Eugenio Lucas Velázquez Bilbao Spain

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my last post, I wrote about seeing the etchings of Francisco de Goya in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Spain.

A small part of the wonderful exhibition was a collection of paintings inspired by Goya’s etching style and ideas. Most of those works were beyond me. [I think that is my current polite way of saying that I either do not understand it or I just do not like something.] However, one small painting blew me away! It was an oil painting on copper titled “The Communion” by Spanish painter Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817–1870). It was painting in 1855 and the depiction of light is phenomenal!

This is a strong composition that relies heavily on the composition “Rule of Thirds.” This rule refers to the idea of dividing the image into thirds by using a grid system (think Tic Tac Toe, but with any rectangle). The four points where these vertical and horizontal dividing lines meet are the key points of interest for the eye. The strong light figure on the left side coincides along one of these lines. The strong dark figure in the lower right also lies on a point of interest, more or less.

The overall horizontal design of this painting gives one a sense of calm. The dramatically lit standing figure gives the feeling of strength and stability (the basic emotional feelings for vertical lines). And yet, diagonals are where we get our sense of drama, or more important, movement. We are kept from being bored in Eugenio Lucas Velázquez’s painting because of the subtle diagonal of the crouching figures. Their heights vary and if one moves along the top of this gathering of sinners, one can imagine playing music or something. [I suppose this is one of those weird Synesthesia situations or perhaps only the memory of my musical training.] And if that were not enough, the artist has given us a strong diagonal of light underlying the figures and leading the viewer’s eye back into the standing priest in white.

The faces and figures are hardly detailed. The small painting has quite a lot of texture, even in some of the darker areas. It is a rich painting of a grande idea. It is simply (or not so simply) gorgeous.

Goya Bilbao Spain

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This past week and for this next one, I am learning the art of mural painting from my friend and colleague Victor Goikoetxea in a workshop here in San Sebastian, Spain. I was lucky enough to be offered a day trip on Saturday to nearby Bilbao with my host family, one of Victor’s cousins. After arriving in Bilbao, I was dropped off in front of the famous Guggenheim Museum. That was fun, but even before I explored the grounds of the Guggenheim, I saw banners hanging from the street lamps advertising something even more enticing.

I could not believe my luck: there is an exhibition going on at the nearby Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao of Francisco de Goya’s etchings! I find myself intrigued with etchings and know that if I possibly can, I will learn more about this process enough to try my hand at it. Goya (1746-1828) changed the way that etchings were viewed. According to the writings on the walls of the museum, etchings were traditionally created as copies of paintings. They were intended to create a wider public awareness and appreciation for a painter’s work. Rarely before Goya had anyone used the printmaking process to create original compositions. And what wonders Goya created!

Even if you find Goya’s subject matter dark or too satirical or something (insert your own adjective here) for your taste, perhaps you can appreciate his dramatic imagination, as well as his ideas of composing in light and dark. Much of his work was a direct outcry at the excesses and abuses he saw in his own culture and for this, he was not without censure. He was a master at expressing himself. While the museum permitted absolutely no photographs, I include here some of Goya’s etchings and/or aquatints that I found on the Internet that show much of his skill in creating many different tones by “scratching” made into copper plates. I know artists who work in this medium and it is not a skill developed overnight!

Goya: “The Well-Known Folly” aka “If Two to One Stuff Your Arse With Straw”

Goya: Disparates series -- “Strange Folly”

Goya: Lucientes – “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” the caprices, 1799

Goya: “And They Still Won’t Go” 1799

Goya: ”Disparate de Bestia”

Goya: “Que Viene Coco” or “Here Comes the Bogey Man” 1799

Goya: “Los Ensacados” or “The Bagged” 1823

This exhibit of Francisco de Goya and other artists inspired by Goya ends on 23 September 2012.

Incidentally, two of the etchings that I saw had a figure in it that no doubt inspired the Frankenstein image we see in films. I was stunned at the resemblances!

Art Lover Writes to Artist

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I received some interesting feedback from a fan of my stone carvings and thought that I would share since I have been busy working and preparing for my trip to Spain soon. While I cannot answer everyone’s questions, I try to read everything that I can. It was kind of Mr. Francis McLaughlin to put some time into specific comments on each sculpture. You are also invited to comment on the blog, if you like. I recently gave the blog a slightly new look that I hope is easier on the eyes.

