AI, Umag, Pomegranates . . . Oh, my Venus and Starry Eyes! Art News
Dear Art Lover,
Artist friends of mine have already started to use AI (artificial intelligence) to come up with art composition ideas or perhaps even realize some of the actual artwork. I resist. Naturally, I see and I feel the world changing rapidly with advances in technology. But I fear this because of one simple fact: Smart phone have made most of us dumb. And numb. [For example, I personally used to have a slew of phone numbers memorized and now? Only my own and a few from my past that have never changed.]
On LinkedIn this morning, I just skimmed an article that put me in the category of "I'll take the blue pill" in a reference to the 1999 classic film "The Matrix," (which I have never seen, oh, the blasphemy!). The author Praveen Bangera says that means that I prefer 'comfort, resisting change, and illusion.' Perhaps he is onto something there, but I never thought of myself in those terms, necessarily. I do, however, prefer to walk my own road, whatever that actually means. No one lives or learns in a vacuum.
I have always been a loner. I am interested in the behaviour of people, their motivations, what lies deep inside a person. And I have a soft spot in my heart for loneliness.
https://borsheimarts.com/products/going-home-fez-morocco-passages-walking-alone-black-and-white-art
And I fear that we are more lonely now than ever because it is so easy to stay connected, without spending time in the same space. ["The adjective for metal is metallic, but not so for iron, which is ironic." So, yes, I realize the irony of my ponderings because too many on my / this mailing list are only virtual connections.]
There are always artists that I know are "better" than me. But I would rather have it that way than be as a friend told me I would be had I chosen to move to Arkansas after my divorce (as was proposed), "a big fish in a small pond."
I have lots of artist and art-loving friends that love to spend their time in museums, studying old and new masters. I prefer to visit, when I visit, alone or with a very like-minded friend because I tend to max-out my time in those places. Why? Because I am not likely to do it again for a very long time. Efficient, eh?
No one is really self-taught. Just as no artist can actually not be a contemporary artist. We all are a part of our own generations, like it or not. The influences are all around us.
For this reason, I tend to back away from too much. Yes, I have learned a great deal from other artists, living or past. And I still learn. I am still inspired. But I have also watched from afar as artists who study or work together paint very similarly to their teacher or group leader. One needs some of this in order to gain the technical skills to create ultimately whatever s/he wishes. That said, to step away to discover the unique voice inside is far more important and fascinating.
I am always curious about what would I create if I just lived my life observing as a fly on the wall: Hard to fathom and not a desire of mine in any case. I remember when I was studying literature decades ago that someone told me the quote (I do not remember the author), "You may either live life or write about it, but not do both."
Wow, that is harsh, but also how does one write about life without any experience with it?
Balance. That is my challenge. Is it yours, too?
"Spotted," a charcoal and pastel drawing on textured paper of a woman with a stalking leopard
https://borsheimarts.com/products/spotted-leopard-with-woman
And back to AI, if I understand what it is, it means that my own interpretations of my experiences and observations can now be melded into a program that contains many, many more voices than most individuals have access to in normal living.
Do I want that? I already have a brain that is open to too much. I already have a focus problem because I want to do everything. We know (from at least the psychology of selling) that when you offer too many choices, the brain shuts down into making none. Or leaving my shop, for example, to go to one with fewer offerings.
There is no way that little old me is going to stop the freight train of human ingenuity with technology. But I want to stay in touch with my voice, and my role as a speck of dirt in a big, amazing universe.
Having admitted all of these musings, please note that I am not judging anyone who uses AI in their artwork. As I said, we are all living in our times. I took to the Internet for its amazing potential back in 1996 and am better off for it. I probably even use advantages of AI without much awareness of it (due to other companies' choices).
And to be fair, most living and working artists struggle to stay out of debt. It is due to the art-buying and generosity of you on this list (and some who are not) that I have been able to make my life work. If AI helps a creator keep a roof over her head, and she is happy with her work, the world is a better place. I have given up a lot to be who I am, but there are not many things I would change about my life, if I could. So, thank you!
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Vasily Fedorouk, Marble with Gold!
One of the things I adore about the stone carvings of my late mentor and friend Vasily Fedorouk is how he makes hard marbles and other stone look so incredibly soft. He was brilliant with flesh.
