Category: Koby Gutman

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Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, December 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

 

 

 

 

Rick Fink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copy of National Geographic magazine’s green-eyed “Afghan Girl.”

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20‘s—during the time in between those years, he was too busy butling to paint!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Kobi Gutman
 
 

 

 

 

 

With the winter holiday season upon us, Mr. Gutman naturally provides guests with classic motifs to elevate their experience with his creative touches. This Father Christmas is a tree ornament, the water melon needs no explanation; and the relief of the reindeer started with a base made of tree bark to create the general shape, a clay cradle added on top to support the relief, and then a mold created of the whole piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, November 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

 

 

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Rick Fink

 

 

 

 

“This portrait is of an Indian friend, Priti, whom I see whenever I visit Mumbai—I know all her family.”

Priti was married at the beginning of this year and Mr. Fink captures her happiness.

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20‘s—during the time in between those years, he was too busy butling to paint!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Kobi Gutman
 
 

 

 

 

“A family staying with us for a while included two adorable little girls. Their mother worked with them on arts and crafts and wanted them to see my sculptures, so I showed them. The next day I gave them each a fridge magnet—a lion’s head—that I had made before and which they were very happy to receive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“Here is what I received from them in return today—the lion is made up of individual stickers…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the little dinosaur is made of air-dry clay that they had made themselves.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Mr. Gutman says, with a big smile on his face, “Adorable!” From a guest-satisfaction perspective, nothing tops engaged children who are inspired to creativity by a butler’s simple, caring touches—and, need it be said, by a mother’s loving and nurturing?

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, October 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

 

 

 

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Rick Fink

 

The Golden Retriever puppy is from a litter of nine raised by a friend who breeds them. The painting is based on a photograph. 

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20‘s—the time in between he was too busy butling to paint!

 
 
Kobi Gutman
 
 

 

Here is a new art form that Mr. Gutman is now exploring as a way of wow’ing guests—gelatin art.

According to Mr. Gutman, the procedure starts with gelatin being prepared in a bowl and then, using a syringe, a colored gelatin is injected into it to create a three-dimensional design.

“Specially shaped needles are used to create the effect
of feathers, petals, etc.

“Once done, the gelatin is removed from the bowl and the image is looked at from the other side, which is a bit tricky as the image is actually being “drawn” from the back side.

“This specific image was made for a cake top that was made by our Executive Chef.

“This side view makes it easy to see the three-dimensional effect.

“I am finding this type of art offers such a great variety of possible creations, it is very aesthetic, and definitely creates a lovely effect on the guests.”

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, September 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

 

 

 

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Rick Fink

An Exceptional Capturing of a Master

In Mr. Fink’s words: “This is a copy of Master Vermeer’s well-known painting called The Milkmaid and is painted on canvas in acrylic at the original size. The fun about doing these is that one is able to lay one’s own canvas, stretch it, paint it, and then frame it oneself—I also painted the wooden frame  and gold leafed it. It took three-to-four months from start to finish. 

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20‘s—the time in between he was too busy butling to paint!

 
 
Kobi Gutman
 
 

 

A brilliant capture of motion in a slice of time from Mr. Gutman.

As a bonus, Mr. Gutman has produced a short video showing how he made this statue grouping.

In Mr. Gutman’s words: “Although this is a more complex sculpture, it follows the same basics of simpler ones—The Cheetah, the man leaning, the Shaulin monk, and others that I have created over the months—they were all created in the same way: Armature,* positioning, adding clay for the general shape/volume, and then providing the details. Each step, of course, has its own technology and is a whole subject in itself, but the video gives a general understanding of the basic concepts. Granted, this is not the only way to create a sculpture but it’s a common one.”

*As the video shows, an Armature is a metal framework on which a sculpture is molded with clay or similar material.

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, August 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

 

 

 

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Rick Fink

 

This painting is of the Rotunda, a folly*, looking  back across the lake towards Ditchley Park, where Mr. Fink runs his butler school.

* A folly is a costly ornamental building in a large garden or park that serves no practical purpose—hence the use of a word that normally means “a foolish idea.”

 

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20 ‘s—the time in between he was too busy butling to paint!

 
 
Kobi Gutman
 
 
 

Moving beyond the statue of the mermaid featured in last month’s issue:

Mr. Gutman leveraged it into cards for use with guests, or that could even be purchased in the gift store. It helps to know that Mr. Gutman’s resort is located near a venue in Florida that features mermaids, hence the attraction for some guests—especially as the cards are made by the staff and only available at the hotel. The idea being that the hotel’s logo can be added for fuller branding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which brings up the most common question Mr. Gutman receives from returning guests: “Do you still do those apples?” thereby proving that his early sculpting efforts with carved apples became part of the hotel’s brand in the minds of these guests—much like hotels and resorts have mascots—The Plaza and its iconic, fictitious Eloise, that drives multiple events and guests to return, for instance, or the Peabody’s ducks. In this case, it was the butler’s creations that added a little bit of color and value for the guests receiving butler service.

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Returning to this culinary focus, here is a a birthday cake created in liaison with the pastry chef for a guest who was a VfB Stuttgart fan—the date 1984 being the year of the guest’s birth, not the 1893 founding of the football club. Naturally, the cake and gesture were very well received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, July 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

We are expanding this monthly column to include other butlers who, not surprisingly, given the level of creativity the position requires, enjoy skills in the fine arts. If you, or any butler you know, are a creative artist in no matter what genre, please feel free to submit your/their works to the editor of the Modern Butlers’ Journal.

