Florens 2012 Culture Week Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Here are a few more images of Firenze during this celebration of culture called Florens 2012.

I went to see my friend Alessandro again this evening and he said that yesterday, Sunday, was very beautiful because there were TONS of children out climbing all over the marble chunks. He thinks that if children enjoy art, it is a success. [Unfortunately for those who like my photos, I had decided to stay home and work all day alone.] Also, In Piazza del Duomo there are bunches of apparently centuries-old olive trees making the Baptistry look more like the Garden of Eden (ok, a slight exaggeration). Inside there are three sculptures of Jesus Christ on the cross. Each of the three crucifixes were sculpted by one of the great Florentine Renaissance Masters Michelangelo, Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi, borrowed from their homes in the churches of Santo Spirito, Santa Maria Novella, and Santa Croce. They, as well as the olive trees and marble cross installation, will be in exhibit through 11 November.

In one of the images here of a little girl sitting in the “O” you will see a roughly drawn red circle. That was once my bedroom window. I really enjoyed living there and seeing all of the changing life in the piazza.

The Kindness of Strangers and an Angry Nun

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

The short version of how I met Rita: I made a nun angry on a train. The Kelly version … hmmm:

Almost a year ago, I had flown from Florida to New York to Milano, Italia. From there I boarded a train to Firenze. It was mid-December. It was cold, the holidays were fast approaching, and I was alone. My divorce was final months before, I had packed up my life in America, traveled around to see as much of my family as I could, and again, I was returning to Italia without a love that I thought I had. In addition, my Italian landlady had jerked me around on my contract for a room in my former flat. While I would be staying at a friend’s place as I waited for my room to become available, I also knew that being in that place alone surrounded with my memories would make the winter feel even colder.

To top it all off, I had more luggage than I could manage alone. I met a man named Terry on the flight from NYC to Milano. [That was a story with a happy “ending.”] I helped him buy his train ticket to Firenze and he offered to take my portfolio of current art projects with him in first class. I could not even pretend to afford to ride with him and simply hoped that I had met an honest man. Thus, in boarding second class with my other full suitcases, I was in a low emotional place, physically tired, and feeling quite vulnerable. The car was full, except for my seat. I saw a space for my larger bag and proceeded to remove a small backpack so that my bag would not crush it.

After pushing my bag into the space, I put the backpack on top of my luggage. Before I even turned around, I realized that I was being yelled at . . . by a nun no less! No one had spoken Italian to me in about a year and a half so it took me a while to understand her words, but as luck would have it, a nun is not unlike most people. She repeated her points until she was sure there was no doubt in anyone’s mind about her position. Basically, she told me that I was raised wrong by my parents, and that I was rude and inconsiderate: The backpack was hers and I should have asked her permission before I touched it. [Thank GOD she was a nun or I would have received much more colorful insults!]

Embarrassed, belittled by a NUN, and already in a sad state of affairs, I think I just alternated a response of “scusa” with a “grazie” until she stopped yelling. I dropped down into my seat and put my other suitcase on my lap, squeezing its hard shape like it was a teddy bear as I felt tears well up and start to run down my face. In all of the scenes I can imagine, I had never envisioned this would be how I would start the new phase of my life!

As the train began its journey, I started to notice a very elegant man watching me from a nearby seat. He was much older than I and very beautifully dressed. His white hair topped a long and distinguished-looking face, the kind an artist would love to paint or sculpt. Each time I looked away, I felt myself looking back. He had such kind eyes and a lovely expression. He gave me a gentle smile and some time to relax, but at some point, he stood up and I could see that he was quite tall as well. He walked over and in a soft voice asked me if he could take the suitcase off of my lap and lift it up in the storage shelf above me. I let him and he returned to his seat. There was nothing to feel but gratitude.

