Paintings by Blair + Laurie Fox PESSEMIER

Junkyard Tuxedo Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12" ; 18 x 31 cm   SOLD

Reader Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12" 18 x 31 cm
Lounger Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12 " ; 18 x 31 cm  SOLD


ARTNOTES: DEFENSE

“This entire drawing only takes up 8 kilobytes,” the man operating the computer tells us. Strictly by using mathematical equations, he is able to instantly generate a highly detailed drawing that a conventional computer-aided-drafting program would take minutes and megabytes to create with polygons and triangles.

I might have learned more had there not been guns blazing directly behind me. Blair and I were at the Eurosatory Defense show at the Paris Exposition Hall this week. It was frankly unnerving to be among so many weapons and their accessories – I couldn’t even walk by some of the vehicles (the size of my living and dining room combined) without worrying a wheel might fall off and kill me. I never imagined I would see a drone, but hey, look over there. I opted out of the show after a couple of hours and have had bad dreams ever since.

The cutting edge of technology has always worked hand in hand with the defense industry. Some of the smartest engineers in the world are in the business of, well, destruction. I tell myself computer tools we are seeing could also be used for peaceful purposes, but the immediacy of the weaponry was overwhelming. Why couldn’t I find a spiritual stand, chaplains or something? How could this terror be mitigated? I needed a drink or six.

At home, I flew into a flurry of painting: creation versus destruction, seeing things in a colorful way. The defense show was strictly shades of grey and camouflage. Wherever I am, I think of how I might paint it.

At the park , it see the broad strokes of the landscape: distant turquoise trees – pink and purple sand on the paths. The people are massed together in chunks, rarely individuals. The chair isn’t solid or rickety, but a line from top to toe.

Flowers are a mass of colors. I paint the yellow eyes of the cat on a black square. The outdoor market isn’t just food, it’s stripes, and an array of boxes, red tomatoes and green lettuce. I overlook the minute details: the gesture of passing money from hand to hand I see, but never the coins or bills.

Madly I paint and I feel much better.

I have been reading about a Marine, Michael Fay, who drew and painted in Iraq, and now that he is retired, is off to record Afghanistan. He must see these war situations in the same way I see the market or the park. Of course, he acts in his role of soldier, as opposed to mine as shopper, stroller, housefrau. I love the drawings and paintings he makes, and I can pick up the same thread I feel in mine. It is as though we are the eye, in the great living body of humankind.