Surprise Wedding, Feminine Curves, and Community Mural Art
In this issue of Borsheim Art News (Sept 3, 2025):
- Surprise Wedding
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Riomaggiore, Italian Riviera painting
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Vasily's Legs Stone Carvings ~ Feminine Curves
- Community Mural Project
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Enio's Forsythia painting
- Amazing Art Patrons
Dear Art Lover,
Well, hello again! I hope that your June, July, and August were at least as fun as mine. I have been working like a fiend while at home. June and even May were full of painting, specifically two large paintings. The first one you will read about in the next newsletter, after the official presentation by the City of Pescia in Tuscany, Italy.
This second one was intended as a birthday/thank you gift for my youngest brother Michael. He and I took a short trip to the Italian Riviera back in November 2022. We stayed in Riomaggiore, one of the villages of the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) along the Ligurian coast. We climbed and hiked most of the time we spent on the rugged mountainous coastline, despite the rain.
Michael had planned a huge roast (comedy skits that include good-natured teasing with embarrassing stories and insults to the guest of honor) for his birthday this year, disappointed after Covid destroyed any celebration plans for a landmark birthday back in 2020. Our family chose the 4th of July date (it is a lot of people to coordinate!).
I chose to use one of Michael's photographs from our trip to Riomaggiore as the basis for a large painting to gift him.
After a couple of family comedians roasted our brother, Michael got up to take a crack at us, calling his long-time companion Jenny to join him.
Were we all surprised (especially Jenny!) when Michael got down on one knee and PROPOSED to her! You know, I am not even sure she ever said yes. She was too busy hugging on him and having expressions of wonder and joy.
I got the "money shot." Don't you agree?
Our sister Amber had designed different birthday roast T-shirts, which we all wore for the party. But when asked, "When did you want to get married?" Michael responded, "Why not NOW?" Jenny's mouth again dropped open as we all cheered. On cue, a beautiful and exotic woman (who had the legal right to officiate marriage ceremonies) was all dolled-up and emerged from her "hiding place" in the kitchen. Can my family throw a party or what?
The couple removed the birthday roast shirts and got married in casual clothes outside in the backyard near a lake in Virginia, with most of the immediate family members and some close friends gathered 'round.
And the roast continued afterwards. Ironically, Jenny's roast was to tease her beau about his commitment phobia... so really, a perfect day with our parents there, too! Even Michael's friend who took the video (and also had no idea about the surprise wedding) remarked to me later that he had no idea how fun and funny the roasters would all be.
I was the last one to get up to speak. Not really into roasting, I simply explained that Michael is one of my helpful siblings and he ships out much of my art whenever I sell something. Thus, the painting. Thank goodness Jenny likes it, too, since it became also the wedding gift, lol.
I must apologize that the painting was too large for the stretcher bars to travel with me and I did not have time before the party to have the custom size ordered in time. I sort of draped it over a large blank canvas in order to show Michael, Jenny, and everyone else. But here is "Riomaggiore." [Prints are available if you would like one. Just see the link below the photo.]
Above: I show my 3-year-old nephew how to re-stretch painted canvases. "Riomaggiore" painting lies on the table, while I am holding the oil still life painting "Orchids and Old Things." Virginia, USA.
Find prints on a variety of materials, framed or not, or printed onto other products, here:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/vibrant-coastal-village-at-sunset-riomaggiore-cinque-terre-italy-kelly-borsheim.html
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Celebrating the Feminine Curves ~ Sculptures by Vasily Fedorouk
After visiting my family in July, I then flew to Chicago to photograph more artwork by my late friend and mentor Ukrainian-American artist Vasily Fedorouk. I feel honored to represent his work, helping his family bring his art to collectors. Two of the gorgeous stone carvings that I photographed this trip are Black Legs and Splash.
If I had a pool, I would love to have these marble sculptures enhancing my pool area, or even an elegant bathroom. Check these out!
Black Legs
23 h x 8 x 5.5 inches
black marble
copyright 2006 Vasily Fedorouk
Weight 37.4 lb
$ 6,900
See more images and purchase here:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/vasily-fedorouk-black-legs-marble-sculpture
Such graceful lines!
Splash
27 h x 5.5 x 6 inches
white marble
copyright 2006 Vasily Fedorouk
Weight 37.4 lb
$ 7,100
See more images and purchase here:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/vasily-fedorouk-splash-diver-marble-sculpture
I love how Vasily Fedorouk could make hard marble stone look soft!
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Community Mural + festival with Enio's Forsythia
Once I returned to Tuscany, I hit the ground running. In the Medieval village called Castelvecchio in Svizzera Pesciatina (Swiss Pescia) aka Valleriana, there is a fountain in the main piazza. The wall behind the fountain is crumbling and ugly. There is a plumbing leak behind the wall that is wearing away at at least one of the carved Medieval faces in the grey sandstone ('pietra serena') that is the stone in these mountains. I want to save this special feature of the town and have slowly been working towards that end.
Because the fountain is centuries old, the Italian government branch that manages all things cultural (the Bene Culturale) must approve any sort of permanent changes anyone wants to make to old things. It is a wonder they even have time for all of the cultural artifacts in Italia!
Like many small towns in Italy, Castelvecchio has its own annual sagra. It is a festival based on local foods, usually featuring something different in each village. This summer it was held on 17 August.
My idea was to have the townsfolk who wanted to participate create a group mural to decorate the fountain during the sagra. It would be hung using no nails or making any damage to the niche of the fountain in the main piazza. I was thrilled when my proposal was accepted by the "Nuovo Pro Loco," the community organization that hosts the festival.