Thanks you and read on, if you like. He is referring to my original stone sculptures. If you click on the image title, you may then view the individual sculpture site page that includes more views of each artwork, as well as images of the stone during the carving process. Please inquire as to availability if you would like to take advantage of my LayAway Plan (as many have) or if you just want to add an artwork to your collection right away. The prices are all online on my pricelist page. Thank you.

Kelly Borsheim, artist

Dear Kelly,

You’re such a beauty; but just like flowers, all that’s sweet is transitory. Be tough on life; squeeze it, for what it is you really want. There must be some desire that is most important to you, maybe falling in love, or doing the greatest art, and in your case that would be a wow. You’re become famous enough to have a hundred demands on your time. You don't have to respond, I'm so grateful that you did, I'll watch your career with a sweet tear in my eye, and hope that your wonderful talent continues in a most fertile environment.

I took a quick half hour look at some of your things, I noted how thrilling they hit me.

Torso 8 (above) is sensational for me because I see such sensuality in motion with the turning figure.

Ascension Invitation: The attraction on mythology lies begging in our psyche, this piece stimulates that realm.

Gymnast: Sweet is always good, that feeling of sentimentality that lives near sweet works for most of us.

Back to Back: To get sensually involved tugs heavy on us.

Lips of Life: Great theme this could be done again and again for a long long time with an ever increasing joyful romance.

Zebra Lips: The impact of contrast and color alone, stun me in a fresh way.

Yin Yang: A wonderful porn piece that puts me where I like to go.

I’ve become pleasantly exhausted looking at your work. I’ll return when I recover, to see what more things you’ve done, that both thrill and inspire.

Most grateful thanks
Francis

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have returned to Firenze, Italia, from my lovely trip to Serbia, only to discover that I have too many friends. Ha.. My life seems to be go-go-go and while it is a lot of fun and I feel a bit spoiled, I am also feeling antsy because my art making has slowed too much. Soon, I go to Spain to study mural making. It was an excellent opportunity too good to pass up and the timing could not have been better: I have a commission to paint my first mural. I am excited and nervous about it since there are many new things for me to attempt.

I am currently trying to seclude myself for this week to finish the bozzetto (Italian for “sketch,” in this case similar to maquette or a small model of an intended larger work). Like most artists, I find inspiration from my colleagues of the past, as well as my contemporaries and my own imagination. Most of my work happens in my head long before anyone else will even see one mark of it. I was delighted last weekend when I visited my clients and showed them my charcoal sketch. It was very loose and I commend them and their friends for catching on to what I was trying to express.

To find inspiration for this project, I turned to one of my favorite romantic artists, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema [Born: Dronryp, Netherlands on 8 January 1836; Died: Wiesbaden, Germany on 25 June 1912]. He is often thought to be British (and lived in England for many years), but his interests and life were much broader than one country could hold.

I am including four images here of some of Alma-Tadema’s paintings that helped me with my composition. I also include here an image that I took in Serbia, which is also playing a role in my future mural.

Basically, I was told by the client what elements he wanted in what started out as a painting for a wall. But I had envisioned something larger and next thing you know he was preparing the wall with the latest technology in Italia: cork insulation with aluminum foil to keep out moisture and then covered in fresco-type material and sealed. You might imagine the laugh we had when I told him what I had envisioned as he sent me progress reports on the wall each day that I was in Serbia! [The foil threw me, but is laminated on a sheet of cork… whereas I had envisioned a home-made job of sheets of foil being pushed into the wall and lots of wine drinking going on to get corks available. Ha. My vision no doubt is also a memory of my friend Andrew Corke who is creating art with real wine corks. But, I digress . . . as I do.]

I made a list of all of the elements my client wanted (three curvaceous, long-haired scantily clothed female figures, Roman ruins, arched window(s), a pool for the ladies, etc.). I then mapped out the proportions of the wall and included various architectural elements (such as an awkwardly placed “window” in the wall) and furniture that would block some of the view of the mural.

