Sculptor, Kelly Borsheim

I have been remiss in sharing a new link to Kelly Borsheim's blog. She started her blog in September and I forgot about it until a few weeks ago. Sorry. (That is what happens when you use two computers and forget to transfer your blog reader links.) Kelly is in Italy. She lives in Cedar Creek, near Bastrop. She is an amazing artist. Her nude sculptures are so wonderful and she sculpts sea life as well. I think her bronze turtles would swim and walk if taken off their stands.

Kelly painting in Bastrop, October 2003,
during Art on the Bridge. She was the featured artist for October.

I met Kelly about 8 years ago, I think. She was at the Harvest Art Fest in Austin. Sometime after that she joined the Guild so we were able to share her knowledge and see her work up close and in person. Now she is so busy we rarely see her. I doubt I will get to Italy any time soon. How about you?

Kelly is a dedicated and fascinating artist. She studies, researches, and applies all her knowledge to her art career. Have a look at her web page and blog. You will be impressed at all the information and photos she shares with us. She writes enthusiastically and prolifically.

You are warned, so go get you a cup of coffee before you start and come back here afterwards and let me know what you think.

Scavenger Hunt 65 Sketches

I didn't post to the Hunt yet. It ends today. I just went to post and wetcanvas.com did not respond. They must be working on something on the site. wetcanvas.com is a very large community of artists. Every medium and technique have forums for discussion, demonstrating and learning. The problem is probably big, too. (Note: posted to wet canvas on 12/08/07)

I will post my sketches here for now. They are done with a Micron 005 pen

#1, a bell. This is a bell from Bolivia, about 3 inches tall made of metal. 10 minutes or so.


#2, a container of pencils, pens, etc. A wooden cup, again from Bolivia, that sits on my desk. 15 minutes.


#3, thermometer and #4, the bottom of something. The thermometer is a rectangle, not a trapezoid. :( 10 minutes and the stapler bottom about 10 minutes as well.


#5, a magazine. 15 minutes


#6, a bowl of something. Little wooden bowls from Bolivia with red and black beans that we used for counters when we played "Telefunken", a progressive rummy game. When we teach this game, everyone says we make the rules as we go because it has an abundance of rules. It is a very simple game and only takes a few hands to catch on to ALL the rules. It is fun for up to 8 people. You need about 4 decks of cards for that many players.

#7, something green. One of the last two live plants in the house. Most can't survive the lack of care when we travel so much. This corn plant keeps hanging on.

Pastel Landscape WIP Final Water Canyon

I finished the Water Canyon painting from the previous post. It is more pleasing to my eye. I softened and changed the value in the big rock formations along the main ridge. I took out some of the bushes in the front. I also made the clouds lighter in value near the main canyon. I hope you agree that this improved the painting.

Water Canyon

Soft Pastel on board with Colourfix, 10 x 16 inches

I was off my mark in guessing the size. I said before that it was 9 x 12. I only had one board this size and didn't realize this was it. Hmmm. Water Canyon, like the Ladron Mountains, is another spot that I have taken photos of many times. Maybe the next painting will be with the snow on the ground.

Value is one of the challenges for me in painting. I have always used color to separate and emphasize. I am learning that if you get the value right it can be any color. Usually in the focal point or center of interest you have your lightest lights and darkest darks. It is good to keep your dark and light patterns connected. In this landscape having the darkest dark on the ridge did not let it move back into the distance. The darks are scattered along the closer hills and in the bushes in the front and it seems to work in this particular instance. Use this black and white version to check value. Squint your eyes and check out the mass forms/shapes. What do you think?

One reason I had to fix a few small things in the original as I had just enjoyed painting! Sometimes when you start thinking too much about these "rules" you forget to just paint. I find that over the years, thanks to practice, I have been able to paint without really thinking about how to create depth or color. You learn something each time you paint. On occasion, you paint in the "zone", and all the knowledge just flows and you paint well and with little effort. The painting almost paints itself. That is a great feeling!

P.S. Thanks, Joanna, for helping me with the Html so you can click on the image and it gets larger without getting the download message. :)