My first meeting was held in the community center after Sunday breakfast. I admit that I was surprised that about ten people were curious enough to come listen to the idea. I got to see the expressions turn from confusion for how this could be done without inciting a government shutdown to excitement at the idea of this creative endeavor! Most lacked confidence about their artistic abilities, but I told them that once they choose the subject matter, I will do the drawing and all they had to do was color between the lines (or not), as they each chose. The excitement grew as I showed them images suggesting subjects and color themes.
As the meeting ending, I felt so happy to see everyone go to the fountain and started to measure the arching wall behind it. One woman donated a large fabric since my canvas roll would have to be stitched together for the width of the wall. I took that home to apply gesso during the week.
Our next meeting was to start the painting. I arrived four hours early to give me time to lay the canvas out on the floor, mark the measurements, and draw the design I created based on what the group wanted to paint. They gave me a little scare as 3 p.m. came and went and not one soul showed up! I set my timer for 15 minutes, fully aware of limited time to work in the community center, bracing myself to have to paint this myself.
But, ten minutes later, a proper-sized group came down the stairs together, eager to paint! They were done with what we could do that day in about an hour and a half! Wow. We started with the bottom half first, not having tables large enough to tackle the entire canvas on the same day.
There is a different group (overlap of members) that started a program about three years ago of crocheting circles of various diameters. They hang them around the village for Christmas, Easter, and the summertime when the tourists are renting homes all over these hills. Not wanting to steal anyone's thunder, the design supported the space of one hanging circle that had letters of "Castelvecchio" crocheted into the design. Thus, I knew that the top half would be easier to finish in a shorter time that Sunday.
I had one more session of painting in which I showed these self-proclaimed non-artists how to paint the swallows (who grace the villages in these woods each summer), added a chestnut in its seed pod with some leaves, dated the art, and a few other small details.
The group was so satisfied with their creation that they did not want to wait until the sagra on August 17 to hang the temporary mural over the fountain. There was an event in two days, a grigliata in which several types of meats were grilled and served in the piazza. There were about 120 paying guests and my art group wanted them all to view the new colorful handiwork.
Meanwhile, at home I painted a faux wall in 'pietra serena' on a sheet of plastic. The day of the installation, after the mural was in place, I had the guys attach a wood stick horizontally over the canvas mural at the bottom. Then I unrolled the plastic section (painted on both sides since acrylic paint will not stay on a smooth plastic if someone takes a fingernail to it). We stapled that on the top of the wood, wrapping the plastic to the back.
And then Samuela trimmed the bottom of the plastic above the water line to keep the fountain from any contamination. Really, the wall was the ugliest at the base, near the water.
Everyone loved the result! I have not been back up to the town for about a week or so, but I anticipate that the villagers will leave the painting up until the weather changes.
The best thing for me is that I learned so much from this experience, mostly towards my real goal: to put a new permanent artwork in the wall, as well as figure out how to pay to find the leak that is damaging the Medieval carvings in the fountain. Through this temporary project, I discovered that people DO want art in that space. I also discovered the name of the artist who over 13 years ago was hired to replace the fresco that had deteriorated over who knows how long a time. He died 15 days after his 'bozzetto' (small version of his design, 'maquette' in French) was approved by the Bene Culturale. No new artist was ever hired to replace the art and the villagers miss it!
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During the sagra, I was thrilled to meet these tourists from Taiwan who were so enchanted by my colorful painting of Castelvecchio, that the woman standing next to me was lured in from across the community center to have a closer look. I had walked in at just the right moment to show some friends the newly framed piece and see the fireworks soon afterwards, and we all had such a fun conversation. They were enchanted with their holiday here.
Forsythia di Enio, Castelvecchio
78 x 63 cm (30.5 x 24.75 inches)
acrylic and pastels on paper
$2,500
Details and how to pay are online at:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/enios-forsythia-colorful-landscape-painting
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Amazing Art Patrons via Patreon:
On August 6, I received this e-mail from Patreon.com
"Today, Patreon is celebrating a major milestone: $10 billion sent from fans to creators.
$10,000,000,000. That's big. It's undeniable proof of the power of the creator-fan connection. It's built homes and studios, helped pay tuition, turned side projects into businesses, and changed how millions think about creative work. Whether you've built a media empire or just paid for pizza, each dollar has given creators stability and freedom to make what excites them.
In the 12 years since Patreon was founded, the idea of creators' work being worth paying for has gone from unheard of to undeniable. We are proud to be a platform where that shift has come to life and appreciate all of you for making it happen.
$10 billion is a lot, but it's just a first step — We won't stop until we've built the future you deserve: a world where creators and fans are in control, where communities thrive, and where a professional creative life is possible for everyone."
~ Patreon quote
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I have a modest Patreon page, but amazing art patrons there. The monthly support that I receive helps me pay for my Web site and for the time I spend creating art videos for my channel on YouTube. Most of those videos are art-making lessons and tips. But also, many collectors tell me that they enjoy the "behind the scenes" information.
Become a patron here:
https://www.patreon.com/c/KellyBorsheim
Here are my latest videos, showing you the start of a new painting, Morning Glories in Portugal.
Video link, Part I:
https://youtu.be/1Uc57R6saxQ
and Part II Video link:
https://youtu.be/ozXtpgt6GxY
Subscribe to my channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/@BorsheimArts
I enjoy hearing from you and hope that you keep art in your life. If nothing else, it will serve to remind you daily that human creativity can be a positive influence and inspire you to live your best life.
Be well, and keep in touch!
With gratitude,
Kelly