Shortly after that, I heard the voice of an angel. She spoke to me in English and while I do not remember her exact words, they were along the lines of, “What a ridiculous nun!” The helping hands of strangers and Rita’s kind words opened up the world to me in that moment. She was sitting next to the nun, who sat across from me. (I only learned that yesterday because there was another nun sitting across from the elegant gentleman in the next section over. I thought she was the one, but the one who yelled pretended to be asleep after I finished with the bags.) I was sitting next to a man named Giorgio. After Rita broke the ice, she and Giorgio and I spent the rest of the train trip getting to know one another a bit and then Giorgio helped us with our understanding of Italian verbs. I arrived in Firenze a less frazzled woman. I also met Terry’s fiancé, Hanaa, at the stazione a Firenze and they both helped me take ALL of my bags to a taxi.

All of this to explain how I came to enjoy the most wonderful day with Rita yesterday in Firenze! She and her husband Tim are back in Italia for a short stay and I was delighted to see that the event Florens 2012 is currently happening.

Just outside of Zecchi’s art supply yesterday morning on my way to the studio, I ran into my long-time friend Alessandro. I had not seen him in over two years and we caught up over “un caffè.” He told me about the large marble cross art installation going on in Piazza Santa Croce. An Italian artist Mimmo Paladino has filled the square with a huge artwork of mixed materials, mostly marble. I thought this would be a perfect start to the tour of Firenze I would give my new friends after our lunch together.

Rita, Tim, and I met up at the Residenza il Villino where they were staying, not far from Teatro Pergola. Proprietors Elisabetta and Sergio are wonderful, with the kinds of smiles, warmth, and humor that have made Italian hospitality famous. I recommend staying there when you come to Firenze.

Our lunch included the porcini mushrooms shown here. Delicious!

We wandered on down to Piazza Santa Croce, whose basilica houses the tomb of the wonderful Michelangelo and many other great Florentines. I was delighted to see the snow-like field of tiny white pebbles covering the normally grey stoned floor of the piazza. Huge chunks of marble made me regret AGAIN leaving my stone-carving tools in America. Sigh… however, it was refreshing to see so many people enjoying the stones, including climbing up all over the artwork.

My friend Alessandro, an architect who lives right off of Piazza Santa Croce, told me that he was dismayed that so many of his neighbors just did not understand (and therefore like) this marble installation. But Ale and I agreed that it is beautiful to see the piazza in white and also to see how the people are interacting with the stone. [And after hanging out with him at his place last night, I must say that the crowds around the art installation were MUCH more fun than the obnoxious drunks hanging around in the streets that shout grunts repeatedly into the night just under Ale’s window. He said that Saturday nights are the worst and they are always like this now that more bars haved moved into the neighborhood. Sadly, Firenze might be going the way of Venezia…]

Anyway, Rita and Tim and I toured the central part of the city. We saw the sculptures in Piazza della Signoria and I showed them the spot on which occurred the Bonfires of the Vanities, as well as the execution of its originator, Savonarola, once the tide changed again. We caught the tail end of a parade just before we visited with my colleague madonnari (street painters). We saw some of the life in Piazza della Repubblica, including a weekend market of Italian-made food and herbal products. And we even visited the famous artist hangout, Le Giubbe Rosse.. There was a show of etchings going on and we met the artist. Also, some of the “gang” was there, as often the case, and Rita decided that I was famous, since I seem to run into people who know me wherever we go. Ha. Sweet.

We soon headed back to Elisabetta and Sergio and ended up at a favorite place of Florentines with tasty pizza. So, here we are, the five of us enjoying a lively and saucy conversation about love, marriage, and … how to be an Italian husband. Sergio and Elisabetta sure know how to make people feel welcome and as if you knew them forever – and would want to.

They walked me to my bike in Piazza Salvemini and from there I headed over to Alessandro’s home for a fun catch-up visit. What a glorious day yesterday was and I look forward to many more like it.

