spring. And in a few weeks, I will be visiting London. I hope to be sharing some tidbits about my museum visits from that trip as well.

I am at the stage in my stone carving of the “Gymnast” that there will not be dramatic changes happening within one or two days’ work. And with the weather becoming more winter-like even as I write this, my time with this project may become more and more interrupted. I am not sure if it will interest you to see every little detail of this carving, so I will try to share some more of my images of Italy and art in general.

Feel free to send me requests for writing topics. I never want to waste your time.
Thank you!

Art Sale Ten Year Anniversary

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I hope that you smiled a lot through all of these recent holidays and find yourself rested and rejuvenated. I was not expecting to see this event so soon (ha!), but January 11th marks my TENth anniversary as a full-time artist. TEN YEARS! You can bet that I did not accomplish this alone (and I thank you for sharing this journey with me). It is not always an easy road, but I can imagine no other.

To celebrate, I have created several offers related to the number TEN:

* Spend TEN dollars and get $11. For every $10 spent on an original artwork by Kelly Borsheim (paintings, drawings, or bronze or stone sculpture), receive $1 in gift certificates towards your next purchase from the studio.+
* Buy ONE giclée fine art reproduction, get the second for only TEN% of normal price!++ (That is a 90% savings on the second image!)
* The first TEN people who spend $500 or more (that sounds better that TEN hundred dollars, right?) in Borsheim art and/or art products will receive a free calendar filled with images of Borsheim artworks.
*OR you may buy a 2011 calendar for only $10. (That is less than cost, but it works better for this promo, don’t ya think?) Each calendar has all twelve months with large squares on each day for planning or notes. A different Borsheim artwork is featured each month.

This is the best time to add to your art collection, especially if you have been eyeing a significant work, such as the
bronze "Gemini"

Many collectors over the years have taken advantage of my finance-charge-free Layaway Plan.
You can, too, even with these anniversary savings!

These prices will only last until 28 February.

+Fine Print: The qualifying artwork must be available and can be purchased directly from the studio or any authorized gallerist. Gift certificate amount may be applied to the second item at the time that the first is purchased, if desired, to help save on shipping and packaging expenses.

++Fine Print: The second giclée will be the same or smaller size than the one purchased at full price. Size is based on the longest dimension of the image. There is no quantity limit, just make sure that you order an even number of images! Giclée will arrive approximately two-three weeks from order date, so order early for Valentine's Day or other special occasions. You may order multiples of the same image or any combination that pleases you. At this time, however, only images shown on the Giclée page and Rudy's Treacher Collins Fundraiser page are available as giclée.

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Events:

First Friday Gallery Walk - Indianapolis:
THIS Friday, 7 January 2011, 6 - 9 p.m.
Exhibit continues through 15 Feb 2011

The Franklin Barry Gallery at The Frame Shop presents: "Celebrate Kelly Borsheim." Ten Years after the jump to a full-time artist, Franklin Barry Gallery will celebrate Kelly's anniversary with an exhibition of current drawings, along with other works, including oil paintings, stone and bronze sculpture. The exhibit opens on Friday January 7th during the IDADA First Friday event from 6-9 p.m. and concludes February 15th.
Gallery hours: M-F 10-6; Sat. 10-4 and by appointment. Information: 317.822.8455
617 Mass. Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

T-shirt Idea Katie Notan Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Back in early December, I introduced a new artwork titled “Katie.” She is a white pastel on black paper drawing. Not truly Notan, which is a design strictly in black and white, because I have done a small amount of shading within the whites. The original artwork is shown at the end of this blog entry.

However, shortly after my original announcement, George Schreiber, one of my blog readers and a past stone carving workshop attendee, wrote to me and suggested that I put this design onto a T-shirt. This type of printing is George’s business and because of the subtle change of tones in most of my work, a T-shirt is not often the best kind of reproduction to do. “Katie” looks pretty cool, though.


He did a mockup of Katie, very rough, just to give me an idea of what it could look like.
I was thinking that this could be a fun way to add to my fundraiser for my young friend Rudy Sanchez to finally get a set of teeth. (Rudy, now 30, was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a facial-cranial deformity. Doctors removed the last of his teeth about four years ago and afterwards, his mother was told that Medicare considers teeth to be cosmetic and will not pay for him to get some…)

Anyway, I told George that I would think about this idea and see if there might be an interest in this design as a T-shirt. So, I am thinking of a price of $19.95 per black cotton T, short sleeves, plus $5 shipping if required. Texas-based destinations will need to pay a 6.75% sales tax, too. Any profits from this project will go towards Rudy’s teeth.

