Tuscan Sky Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Many years ago, I met an Italian artist who has passion galore, but little formal training. She drew constantly as a child and even once met the famous Pietro Annigoni. She was just a little girl, but she always remembered that he stopped by her table to compliment her drawing. She recalls, “I was in Castagno di Andrea, a village in Tuscany , I think Mugello, when I met Pietro Annigoni. He was painting a famous Crucifixion in the village church. I was in the little trattoria near there for lunch with my mother and my grandfather. Annigoni passed by . . . . My [English] mother didn't like Annigoni because he was Italian and also because of some story about him, so...” Another time she had told me that her mother did not care for the portrait Signore Annigoni had painted of the Queen of England. So, apparently, his opinion about my friend’s artistic potential fell on deaf ears.

Yet throughout her life and many adventures, my friend Hafiza Malik, subject of my last post and pastel painting, continues to pursue her art whenever she can. She is a sensitive soul with many stories to tell. She loves Nature, and has a special affinity towards trees. She prefers to draw from life (which is how I met her), befriending artists and people from all walks. Hafiza collects Nature’s souvenirs and creates drawings, etchings, and paintings.

I have with me here in Texas a limited number of prints from one of Hafiza’s pencil drawings of the Tuscan landscape. The image is printed on a thick quality Italian paper and is a signed limited edition of 50. The image is approximately 7” x 11” and is titled “Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”).

The price is $80 unframed (+$10 shipping and for Texans, sales tax). However, if you would prefer the art framed, I recommend all acid-free mat and foam core backing, with glass in an elegant black frame. I can offer a completely framed print of “Cielo Toscano” at the low price of $150 (+15 shipping, plus any applicable taxes). If you love Italy or even cloud watching, this image might be just for you. A great gift idea, too, for the travelers you know.

Please contact me if you would like to see this Italian artist’s work in person. (And if you find yourself near Florence, Italy, and would like to buy this print directly from Hafiza, let me know and I will connect the two of you . . . )


“Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”)
7” x 11”
Limited edition of 50 signed print on Italian paper
Copyright and original pencil drawing by Hafiza Malik
Unframed Art Only:

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“Cielo Toscano” (“Tuscan Sky”)
7” x 11” (Framed size = 13” x 18”)
Limited edition of 50 signed print on Italian paper
Copyright and original pencil drawing by Hafiza Malik
Framed with elegant black frame and glass:

The following is an image of Hafiza explaining something about plants to me. These are capers, growing out of a Tuscan wall.

Songbird Pastel Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have (almost) always felt privileged when a person includes me in a personal part of her life. I am referring to those kinds of things that two people share in an often quiet moment in life, such as when viewing a powerful sunset or one-to-one learning situation. This next pastel artwork is a painting that I did of my friend Hafiza in her home near Florence, Italy.

We were both sitting on Hafiza’s bed talking, while Hafiza was slowing gathering a warm blanket over her lap and legs. She had paused to formulate her thoughts before speaking and then, I saw her turn her head towards the window. She had heard a bird singing outside for just a moment and I realized almost simultaneously that we had not heard any birds in a while and also that the light coming through the window and falling onto my friend was truly lovely. I asked her to stay still for a moment.

I am having a good time with pastels and enjoying the transitions areas, such as blending pinks and oranges into the folds of the curtain behind my friend, as well as the grey parts of her backlit hair. In the second detail image, you can see the radiator and bed. Although I tend to work in a realistic style, I am trying to do this with fewer strokes. And I was trying to depict the texture of fringe vs. the other soft parts of the blanket.

Maybe you did not hear the bird’s song, but I hope that I was able to depict a feeling on intimacy and peace, and maybe even sharing the joy of spending quiet time with a dear friend.

“Songbird”

11.5" x 17”
pastel painting on Wallis Museum-Grade paper
copyright 2010 Kelly Borsheim
Please inquire on price – the work is currently framed with
Museum Glass (no glare means that you can SEE the work you want to enjoy)

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)