Sunday, March 17, 2024

Artnotes: In the Garden

 

16 March 2024  Stimigliano, RI  ITALIA
Pansies on Newsprint  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper 11 x 15"   27 x 38cm  125.00 

Berlino, Berliiinooooo!  Blair and I were searching for our dog Berlino shortly after we returned from Stimigliano and let him out into the yard in Roccamalatina.   Night was starting to fall, and we try to establish his whereabouts every so often, even though our yard is not much more than an acre.

Pansies on Music  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/paper 9.5 x 12"   24  x 30 cm   100.00

I was scanning the surrounding hillsides in the unlikely event of escape, and I noticed significant movement in our fig tree.  Yes, there was Berlino, a good 8 feet off the ground clinging with his toenails to a branch.  I startled him just enough that he fell from the tree, luckily on our side of the fence.  He was unhurt and immediately tried to do it again.  We’ve taken preventive measures (wedging a lawn chair between trunk and branch).

Silver Peppermill   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/cardboard 10 x 10"  25 x 25cm   100.00
painting with Yukie series -- we paint for an hour online weekly

We have been discovering new and beautiful flowers since our return.  In our own yard, there are hyacinths and tulips and a riot of violets; we may have missed the cyclamen. There was significant rain, and it warms up into the 60-s daily, conducive to bursting blooms.    I plant every bulb I can, and scatter wild seed throughout the yard all year long.   Italy is truly the country of wildflowers, and come April and May, the hillsides from Torino to the toe of the boot will be carpeted.  My personal favorite are the red poppies.

Hyacinth on Black   Laurie Fox Pessemier acrylic/paper 13 x 9.5"  33 x 24cm  100.00

Italy is a significant flower producer in Europe (Netherlands being far and away the top). I bought pansies at the market on Tuesday.   Along the Italian Riviera (Genoa to the French border), greenhouses dot the hillside.  The volume of flowers for export grows yearly.   But, at least to me, Italy has the most wild growing flowers as one drives from Rome to Bologna and beyond.

Hyacinth on White  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  13 x 19"  33 x 48cm  150.00
There’s not been much wildness in our own lives, as I have had to buy a new phone and transfer data.  Linear thinking is not my strong suit; I’m not a black and white kind of girl (contrary to this week’s light and dark backgrounds for flowers).   Meanwhile, Berlino searches the garden for new adventures.
Orlando Furioso Puppet (Sicilian) Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/cardboard  13.5 x 10"  35 x 25cm  Sold
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Pessemier's Sunday Salon
Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary
 

How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.   
No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09

Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402

Rome 7PM *usa time change accommodation; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Artnotes: Inspiring Each Other

 

Lemons from Chris' Tree   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  11 x 13"   28 x 33cm   375.00

At our Sunday Salon, an artist read aloud some of my writings from Artnotes Paris.  I was really surprised at what I had written all those years ago: about change, and feeling young.  Change keeps us on our toes, and thinking.

Wild Hyacinth  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  17 x 23.5"   60 x 43cm  250.00 

A friend who owns a house in Stimigliano (the inspiration for buying our little apartment) is visiting here this week.  We’ve had coffee, and he bought a painting of Blair’s.  We have waxed affectionately about our time in Paris, where we met – he’s thinking about buying a pied-a-terre there because he misses the city of Light.  There’s nothing like being in a sidewalk Paris cafĂ©, we all agreed.

We will pass through Paris this summer, on our way to visit friends in Bretagne.  I am seriously thinking us setting up an easel along the quai, and selling paintings during the Olympics.  Unfortunately, the cost of staying there could sink us.  All of our usual suspects are renting their digs out for veritable fortunes.  We shall see.

Twin Boys   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 18 x 21.5"

Meanwhile, we continue to paint:  twin babies’ portraits, painted by Blair and I, are being shipped to Paris on Monday.  They melt my heart whenever I look at them, and am so glad to see the future in their eyes.

Two Boys      Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  10.5 x 16"  
 

We will drive to Roccamalatina this weekend – our Pompeii books, in print form, are arriving by mail; as well as art supplies.  We continue to hope for our papers, which we will need to pick up in Modena.  I fret about that continuously, but as a Stimigliano friend puts it, “People complain about the bureaucracy…but we spend a tiny fraction of our time each year dealing with bureaucracy and 99% of our time just living this beautiful life in this beautiful place.”

Isn’t it something how we all inspire one another?

The Ever-Inspiring Orlando Furioso Puppet (Sicilian) Blair bought me
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INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food....


Pessemier's Sunday Salon
Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary
 

How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.   
No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=

Sunday, March 03, 2024

Artnotes: No Swimming Yet

Mimosa   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/paper  17 x 23.5"   60 x 43cm  275.00 All of our work is available as prints, also.

