I did not know this when I started drawing and painting from live nude models, but it is all about peace, love, respect, and admiration. How can you hurt something or someone beautiful?

My own artistic path started when I was a child with an artist mother. Later, while in university obtainging a degree in mathematics and English in central Texas, I took a class in photography darkroom work. It changed the direction of my life. I worked in photo labs for eleven years, doing preservation work in the final years. An old daguerrotype I was to restore was missing the hand of the seated mother in a family portrait. That inspired me to start classical art training, even if only two hours per week. After a year, my teacher told me that I was ready to draw from a real live nude model!

How enchanting was Robbie, a curvaceous woman that was a joy to draw! I quit art school (I was working 60 hours a week at the time) and chose to attend as many of the life drawing sessions as I could. In those years (1990s), one could draw with other artists from a live model (male or female) for three hours, with sessions around town (Austin, Texas) almost every day of the week.

I took a week-long class during my vacation one year in Loveland, Colorado, to study the ecorche' (a figure without skin that shows the muscle structure). After that, I was asked to teach anatomy at the Elisabet Ney Sculpture Conservatory in Austin, Texas. Teaching is an excellent way to learn because you must explain the material from many different directions until you see the light of understanding in the eyes of each student.

In 2006, I took a trip to Florence, Italy, and honed my painting skills even further. Working from life is an integral part of my training and my joy. I continue to learn more and more.

I did not start out knowing WHY I wanted to create nude art. But once I began doing art shows and exhibits, I heard people's responses to my work. Their comments helped me understand and refine the words used to express my deepest beliefs that love is far more important than hate, that knowledge creates love with open eyes, and that I need to do what I can to help us all appreciate the miracle in the designs of Nature (including our own bodies).

Happy shopping! And thank you for supporting my work.

Live with beauty,

Kelly Borsheim, artist (sculptor, painter, photographer, mural maker, writer)

P.S. If you would like to see my non-nude art offerings, please visit my other shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/borsheimarts