Hail Over Streetpainting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Last Thursday was my first day back after visiting a model (and friend) in Spain for about a week. My cousin Heather flew into Italy that same night that I did and we met up in Piazza Santo Spirito near my flat in Florence.

Thursday morning I loaded up my gear and Heather snapped this shot of me before she climbed back into bed for a few more snoozes. I knew that the weather was iffy, but I wanted to draw Michelangelo and chose to draw a small version of his “Creation of Man” work from the Sistine Chapel.


Heather arrived sometime around noon, I guess, and saw that I had drawn most of the composition in white chalk to help me see the overall proportions. And I had almost finished the face of Adam and had begun work on the focal point of the near-touching hand of man with the hand of God. It had sprinkled earlier, so I had already pulled out a sheet of plastic, but …

If it rains a little, I can usually keep working in pastels on the street. If I am limited in how much plastic or newspaper, I place it over the blank areas in which I want to draw next. Once drawn a light rain will not hurt a streetpainting unless it is touched. After the raindrops dry, the muted wet whites and light tones pop back up again. However, I cannot draw on a wet street, so it is the naked street that I prefer to protect.



However, shortly after Heather arrived, the skies darkened significantly and the heavy drops began their descent. And then the hail came. I could not believe how large the chunks of ice were that fell from the Florentine skies in mid-June!

The day before, my colleague Kumiko had drawn Botticelli’s face of Venus. Although the street cleaner had made his pass over her work that morning, there was still plenty of pastel left to morph her face into a fleshy stream. Strange how I find beauty in some forms of destruction.


The hail and the downpour made the rest of my streetpainting day impossible. One funny thing happened though: while lots of people took shelter in a nearby hallway, I met a woman who lived – or tried to live in my room one month before I arrived there. She felt that she had to leave because the room was not up to her expectations. I laughed because I chose that room specifically because it DID live up to my expectations and needs to create art in that space. One (wo)man’s trash is another’s treasure and this day was a fun reminder of how small Florence can seem at times.

So, just because I got rained out from streetpainting, does not make it impossible to create art with pastels. If you would like to get to Hawai’i to create art in this pure pigment medium while having all of the cooking and cleaning done for you in your lodging, check out my “Pastels in Paradise” workshop on the Big Island this September. It is not too late yet!

Pastels In Paradise: Art Workshop in Hawaii

: borsheimarts.com/art-workshops/hawaii-pastels.htm
And of course, Hawaiian Art Journey: www.hawaiianartjourney.com
Spend a week with a real madonnara (Italian street painter) and see more street paintings.

Madonnari - Street Painters in Italy

Thanks to Simone Di Santi, who interviewed me last year in Florence, Italy, while I was streetpainting. Simone and her partner create a travel video Web series called "A Road Retraveled".

Please note that near the end of the video when they are scanning the young nude Giovanni (St. John) by Caravaggio: This part of the video clip was taken AFTER the street cleaners (vehicle) passed over it the morning after it was drawn.

Arno River Ponte Vecchio

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I knew that one day (or night, as this image depicts) I would draw this little boat parked on the far side of the famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy, over the Arno River. What a joy this project was! I am still fascinated with using black paper and have begun to apply colors (instead of my previous “white on black” series). I hope you love the look as well.

"Dark Arno"
pastel on black paper
64 x 23 cm
copyright 2010 Kelly Borsheim
SOLD - 11 August 2010 -- THANK YOU!

I feel honored each time someone here in Italy at my current exhibit compliments this pastel painting because it is very common to see paintings of the famous Ponte Vecchio. To have created a new take on the bridge over the Arno River is quite an accomplishment. Florence is definitely an artist’s town!

Happy Father’s Day to my own father, PJ, and to all those wonderful dads out there.

Art Reception Sei Divino

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I recently finished hanging another solo exhibit at Sei Divino’s here in Florence, Italy. I am off to Spain tomorrow to visit one of my models (and friend) there. But I am really looking forward to coming back to Italy for the art reception on the 19th, especially since my cousin Heather will be here. She has been invited to play volleyball in a tournament and it will be the first time we have met outside of the US.