I’ve spent nearly two weeks now completing the Pompeii book Blair and I started in January.  He finds another picture he’d like to add, I discover all the writing is different sizes.  I can get super focused on this whole thing, like I am one with the computer.  In painting, being one with my subject or my canvas is heavenly;  being one with the computer is hell.  Even Berlino takes one look at my crazed expression, and runs for cover..

Casa di Vetti (Pompeii)  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   24 x 20"  60 X  50cm  590.00   Link to Book

The good news is that it is officially finished, in English, at least.  I have an Italian version, but we will work at distributing this English one first.   We are looking at tour companies, gift shops, print makers who might be interested in the production.  If you have any ideas of how we might sell our project, please let us know.  Here’s the link to the flipbook, and soon I will have the actual hard copy in hand:  https://heyzine.com/flip-book/caf771d8b5.html

Primrose Red   Laurie Fox Pessemier    Acrylic/canvas
  16 x 13"  40 x 33 cm  450.00

We are free to pursue other endeavors now – I have painted a few flowers. We have a commission to paint twin boys for a Tunisien friend.  I am thinking of new projects: decorative wall painting;  painting images inside of churches, or in historic public buildings where I can paint out of the summer heat; or not painting at all and turning one of our studios into a museum of who-knows-what? 

Paperwhites   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  18 x 10"  45  x 25cm  450.00

Spring seems to be in full swing in Italy at the moment, and sometimes it feels downright hot in Stimigliano.  It was 20 Celsius; 68 degrees Fahrenheit on our walk by the Tiber with Berlino on Wednesday.   We are on our second trip to the beach this week, but no swimming yet.

Stimigliano Rooftop
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INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food....


Pessemier's Sunday Salon
Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary
 

How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.   
No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09

Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402

Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM 


Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Artnotes: Genius Inside

 

Snake with Offering (Pompeii)  Laurie Fox Pessemier    Acrylic/canvas    10.5 x 18"  27 x 46cm  450.00 

I am typing Artnotes on a new “old” computer.  I purchased a reconditioned HP, because my 12 year old Asus was failing.  The Asus still works, but I really needed a different computer to run our Zoom Art Salons.   This one is just a few years old, and renewed.   And it cost one fifth of what I would pay for a new one.

I am hoping a genius is inside here, who will take my hands and heart and mind to write you beautiful missives.  I will give her a little time.  She came from a chop shop outside of Naples -- it had to be scary..

Morning View Excavation   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   13 x 16"  33 X  41cm  490.00

I am writing about our time outside of Naples, in Pompeii.  Why is it when I write to you the words flood the screen, and when I try to write something longer, more correct, I stumble through?  Blair is still painting pictures of the Excavation.  I am using Canva to create a small book about the experience.   Meanwhile I am learning to work on this new device.   Actually the nerd doctors in Naples have been helpful getting me up and running – they speak some English, I speak some Italian, and the machine itself feels right underneath my fingers..

Fish Frieze (Pompeii)   Blair Pessemier    Acrylic/canvas panel   9.75 x 16"  .25 x 40 cm  450.00

I like the idea of a reconditioned computer for the fact that it is more climate responsible.  These computers are full of earth damaging elements, and if I can help minimize that, bravissimo!  One of our itinerant salesmen in Stimigliano has offered to take us to get a reconditioned phone at a special market in Rome.  It’s seems a little more clandestine than the computer, which we in fact bought with a year warranty from Amazon.

Doorway and Columns, Forum, Pompeii  Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  16 x 12"  40  x 30cm  450.00

I painted with Yukie this week.  I found a handful of pussy willows (salice di capre (goat willows) in Italian) to commit to paper.     Besides the pussy willows, we saw a grand field of snow drops bursting out around the Fountain of Youth.   They are really not pickable, but I am thinking of garnering a few bulbs from the woods for our own yard.   It’s thrilling to think of Spring that close.

Pussy Willows  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/paper  23.5 x 17"  60 x 43cm  250.00
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Sunday, February 11, 2024

Artnotes: The Doing

 

Lola and the Satyr Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  13 x 16"  33 x 41cm  550.00
We are on our way back North from our sojourn at Pompeii.  We are leaving 48 hours early, because the weather is very windy and rainy, and predicted to continue like this through Monday.  Conditions make it impossible to paint outdoors, but we are ready to leave, anyway.   We never got to Naples, nor to Amalfi, but will likely return to tie up a few loose picture-ends and visit later this spring.  In fact, Naples is just 2.5 hours from our Stimigliano house, which makes a day trip possible.
Villa Poppae  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 16 x 12"  40 x 30 cm  550.00
We reignited our painting muses in Pompeii, and are in touch with the importance of making art.  Really, this focus on DOING SOMETHING  makes such a difference in our overall wellbeing.  Despite both of us having been sick for part of the trip, we were able to paint more than 30 en plein air pictures between us.   We will continue our painting, from sketches and from photos when we get to the studio.
Bronze Crow (from Fountain  Laurie Pessemier    Acrylic/wood   7 x 13"  16 x  33 cm  200.00
That said, there is nothing like plein air painting – in fact we met a guard at the Villa San Marco (named for its rediscovery in the 1700s, there was no San Marco in 79AD) who was drawing from life as he surveilled the villa.  We spoke about how much difference that looking and interpreting on a surface makes, as opposed to copying from photos.  