Here, I share with you one of his marble sculptures of a standing female figure in which he added gold, as a necklace around the woman's neck. In the front view, it seems that the woman has thrown her head back, exposing her neck, making herself even more vulnerable. Her arms, like the reality of her head, are not part of the sculpture. no gaze, no protection from limbs that obscure the beauty of soft, feminine curves.
To see other view of this lovely sculpture, as well as see the base of the piece, please visit here:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/vasily-fedorouk-my-venus-stone-sculpture-with-gold
Below, you may see some of the many explorations that Vasily made of the female torso and body. I took this and others on my site when I visited Vasily's wife in 2011, two years after the sculptor's death.
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In Borsheim Arts Studio:
I asked my physical therapist if I could take a break. I often use January as a catch-up month. Taxes loom and most people are exhausted after the holidays and I feel it is a good time for me to disappear and focus on things I need to or want to accomplish.
However, I prefer to send out a newsletter when I have something new to show. Friend and subscriber Vilma wrote me the other day, wondering if I was still publishing art news. Well, I have wanted to publish since Thanksgiving, but I had nothing new to show you.
Thus, I put aside my still life oil paintings that need to dry some anyway, and painted this scene that I have wanted to paint since 2015 when I lived in Istria, Croatia. I hope you enjoyed the layered and punchy colors of the Umag harbour at sunset. I lived in that city for three months during the winter and often walked along the shoreline as the day was ending.
https://borsheimarts.com/products/umag-harbour-at-sunset-croatia-painting
Now, I have been loading more work-in-progress videos for two of my current painting projects. (There has been too much rain these past weeks for me to try to get back into carving marble.)
The first is my pumpkin still life... my most watched 34 second video:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9hF9PzcgZc0
Second is: Setting up a Still Life Painting (the pomegranates):
Video link: https://youtu.be/lsnrKhcHb08
The fruits are mostly dead now, even beyond edible, but I have a lot of work yet to finish the rest of the compositions. Stay tuned for more!
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May I ask a FAVOR?
Ohhhh, I just saw that I now have 474 subscribers on my YouTube Channel : @BorsheimArts ! If I can entice a minimum of 500 subscribers and then add to how many minutes viewers watch any of my videos, I may start earning some money from YouTube for being a content creator!
If you like what I am sharing on that platform, would you consider subscribing... but also watching? Comments will help me shape the quality and subject matter on my channel... so it all really is appreciated.
Check it out at:
https://www.youtube.com/@BorsheimArts
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Random but wonderful offerings:
Have a Mardi Gras party in your future? Last-minute bargain of printable party invites, and two photographs for fun wall art female masks:
https://borsheimarts.etsy.com/listing/1868094707/costume-mask-wall-art-set-of-two
As spring nears, you may enjoy giving yourself or a loved one this fabulous, lightweight, scarf made by a former roommate of mine who has been family to me ever since: Dragana Adamov.
See "Starry Eyes," a fun character with a love of shoes and fashion. The circular design (and several others) can also be made into designer plates for a spectacular table setting!
Scarf:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/adamov-collection-silk-scarf-starry-eyes
Plates:
https://borsheimarts.com/products/adamov-collection-designer-plate-starry-eyes
Happy Valentine's Day soon, just after the Full Moon on the 12th! I hope to do another day trip for myself. Part of my resolutions to spend more time in Nature this year. You may read about those adventures and more on my Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/lucchio-day-trip-121205065
I would enjoy hearing about fun things you have on your calendar or in your head to do for the rest of winter and into springtime!
Cheers and happy art hunting,
Kelly Borsheim
P.S. My Aunt Nancy loves to put together puzzles (and I assume take them apart, as well). Since she has already bought two of my artworks, I was not worried I would be "forcing my art" on her. Thus, I ordered another puzzle of one of my sold paintings "Tuscan Table" for a very special birthday she had recently.
With all of its warm brown colors, I thought it would be more challenging than other puzzles I have sent her or ones she received elsewhere. She said later, "And better hard than easy."
She sent me this photograph of her taa-daa moment of completion. And she wrote, "Just finished it today! It was hard, but it's sooo (sic) beautiful. Gonna leave it up a bit just to enjoy it. Very high quality puzzle! Thanks!" followed by a big red heart.
If you would enjoy buying or gifting one of my artworks as a puzzle, please see the 25 options available here (and write to ask me for an image you like if you do not see it there):
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-kelly-borsheim
Hi Kelly, Don’t know how we missed your uTube, but saw your request today, and both Dennis and I have subscribed! Take care, from Kate and Dennis Stalzer