Borsheim Art Newsletter:

by artist Kelly Borsheim

copyright 13 November 2018
CONTENTS:
* Two new paintings in oil!
* Lady in yellow, by Vasily Fedorouk
* Art and Home-Away-From-Homes Pairing
* Art workshop in Tuscany
* Olive Harvest 2018 - Now!
* Subscription Info.

Two New Paintings by Kelly Borsheim

     Hello and welcome to my new attempt at newsletter publishing. Because of my recent painting workshop, I created several still-life setups for my students. I decided to paint one of them right away to take advantage of the perishable models [the grapes], although the gals did enjoy drinking wine during our lunch break.


Chianti Wine, Grapes, and Cheese
30 x 25 cm [11 x 9.8 inches]
Oil on Canvas by Kelly Borsheim
$850 US [PayPal or other ways, including Layaway]



     A detail shot is provided, as well. I learned to paint writing or text so that you know that there are words in the art, but you cannot read them. I find that visually more interesting in most cases. Also, one touch that I am a bit proud of is that the green in the wine bottle's label is balanced on the cut end of the branch for the cluster of grapes. And I do hope the effect of the cutting board sticking way out away from the wooden kitchen board below it, as well as the single grape near its edge, gives a feeling of impending movement or at least a bit of "whoa!"


If you would like to make this painting yours, please contact the studio, here.

Please, keep reading for more art news and images.



Peacock Study, 35 x 25 cm, oil

     Too many years ago, I worked with a young model named Sean up in the Chicago area for a group of paintings that I have in my head involving men with animals. I keep having distractions that have me painting or sculpting other subjects, but I still have this body of work asking me to be born.

     To that end, I started this sketch in oil paint on canvas of a peacock to help me think about a color scheme and some possible composition ideas.

My Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/KellyBorsheim) is designed to free me from the economic realities that hinder exploratory work, so I thought that I would offer this little guy for sale to kickstart the project. Let me know if the peacock rocks your world and I will let you add him to your art collection. Thank you.

Lady by Vasily Fedorouk

     I watched my late friend and mentor, Ukrainian-born American sculptor Vasily Fedorouk, carve this woman from an organically shaped chunk of yellow stone (calcite). He did this at the stone carving symposium in Marble, Colorado, the same place where I first met him in 2001. It was funny since the stone salesmen had not had much luck selling that calcite rock until other carvers saw what Vasily did with it.

You should see this lively color when the sun hits her!

Lady

Yellow Calcite
copyright 2006 Vasily Fedorouk
If you would like to see more of Vasily's work, please visit his site at:
http://www.vasilyfedorouk.com

Art and Home-Away-From-Homes Pairing:

     One of the fun things about the artist's life is solving problems and sharing talents. To that end, I wanted to announce some recent partnerships to showcase my art and let you live with it a bit to make sure it is a good fit for your own home or office.

Pensive in Bologna, pastel, on exhibit in the dining room

     My brother Steve has an amazing and spacious house on Lake Hickory in North Carolina [USA]. He began this past summer to lease it out and it was a big hit! Steve just completed a remodel of the entire rental space, so you may enjoy new wood floors and newly painted walls.

     'La Giostra' at Stephen's Lake House, North Carolina


     With the upgrade, he and his mates have hung many of my 2-dimensional artworks around the 3-bedroom / 2-bath home.
His place is already quite popular, as you can see in the comments from visitors here:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/26036021

     I include a few images of the home with my art in it. Make your holiday plans quickly! This is great for families at any time of year.

'A Sculptors Studio,' oil
    

'Fiesole Still Life,' pastel

'World Traveler,' pastel at Stephen's Lake House, Hickory, North Carolina

     We also made a little video to show you around in real time. Granted, we are both rather new to video making, but hopefully you will receive the information you want, and we are both cool with feedback, especially if the goal is to make our efforts more helpful to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcAXSxYnEoc&t=4s
Video Link
Here is Stephen, himself!

And then there is Italy:

     The Little Tuscan Olive Farm in Valleriana, Tuscany. My neighbors Kathy and Paul run this gorgeous plot of land in their home that features a separate apartment for two. We are picking olives there each day in this period, actually. They are wonderful hosts (British and so easy to speak with) and you are sure to enjoy your stay there. The apartment usually has two of my artworks on the walls for your viewing pleasure. You may find The Little Tuscan Olive Farm online at HomeAway.com.


     I link below to the page for the UK so that you may read the descriptions in English. [I also found one in Italian/euro.] The prices listed is in British pounds, so go to http://xe.com to get a better idea of what that means in your currency.

https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p8282820

The Little Tuscan Olive Farm in Castelvecchio, Italy

Art workshop in Tuscany

     At the beginning of this month, I taught a private art workshop to a group of four Australian friends. We had good fun while they really did well on their projects for such a short time [five hours]. Only one of them admitted to having painted a little bit beforehand, so very impressive, no?

     I have been asked recently to teach another woman in watercolor. That is a medium that I am not all that familiar with, although the Australians asked for that as well (since it travels in a suitcase easier than pastels or oils). So, I asked one of my recent students how she felt that I did with the watercolor. She said, "You gave us so much information about how to paint and make something look real and alive that if you had not told us you knew little about watercolor, none of us would have guessed!"

     So, my confidence boosted a bit, if you would like to take some private art lessons in the gorgeous hills in Valleriana [Castelvecchio, to be precise], contact me. We can also work in acrylic, oil, pastels or charcoal, if you prefer.


     There are places to stay here, even if you are more than the two people that The Little Tuscan Olive Farm can handle, and you are sure to enjoy your visit.

[Images are used with the permission of those in them.]

Kelly [in red] Teaching Art in Tuscany, Italy

An Amazing Lunch Provided by Kathy Edwards of Little Tuscan Olive Farm

Olive Harvest 2018 - Right Now!

     We never know exactly when the annual olive harvest will be [and that varies naturally, region to region, even plot to plot]. This year was no exception. We had a very dry summer and feared that the olives would not even arrive or make it this long. But at least the two neighbors that I am helping with the harvest are discovering that our crop yields are more plentiful than we ever imagined!


     What we are guessing is that the dryness this summer greatly reduced the insect population, so the problem with the flies getting into the olives seems as though it never existed. Then recently, we have been having so much rain that finding days to harvest once the olives started to turn color has been dicey. The rain, though, was needed. And, we are working each day now to reap the Earth's bounty.


     Neighbor Paolo's wife Ivana just told me today at lunch that as little as 40-50 years ago, before the Italians had the nets we use today, pickers dropped their olives into upside down umbrellas! Over the last several years, I have watched the families that I pick with add the new "vibrating fingers" on extension poles and run off of mobile air compressors. They help with the hard to reach olives, but the body gets tired much faster and there is a concern about bruising the olives.


     I cannot wait to taste the new olive oil, nicknamed "Green Gold" here. You may see my Facebook albums of images from last year's visit to the frantoio [where the olives are cleaned and pressed into oil], and some fun ones taken during the various harvests.



Most of the Olive Harvest is still done by hand or rake

Yours truly, reliving my favorite childhood pastime: Climbing Trees!

     This will be my first year to save myself some of the crude olives and turn them into edible olives. It takes a minimum of forty days. One either soaks them in water that long, changing the water EVERY DAY or put them in jars with a specific ratio of salt to water and store them in a dark place.


Thank you for reading and sharing!
Please let me know if I may help you add some fine art into your life.

Happy and healthy living,


Kelly Borsheim, artist

www.BorsheimArts.com

Olive Harvest 2018

Ciao, ciao! from Gregory da Pisa, my landlord's dog and olive mascot

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