My first disegno did not make me happy. It felt cluttered and lacked the impact that a mural should have (as a good street painting does). However, it was a necessary part of my process because my reaction to it led to a much better second attempt. So, I now have approval and need to solidify the drawing and hire the models. Stay tuned for progress images, although there will be a trip to Spain here before the mural begins.

Gallery of Naïve Art Kovačica Serbia

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Northeast of Belgrade about 50 kilometers is the city of Kovačica, Serbia. It is home to the Galerija naivne umetnosti or the Gallery of Naïve Art, a place visited by many famous people, including apparently, The Rolling Stones. Dragana’s parents, Srecko and Smiglia, treated us both to this experience one afternoon. Here is a photo of me with them inside the gallery.

There are currently over 20 member artists of the gallery, working with lots of color and depicting the daily life in Serbia in a manner that is full of heart, sentiment, and a sometimes not-so-simple charm. Their work is a joyous celebration of their lives, childlike in its enthusiasm. These artists are said to have had no formal art education and yet one can see that their art is born of observation and passion.

One thing I found surprisingly consistent is that their compositions had a peaceful kind of balance, often using symmetry and repetition. In some ways, their art seemed to be the kind an engineer’s brain might make. But then, I was married to a mechanical engineer who could see all the lack of straight lines and symmetry in my own work or something that just did not feel right to him for some reason (and he was therefore one of my favorite critics while I had works-in-progress). I did not always agree with his opinion, but I was grateful to have the balance of it.

The Gallery of Naïve Art opened in its original location on May 15, 1955. It moved to this pretty blue building in September 1989. I thought the lighting was pretty cool and smiled to myself as I remembered the first time that Srecko and I had our first real communication without his daughter Dragana translating for us. As I sat outside one evening working on my art in their courtyard where we ate most of our meals, he asked me if I wanted some more light. He communicated this by pointing to the light and saying, “Tesla?” It was a wonderfully clear and happy exchange for both of us, as I accepted his offer.

My favorite artist on exhibit inside these walls was Martin Jonaš (1924-1996). He was a co-founder of the gallery. My favorite painting that day is this one of the woman in the blue dress pulling a load. One can just FEEL how hard she works.

Martin Jonaš thinks like an artist. While looking at his works I was remembering a conversation that I had with my friend and mentor Vasily Fedorouk so many years ago. He said, “When you are learning to play the piano, you learn how to play each note. But when you actually play the piano, you do not play all of those notes at the same time. That is not music, it is noise.”

The discussion evolved into why artists will play down some parts of the anatomy or landscape even, and play up, or make larger even, the parts that contain the emotional idea in a work of art. Jonaš has taken this concept and run with it. I hope you enjoy the art of the farmers in Serbia.

While Smiglia, Dragana, and I were visiting Pančevo, Serbia, I was interviewed for their local newspaper. Dragana just sent me this link to the article that appeared yesterday. It is a funny translation via Google; not horribly far off, just at times nonsensical. For example, near the end of the interview when I spoke about the old buildings. I actually said that I loved the crumbling parts in the architecture. That while some people might think it was horrible, I found it beautiful. Enjoy…
Pančevac Press

Belgrade Serbia Art Architecture

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

My longtime friend, former flatmate, and an artist in her own right, Dragana Adamov, is from Serbia. She recently invited me to go home with her (we both live in Firenze, Italia) to meet her family. So we rode a bus there. It was about a 15-hour ride during the afternoon and night, arriving around 5 or 6 a.m. Her parents picked us up in Belgrade, Serbia (their own name for the city is Beograd) and then we drove east a bit to arrive in their village.

Although most of our time was spent visiting local areas, traveling to other cities, or just spending time (and eating) with family and neighbors (and BOY, did we EAT!), Dragana and I did drive into Belgrade one evening for a bit of exploring. The images in this blog post were taken in Belgrade.

This first image was fun for me because my mother has almost always had long flowing blonde hair. We tend to do lots of “Cousin It” imitations, as well as laying our long hair over other people’s heads… silly fun. Still, this was a random sculpture that was quite unexpected in its placement and content. I really enjoy good site-specific sculpture.