If this interests you at all, please just drop me an e-mail. If I get at least 12 people, we can make this a “go” and add to Rudy’s teeth fund.

Thank you … and thanks to readers like George who keep those ideas coming. Happy 2011.

Anthurium Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Nature often repeats her patterns and shapes, especially when they are successful. No doubt you have seen the spiral in the nautilus shell (often used as a visual to explain the mathematical terms of the Golden Mean or Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Sequence). That spiral shape is also found in many plants, such as in the branches of an agave, the petals on the head of an artichoke, fruitlets of a pineapple, and in pine cones.

Ripples, twists, fractals, branching and more … we see recurring Nature’s patterns everywhere from the cracked dry earth to the veining in leaves to the billows of cloud patches, the scales on a snake, soap bubbles, honeycomb, and the staggered rows of kernels on corn cobs. Under water, over water, even water: the repetition of shapes, lines, and textures are everywhere. We are fascinated, as well as comforted by their beautiful design.

In what may be becoming my New Years' Eve tradition, I now would like to introduce you to another intentionally erotic artwork… if this is not your kind of thing, please just stop reading and go do something more interesting.

The concept, of course, is about the beauty and function in Nature’s repeating patterns.


“Anthurium”
pastel on black Firenze-brand paper
9” x 25”
$1800 + $20 shipping (6.75% sales tax to Texas destinations)

The idea for this pastel painting titled “Anthurium” was birthed back in 2007 in Florence, Italy. I did a commissioned pencil drawing for an Italian flower vendor who opened shop every day (but Sunday) in the piazza closest to my rented flat.

One day he asked me if I could do a drawing from a photograph and when I responded with a shrug, “Perché no?”, he pulled out a small, dark photo of himself, posing in shorts with an almost body builder physique. He seemed quite pleased to see the surprise in my face. It had never occurred to me that he would want me to do a drawing of him.

At the time, I had not yet created many images of a figure in an environment. Despite my very long days at the Angel Academy of Arts, I came home each night and worked really hard to create a drawing that I wanted to sign. The reference photo was horrible, so I immediately decided to create my own design around the figure. I came up with a border reminiscent of the shape of Florence’s famous Duomo and drew flowers around my friend’s image.

When I was nearing completion, I took the drawing over to show him and he actually made me remove one of the flowers I had chosen for its compositional value, and he said to me with a straight face, “THIS is my favorite flower.” I looked at the flower he pointed to, looked back at his expression, and thought, “You have got to be kidding me!”

I never could tell if he was or not, but I finished the drawing with his beloved anthuriums and he seemed genuinely delighted with it. Some ideas hang inside my head for years before they manifest themselves. I hope this one makes you smile.

I wish you a colorful and joyful 2011, full of ups more than downs and an honest appreciation of Nature’s offerings. Thank you for reading my blog and cruising along with this artistic journey.

Silver Trees Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I live out in the country southeast of Austin, Texas, surrounded by trees. Sometimes the lighting on the naked narly branches of oaks stops me in my tracks. Near my home, there is an open brown field in front of a row of trees. The drama came from the dark skies of an approaching storm coming up from behind. As I passed by, I had the impression of the trees being silver.

So, in this 9” x 12” acrylic painting on canvas, I tried to capture some memory of this lighting situation. I actually used metallic paints for the tops of the trees. As is often the case with most of my works, there is a point in which I do not like the work because I feel that I am failing. I began to wonder about having a subject and composition as simple as a mostly horizontal row of trees. But I know now to plod through this stage and usually, I can turn it around to rediscover what caught my attention in the first place. This happened with this painting as well.

As I worked and also as I approached this painting with a fresh eye after working on something else, and in different times of day, I began to see how the painting actually was reminding me of my interest in the original scene.




The other thing that I have been enjoying about metallic paint is that the image looks different in different lighting situations. I include a few images here, so you may see some of her changing effects. I also rolled the paint into the trees, hoping to adds a few bumps with which to catch the light.

For me, this painting grows on me more and more and I find myself at peace with all of the horizontal lines in the composition, with just a few subtle diagonals for a wee bit of variety. I hope you like.

“Silver Trees-Texas”
Acrylic on Canvas 9” x 12”
Copyright 2010 – 2011 Kelly Borsheim
$550