Alex is a brilliant guard, reminiscent of a wonderful book I am reading:  All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley.  In the book about Bringley's 10 year stint as a guard at the Met , he describes how every guard  is awed and knowledgeable about the art and history that surrounds them.    Thye Pompeii guards can tell by our paintings just which house we painted in.  They tell us about their personal favorite buildings, and the history of each.
This trip, this Pompeii project, has been such a boost for both Blair and I.    It has given us purpose and something to look forward to as we bring the project and the art to a conclusion in a book, and hopefully a show of our Artwork.   I can’t wait to get it all organized – something it is hard to do in our adequate, but small accommodation here.  We need to lay out all the work on the floor; I need to put all my thoughts into “index card” form.  Then we can make a project to share with the world.
Casa Frutteto   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canas   13 x 16 " 33 x  41 m  550.00
That inspires me to do greater planning for next year’s project.  Maybe we’ll find sponsorship, so we can take a larger house, and stay as long as needed.  Or even find a subject like the Malatesta Temple in Rimini, or the Cathedral at Modena, closer to our house.  It’s not really only the travel; it’s the doing that matters.
Centaur in Marble Laurie Pessemier   Acrylic/paper  9 x 13 "  24 x 33cm  250.00
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Saturday, February 03, 2024

Artnotes: Dig It

 

Theatre Pompeii  Blair Pessemier    Acrylic/canvas    13 x 18"  33 x 46cm  450.00
 I am having the most wonderful time in Pompeii. Despite a nasty respiratory virus (almost as bad as Covid), we have managed to paint in the excavation every day but one.  We also go to outlying beaches so Berlino can dig legally.  His take isn’t nearly so fruitful as the treasures of Pompeii, but he digs holes in which he can conceal his whole giant body.  From the shore, we admire Vesuvius, Capri, and Ischia which surround us.
Bas Relief, Temple of Isis, Pompeii  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/oil pastel/paper   17.5 x 24"  45 x 61 cm  250.00
I have stepped into some sort of Pompeii trance. We go to the excavation every day, and I know just where Octavius’ house is, and the Vetti’s, the temple of Isis, and the Ampitheater.  I feel like I am walking the street with Arianna, and the painters, the restauranteurs and other people from 79AD. It has a sense of “every-man-ness” – although it is clearly Greco-Roman in style, it has a universal quality of where people lived their lives.  It is as if time stopped to give me some time to catch up with what’s going on – this is what I have always wished for.     
Fountain at House of Octavius  Blair Pessemier    Acrylic/canvas   16 x 13"  33 x 41 cm  600.00
I have had epiphany moments about art, life, painting, while I've been here, although it could be the cough syrup.  You haven’t lived until you’ve had the pleasure (not) of visiting a Neapolitan doctor’s office.  

The people who work at Pompeii have made things easy and comfortable for us.  We have been taken in as part of the work force.  “Would you like to be in that room?”  the guard inquires. “Go ahead.”  I pass the barrier.   “How about a stool?”  My favorite Pompeian is the fellow who screamed and yelled at us on arrival (you can’t bring those easels in!).  Now he inspects our artwork each day as we leave; blows us two finger kisses as we depart.   Everyone wants to see what we painted.
Fallen 2 Pompeii    Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/oilpastels/paper 9.5 x 13 "  24 x 33cm  250.00
I think they must have the best job in town – it is clean, orderly in the excavation, everything that greater Naples is not.  There are no cars, honking and spewing fumes.  The tourists are respectful, happy, manageable.   It is such a natural place, no kid-friendly-drive-a-chariot video games, nor coin-pressing machines – it isn’t necessary as kids can run in the street, picture taking encouraged. 
Villa Marco Lucrezio sulla via Stabiana   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canas   16 x 13 "  41 x 33cm  450.00
While I was painting in the larger of two theatres, groups came and went.  The guide would clap, strongly – my, I thought, he’s rather impolite to his charges.  Then another came and did the same.  They were clapping to illustrate the deadness of the sound – there was no echo in this stone enclosure.   A group of Koreans entered with their guide.    Finally, when the whole group was seated in the bleachers around me, the man burst into a beautiful operatic song in Korean.  I was touched to the heart.
Grand Theatre, Pompeii  Laurie Pessemier   Acrylic/oil pastel/canvas   12 x 19.5 "  30 x 50cm  450.00
Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com

INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food....


Pessemier's Sunday Salon
Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary
 

How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.   
No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09

Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402