Here is the info. The exhibit is open now, with a tentative closing date on the 26th of June. The reception is 6 p.m. on June 19, a Saturday.

Sei Divino Wine & Cocktail Gallery
Borgo Ognissanti 42r, Firenze, Italia [Florence, Tuscany, Italy]
Tel. (011 39) 055.217791 [ or call Kelly +39 334.245.0129 ]

Inaugurazione / Art Reception: 19 Giugno 2010 alle 18:00 +

Artist Kelly Borsheim

Kelly Borsheim è una scultrice americana che ama disegnare e dipingere. Michelangelo ha portata in Italia nel 2004 ed è stato qui a Firenze nel 2007 che divenne una madonnara. E 'stato in via Calimala, che ha imparato ad amare la pittura con i pastelli. Nel suo corpo attuale di lavoro 2-dimensionale, si combina la sua formazione classica presso l'Angel Academy of Art (Firenze) con i suoi disegni in strada, combinando luminosi, pastelli colorati (pigmento puro) con le sottigliezze si può esprimere con il carboncino.

Kelly attualmente divide il suo tempo tra il suo studio nel centro di Texas e in Firenze, Italia. Lei è rappresentata dalla Barry Franklin Gallery di Indianapolis, Il Curiouseum a Austin, Texas; La Galleria Crucible, Norman, Oklahoma (tutti in USA), e al Museo Gilardi, Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italia. Borsheim opere d'arte sono in collezioni private negli Stati Uniti e in Australia, Canada, Italia, Francia, Paesi Bassi, Regno Unito e Nuova Zelanda.

*****
Kelly Borsheim is an American sculptor who likes to draw and paint. Michelangelo brought her to Italy in 2004 and it was here in Florence in 2007 that she became a streetpainter. It was on Via Calimala that she learned to love painting with pastels. In her current body of 2-dimensional work, she combines her classical training from the Angel Academy of Art (Florence) with her streetpainting, combining bright, colorful pastels (pure pigment) with the subtleties one can express with charcoal.

Kelly currently splits her time between her studio in central Texas and in Florence, Italy. She is represented by The Franklin Barry Gallery in Indianapolis; The Curiouseum in Austin, Texas; The Crucible Gallery, Norman, Oklahoma (all in USA); and at the Museo Gilardi, in Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy. Borsheim art works are in private collections throughout the United States and in Australia, Canada, Italy, France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Kelly Borsheim – Borsheim Arts Studio
www.BorsheimArts.com
Tel. +39 334.245 01 29
sculptor@borsheimarts.com


****
Artwork pictured here:
"Le Scale dell'Eros" (The Stairs of Love)
pastelli con carboncino [pastel with charcoal]
68 x 49 cm
copyright 2010 Kelly Borsheim

Please join the artist with her visiting cousin Heather at the art reception on 19th June.
ci vediamo li'! grazie mille.

Festa della Repubblica Italiana

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

The second day of June is a national holiday in Italy. They celebrate their unification as one country. The day here is called Festa della Repubblica Italiana. I was walking around the neighborhood of Piazza Santo Spirito in Florence where I currently live, wondering if I would find something to eat for breakfast. And I was delighted to peak into a church that I have only had brief glimpses into before.




It is actually the Ex-Church of San Carlo dei Barnabiti.. There was an exhibit going on of old photos during the war, soldiers lost, and atrocities faced in desolate places. Here is the text that I could read on the sign outside, although it has been disrespectfully covered with graffiti.

“The building was restructured in 1636 by the architect Gherardo Silvani for the Barnabites, who already had a small oratory on the site. The importance attained by the Order in the early 18th century is reflected by the decoration inside the church: the ceiling frescoed by Sigismondo Betti (“Glory of the Virgin with St. Paul and St. Carlo Borromeo”) in 1721, the architecture by Bernardino Ciurini (1743), the perspective views by Domenico Stagi (1757-58), and other paintings by Giuseppe Zocchi (dome and pennacchi, 1747). With the Leopoldine suppression of 1783, the building passed into private hands until 1838, when it was acquired by the Scolop[r..de?] Fathers, who kept it until 1866. Since then it has been used as a school and as a gymnasium, and is now a center for cultural activities.”