Sight Size Cast Copy Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am not sure why I must rebel against almost everything I try to do. This next image is of a current project, a painting of a plaster cast from an original sculpture. Ideally, it should have been painted using the Sight Size Method, which means that my painting would result in an image that is the same size as the original when the painting is viewed from the proper placement in comparison to the subject (a sculpture in this case) from a viewing point of about two meters away.

Sadly, I find sight-size painting or drawing a bit dull. It takes all the fun out of it for me to discover, or interpret, the relationships I see between shapes and tones if I simply lines things up and then make a mark on my canvas that corresponds to a point I can measure on my original. I want to make a mark that I intend to make (and cast paintings are a great way to train the eye and hand), but some part of me rebels against what my mind sees as “copying.” I want to spend more time with my beloved triangles.

Anyway, here is an image of my afternoon project of the Roman soldier copy. You can see that the image on my painting is larger than the original sculpture. This is mostly because my easel is placed incorrectly. It is too far forward. Sadly, these things are so difficult to photograph and you can see how washed out are the details in the lights of the sculpture. This snapshot was taken about a week ago and the painting looks better a little each day.

In closing, have a fun and safe Halloween celebration this evening and/or All Saints’ Day on 1 November, as you will. The latter is an Italian holiday and I am looking forward to spending the day working on my art inspired by Morocco. I may also go visit the famous cemetery here in Florence, San Miniato. It is properly called Basilica di San Miniato a Monte, Firenze. Here is a shot of a few of my artist friends and me during our costumed Halloween Party last Saturday. More images are posted on my Facebook page. Good fun!

More Graffiti Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Did you enjoy the last posting on the origins of Italian graffiti? I hope so because here I go again. These images are sadly of graffiti that is disappearing faster than others.

Zecchi’s Art Supply on Via dell Studio, not far from the famous Duomo (cathedral) in central Florence, Italy, still carries the pigments for the graffiti … it is a soft black and the white. Lovely. So, never forget to look up and look around. The world is a gorgeous place and people can do amazing things!

I may not be posting for a while: My favorite holiday is fast approaching. My free time is limited, but I love creating a new version of … whatever… for Halloween. I am quite excited to be surrounded by so many artists and creative people with tons of generous affection flowing. We have a fun party planned and trust me, there will be costumes! Life may not be perfect, but it is joyous.

Also, I have posted three albums of images taken from my summer trip to Spain for the mural workshop. They are here on Facebook. Just click on “Albums” and choose the Spainish albums of your choice. There are three from that trip. I believe you may see these even without a Facebook account. But, if you like, why not be friends with me there as well?

Thank you for reading and Happy Halloween! Boo!

Painting from Life

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I spend three hours every weekday morning painting from a live model named Magda. She is really lovely. I have three canvases going on: one seated pose on Mondays, one half-seated/half-standing pose on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and then a standing view of her back on Thursdays and Fridays. The first two projects are being done on a white campitura (field colour) or in this case, a white-primed canvas with nothing added. The last project is on a toned canvas. There are different approaches one takes in a painting depending on these kinds of early choices and I wanted to learn what my preferences might be, and more importantly, why.

I first sketched in the gesture of her standing figure, using S and C curves to put in the romance of the piece. Later I tightened up my drawing by adding the straight lines to define specific angles (what I think of as the architecture). I want to give the figure enough architecture for solidity and strength of the figure, but keep enough romance in her so that she does not appear stiff and hopefully will elicit some emotion in the viewer.

For the sketch, I used raw umber and just enough white to cut the warmth of the thinned umber. I need to learn to use paint when I paint. That sounds stupid and logical, but I tend to use very little paint and this leads to a thinned, glazed color. Glazing usually makes a color look warmer than an opaquely painted paint. If I use more paint and get my tones, hue, and chroma correct, then even as the oil paint becomes transparent over time, my painting will look as I intended it to look, even after many years.

