View from the Kitchen Window Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 14 x 22 inches
ARTNOTES: A PARIS VIEW
ARTNOTES: A PARIS VIEW
Why are all these people walking around here? I wondered aloud.
Blair and I are constantly seeking new places to paint in
Paris. We’ve been painting here for
about 12 years, and we’ve covered a lot of territory. Maybe it was Halloween, but for some reason
I felt inspired to visit the cemetery at Montparnasse. It’s walking distance and is serviced by
several buses, too. Monday was a
brilliantly sunny day, and the trees looked heavenly.
What did surprise us is that there were so many people
walking around, plants in hand – but of course!
November 1 is a holiday in France
(Toussaint: all saints’ day) to
commemorate the dead. We soldiered on, despite my protestations
that maybe we were being irreverent.
Actually, a lot of people enjoyed seeing us painting, especially the kids, who were
dragged along to pay respects to grandma.
The cemetery at Montmartre is not the stellar attraction
that the “Cimitiere Pere Lachaise” is. But even though Jim Morrison is not buried at
Montmartre, several other noteworthy folks are, including Baudelaire and Man
Ray. While I was painting, a woman approached
me to ask if I knew where Jean-Paul Sartre was.
Huh?
I managed to paint an alley of turquoise trees, as did
Blair. People walked about, carrying
pots of chrysanthemums – the classic grave flower here. Paris cemeteries are quite beautiful –
elaborate flower arrangements and extraordinary chapels and sculptures abound. An extremely lifelike bas-relief of Honore
Champion caught my eye. I also like the
stained glass, and cut metal work of the little chapels.
Holidays here are not much fun for Blair and I – we’re not
part of society (in some ways a great advantage). Finding a croissant on the 1st of
November was challenging. We ended up at
the Rostand, where I painted the waiter and barman. Blair got in a “snapshot” painting of trees
at the Luxembourg Gardens that morning.
I wasn’t as pleased with mine.
The outdoor food market took place beneath our windows, as usual, but was
feebly staffed.
Later in the week, we took to painting from our apartment windows. It is a bit of a challenge, as space is
limited. We try to keep up appearances, in
case we need to kick in the “bohemian art gallery” mode. A woman did stop by on Monday to inspect our
premises for art lessons, but didn’t seem impressed. She was very nosy, and I breathed a sigh of
relief when she took the elevator down.
Blair painted a view out the kitchen window, as I looked out
at the corner of rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. We are both looking forward to our December
soujourn to Collioure, where we’ll have a view of the Mediterranean.
Jazzy Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 12 x 12 inches SOLD