I have to say that this is the first example I have seen of someone created the illusion of a terrazzo (balcony) in a ceiling with columns the way that Domenico Stagi has done here. And the faux marble is some of the better work I have seen in that genre of art as well. It is a peccato (sin) that this building has come to such disrepair and the Florentines simply do not have the funds to restore it.

You will note the netting beneath the ceiling, but well above my head. It is there to catch parts of the plaster as it falls and protect anyone from being hurt. I am happy that people are at least using the space and hope that the constant visual will someday earn a restoration patron. In Italy, one finds treasures in every direction.

Streetpainting Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Last week I visited Vatican City and so this Thursday chose to recreate in the streets of Florence one of the Sybils on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. I hope you like my self-portrait in this “work-in-progress” shot. I did not realize I did that until I saw the images later.

I was delighted later that afternoon as a class of Italian children came to watch me work. I offered one a pastel stick, but she shied away. Instead, her classmate asked if she could try and next thing I knew, I was passing out various orange colors and pointing to the sections of the Sybil’s skirt in which each child should color.

The kids and I had a blast together. I wanted a photo of all of our orange hands and one of the teachers offered to take it for us. I asked the kids if they wanted to be on my blog and the idea seemed to be fun to them. I handed out the last of my wet baby wipes to clean their hands a bit and then they were off to catch a train. What a delightful day and great experience for us all.





Later that evening, the capo of our group of madonnari (street painters), Claudio, arrived to see my colleague Johnny and me. [Johnny is not in most of these images because he had another job and joined me for only parts of the day.] Since he had another commission to work on with our colleague Tomo, he offered to let Johnny and me draw that next day (their normal day).

So, around midnight that first night, I wrote on the street in Italian, “Please do not clean” and we set cardboard boxes around our drawing in hopes that the street cleaning truck would pass us by the next morning. It worked this time, although when I arrived on Friday, an older Italian woman complained to me that it was bruttissima that I left such ugly boxes in the street overnight. And while protected from cars, I noticed that someone rode a bike and/or stroller through the drawing and there were lots of footprints in different directions, implying that at least one person was dancing on our work overnight!

Also, the next morning I arrived to see a man erecting scaffolding close to my work area. I am starting to wonder if the city really does own the scaffolding company as one friend told me. Florence has an abundance of this and I have yet to see the famous Duomo without it!

He was breaking off some of the metal “T”s that were used to adjust the height of each leg, telling me that it was for public safety. I photographed this one young boy who was fascinated by the process and kept telling his father to wait a moment more since he did not want to leave. He was quite cute. We finished up around 5:30 pm. People were out and complimentary, but I had dinner plans and needed to get home to wash up. Enjoy these images.

And if you are interested in learning pastels in a fun and beautiful environment that allows you to focus on art and nature, please check out my pastel workshop in Hawaii in September. http://borsheimarts.com/art-workshops/hawaii-pastels.htm

Sbandieratori Villa Bardini Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Here are some more images from the art reception for “Annigoni’s Legacy – Angel Academy Student/Faculty Exhibition” at the Villa Bardini in Florence, Italy.


The Sbandieratori performed that night as they have since Angel Academy instructor Martinho Isidro Correia joined their ranks.

The group is officially called ”Sbandieratori dei Borghi e Sestieri Fiorentini” and is the team of Florentine flag wavers, drummers, and trumpeters. They are available for events in various size groups, normally a smaller group at Angel’s previous exhibits on Via San Niccolò (also in Florence). However, the Villa Bardini had such a lovely and larger space that we were able to enjoy a more full experience.

The Sbandieratori combines a type of martial art with the military disciplines of the Middle Ages. Today the Sbandieratori bring a festive feel to any event in Florence, as well as an “elegant, noble and strong, sturdy and vibrant” youthful vigor. I hope you enjoy these snapshots of their performances as the sun went down over Florence and the Villa Bardini.