Next month, we hope to include “The Butler who Paints,” and for this month, we have a wonderful surprise:

 

 

Rick Fink

 

 

 

 

This is a copy of the well-known painting, The Dancing Class, by Edgar Degas. The first is Mr. Fink’s work, the second, the original which hangs in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France. The warmer tones make for a much more compelling image.

Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance.

 
 
Kobi Gutman
 
 
 
 

The cast came out very well and the statue of the mermaid was painted in gold and copper. One of Mr. Gutman’s favorites, he says.

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of  the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter Rick Fink

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, June 2021, Creative Corner

IIMBCreative Corner

Featuring Butlers who apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession

We are expanding this monthly column to include other butlers who, not surprisingly, given the level of creativity the position requires, enjoy skills in the fine arts. If you, or any butler you know, are a creative artist in no matter what genre, please feel free to submit your/their works to the editor of the Modern Butlers’ Journal.

Next month, we hope to include “The Butler who Paints,” and for this month, we have a wonderful surprise:

 

Rick Fink

Introducing a very senior butler—Mr. Rick Fink, whom you may well recognize as the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, someone who has been in the profession for over six decades, as well as a venerable member of the just-launched International Butler Trainer Alliance. As a long-time reader of this Journal, we finally welcome him in his capacity as a contributor of his other passion—painting.

Artistry runs in his family—his son, Graham Fink, is an accomplished fine painter, so the apple did not fall far from the tree. This photograph on the left was taken two years ago by the renowned photographer and film director, John Rankin Waddell.

While Mr. Fink calls himself a Master Forger (you’ll see why in subsequent issues of the Journal), the self portrait on the right, the first of his works that we will feature, shows he has an uncanny knack of capturing character, just like Rankin, in his original works of art.

Kobi Gutman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here is Mr. Gutman’s latest sculpture of a mermaid, made upon request. The next step being to make a mold and then cast it.
 
Yes, it does look like chocolate, but that is the usual Monster clay he has been using of late.
 

In celebration of his tenth year since first developing his carving and sculpting skills as a butler, beginning with a simple apple carved for turndown, Mr. Gutman has created a short presentation, Evolution of an Artist, to show how he developed his skills and that a similar path is within reach for any who care to embark upon it.

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

 

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, April 2021, Creative Corner

Kobi GutmanCreative Corner

featuring Kobi Gutman

 

 

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.This completely static statue conveys the dynamic grace of the cheetah in all its details—including about 1,000 individually carved spots.

It is a single gift, as casting for multiple guests would be quite complex: The mold would need to be created in three sections and the resin then poured into the mold under the paw that is touching the ground—which is a very small hole for pouring a viscous liquid.

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, March 2021, Creative Corner

Kobi GutmanCreative Corner

featuring Kobi Gutman

In the continued quest to perfect his offerings to guests, Mr. Gutman presents the following this month:

As he says, “You have to make a horse every now and then, you know! I’ll try to cast this one. The last 2 horses I tried to cast didn’t work out that well, so crossing fingers.”

A few days later, he sent photographs of the cast—a success!

This is a butler with zero background in sculpting who, if you compare his works when he first started innocently with carved fruit for guests at turndown a couple of years ago, has proven that research, attention to detail, persistence, and practice backed by a good dose of intention to wow, do pay dividends. In other words, he started where many of us are now, so you, too, can succeed, whether in sculpting or some other skillset that can be learned and then used to wow guests.

In his own words: “I recently stumbled upon a YouTube video of an artist who showed a whole process of molding and casting a sculpture. In that particular video he showed an interesting technique I was not familiar with and which I applied on the horse bust.

“Now this is something that I do a lot of and recommend anyone to do as well: I keep looking for materials on the subjects of sculpting, molding and casting. Search enough, and you’ll always find something useful you can utilize.

“I even go over the same materials again and again. You’d be surprised how much
you get out of that. Specially when you practice a lot and then go back again
to review the materials, you now have more experience and can understand something
better, where before you may have missed the importance of a datum or maybe it was
too much to digest the first time and so you only picked up just a part of the whole. A second, third and fourth review/restudy really goes a long way.

“And, of course, never give up… I failed only twice before in making a mold. Both of these
times were when I tried to mold a horse. So take the challenge, find or come up with the answer of how to do it. And then do it. Sooner or later you’ll get it right!”

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

Categories
Koby Gutman Newsletter

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, February 2021, Creative Corner

Kobi GutmanCreative Corner

featuring Kobi Gutman

Mama Africa

 

Continuing to improve on his technique as he wows guests with his creations, Mr. Gutman copied master sculptor Philippe Faraut’s statue using Monster Clay, an oil based, wax infused clay. 

 

 

 

 

He then made two casts using a mixture of resin and plaster, adding bases that he also molded and cast. The base that looks like marble is simply not painted. He then colored the jewelry of one of the sculptures with some gold powder to provide an accent.

 

 

 

 

 

For another guest, research showed that she owned a bakery/confectionary. Mr. Gutman had planned to make the logo of her company but could not access her web site. Instead, he found photographs of candied apples that the company used to make. So he made these with fondant and served them as a little turndown treat with a custom-made card—all of which personalization and creativity were, needless to say, very well received.

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.