You may see some light patches in the campitura, especially down near the leg on the left, where the model carries her weight. This is because I must improve my drawing skills. I had the knee too low and used mineral spirits to remove the paint on my original sketch. It also removed the background color. You may also see that I chose to raise the front part of the knee by scribbling in dark background below the knee, lifting it in the process.

The background comes first since I must relate the skin colors to it. It is amazing how a line drawing that looks proportionally well done, looks very different in paint. Mine always seem to grow, in a similar fashion to how I experience “stone expansion” when carving. That is the phenomenon in which I remove plenty of marble in a day’s work, but the next morning the sculpture seems to have grown over night and I see how much more must come off. This work never gets dull! Really.

After the background, I start to add the lights in the flesh. I will do several layers of this, in a large part because of the transparency of oil paint. I want my lights to remain light, not darken over the years to become closer to the darker campitura underneath them. Timing is everything and I have tried to keep a pace on this project that allows the paint time to dry before I take on the next steps.

The last step you see here is my trying to create the forms of each part of the figure. I want to portray the volume of the rib cage and the hips, the head, and the arm and . . . you get the idea. I want them to have the proper amount of turning so that you can distinguish between a cylinder, an egg, and a more boxy mass. You may notice that even though I had designed the shadow shapes in my drawing, I painted over the spine in an effort to make the rib cage one united form. The big picture is always more important than details and everything is related.

Thank you for reading and following my artistic journey. Please do not forget to take a look at the recently available sculptures by my dear friend Vasily Fedorouk: http://www.borsheimarts.com/vasilyfedorouk.htm

Portrait Painting of Victor

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

For two hours each Monday and Thursday evening, my artist friends and I take turns posing for portraits for each other. One model usually sits for four evenings, or eight hours posing time. This last round happened to feature my friend Victor Goikoetxea, who taught the mural workshop I attended in Spain in September.

Sadly, I missed Victor’s first sitting because I finished my mural in Caprese Michelangelo in the wee hours of a Monday morning and by the time I returned to Firenze, all I could do was sleep. Victor is quite a handsome fella, with a strong jawline and kind eyes. I often find portrait painting a bit bizarre. It is very difficult to catch a personality when the body is trying to remain still. Victor is vivacious and interested in many things with a very expressive face, but he did tell me that he spent his time posing thinking about and designing his next mural project.

So, here you may see my little portrait sketch in oil paint. I used raw umber and white, with a bit of black/grey in the hair. I had five and a half hours on this painting, having to leave early one night to meet a friend for a lecture we wanted to see. You can tell how scatterbrained I have been lately by the way I “prepared” this canvas. I grabbed a random piece of loose canvas in which I had done some figure outlines in acrylic a week or so before. Not having a drawing board at this studio, I simply taped the scrap onto another mounted canvas and started to paint. I wish that there were more hours in the day, but in truth, if there were, I would probably fill them up as I do now.

Graffiti Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

One of the perks of living in Florence, Italy, is being surrounded by art. I was told the following type of art, the white on black frescos shown here, is what was originally referred to as graffiti. I cannot seem to get enough of this Italian street art and find it especially charming in its decay. Does that make me a downer of a personality?

I think it is also a good lesson in the use of color. In the same way that sculptors emphasize the part of the anatomy that carries the idea of the piece (such as the large hand on the throwing arm of Michelangelo’s “David”), using color for the most important concept pushes the eye back to the main point of interest. In this case, the colored part of the graffiti is the family shield for the dwellers of the home. Enjoy.

Also, the wife of my late friend and mentor Vasily Fedorouk has trusted me with a small number of his sculptures that she is finally allowing to come to the marketplace. I have posted images of the available works. If you are interested in purchasing any of these, please contact me. I can even arrange a payment plan, if you prefer.

Click on this text
to see Selected Works by
Master Sculptor
Vasily Fedorouk
[1950-2009]

P.S. For those of you familiar with Florence, Italy, this street art may be seen on Via Maggio, on the Ultrarno side of the river, not far from the Ponte Santa Trìnita.