Terra-cotta sculpture seems to be the most popular type here and Dragana told me that most of the clay that is used in this area comes from south Serbia. I am not sure if that includes the clay that the artists use, though, since I had been asking about all of the brick that is common in her family’s area for the construction of homes and businesses. In this large piazza there happened to be an exhibit of many terra-cotta sculptures, some quite large. In general, the style seemed primitive or naïve (please pardon me; I am horrible at classifying anything… I have always had a difficult time with labels). But I love the expressiveness of the sculptures I show you here. Frankly, I think that if the style had been more “classical” or “realistic” these works would have held less appeal or communication of the emotion they express so beautifully.

As we walked along, we saw a street performance happening along with a band playing behind the performer. I just like the cast shadows of the group of spectators, the sculpture (a statue of Prince Mihailo III on a horse in Republic Square, created in the mid 19th century), and the architecture of this area. We moved into a lovely park to get a bit of ice cream during the warm summer’s eve and I must say that Belgrade loves to have public fountains!

I took this last image because I just loved the simple and clean design of the building. It is elegant in its symmetry, lines, and light. I was told that this was a convent. I hope you enjoy these few shots of Belgrade, Serbia.

Thank you for reading!

Sansepolcro Italy Marble Tomb

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Continuing my post about the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Evangelista [11-14th century] in Sansepolcro, Italy, here is a look at more of the art inside.

The funeral monument and marble tomb of Abbot Simone Graziani (begun in the 16th century) is carved from marble and is situated on the wall next to a large painting. Not generally a fan of sculptures of horizontal bodies at rest, I nonetheless found the details in the frame surrounding the figure to be quite creative and beautiful. Specifically, I enjoy the combination of bas relief (“flat” sculpture, such as what you see on coins) and high relief sculpture (more in the round but still on a wall).

I also enjoy the combination of animals, human faces, and foliage and other organic elements. I chuckle at the intelligent and somewhat whimsical shape that appears at first glance to be a mathematical symbol or letter in an ancient alphabet only to discover that it is in fact a depiction of the hind legs of an animal. This work is highly decorative and beautiful in its symmetry.

To the right of the altar is a more complicated composition than the main altar itself shows off. With the rows of candles in front, this composition struck me as very well balanced. The painting in the center has a lot of negative space that not only gives the eye a place to rest a bit, but the upward glance of the figure and surrounding circle of faces all lead the eye up to the top. There is an incredible marble carving here of multiple figures ascending up through a domed window.

Seriously, how on Earth did these people LIFT such heavy and lovely pieces to such heights and without damage? These were the days before electricity and all the technology that came from after that time. Incredible what people have accomplished.

I also apologize for my inability to get the light meter to read what I wanted with this zoom lens. Still the art is inspiring, as intended in the church. All of the geometry is perfectly designed to lead your eyes to heaven. Wonderful!

Now, because I am a yin and yang kind of person, I must show something that is not so beautiful, although I wonder if it is a strange sign of love. This next and last image is of a painting that is in disrepair. I find destruction fascinating, perhaps the same way that small critters are confused into inactivity by the hunter for easier catching or a the lure of vampire’s hypnotic stare.

The light brown vertical lines you see are cracked areas in which the paint has fallen off… they connect up with the larger brown areas at the bottom. I suspect that the cracks have more to do with places in which either the canvas or the wood has been joined or folded or warped. (I forgot to look at this closely enough to get the details of this painting. Oops!)

But I just wonder if the bottom edge is gone for the same reason that many sculptures have details worn off or sport a bright bronze patina on some toes: people reach up to touch a beloved artwork and over many years, the oils from their fingers and the actual touching or rubbing of thousands of hands destroys the work. It is like polishing the worry stone in your pocket, if you will. This was what I meant when I said an act of love earlier. As an artist, I feel complimented that people loved my work enough to touch it out of affection or adoration.

As a side note, it is interesting how the color has faded on the shadow side of the leg in green… and ONLY in the green. Ah, so much to learn!

Today I have earned 48 years old. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I know that I am in the right place and moving in a good direxion. On another, I worry about lost time and late starts (regarding my art mostly). Still, one foot in front of the other and if not now, when? The year just keeps on zipping past. I am on my way to Serbia tomorrow to accompany a friend. It may be a while before I post again. Happy summer to you and thank you for reading my little posts.