Paintings by Blair + Laurie Fox PESSEMIER: Artnotes: Fun House

Artnotes: Fun House

Villefranche Landscape Blair Pessemier Acrylic on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $350.00

Getting lost isn’t something one can plan, like taking a fun house ride. It would be kind of nice to do that, to scare oneself a little. I love to be scared, but it’s increasingly difficult for me to find scary things – actually, there are some “hanging bridges” from mountain top to mountain top here which might even give me a heart attack if I tried to cross them, but that might be too much. So getting lost in Nice, and up here in the hills fit the bill quite nicely.

We were on our way to Eze, a medieval village in the hills, when we got lost. We took the bus, no problem, from sea level where we are staying, up into the hills. It was the second bus, not due for another 30 minutes that provoked us to walk. “Come on, Blair, my feet are too cold just to stand here. Just to the next stop.” And another.

So we walked by lovely, no FABULOUS,movie-star type homes on the crest of the hill. Grand gates led to a magnificent house where diaphanously-clad women, dresses blowing, should have been on the balcony. The black cypress, perfectly groomed, and palm trees with their legs shaved surrounded the winding drives. Age-old olive, acacia, yucca and aloe abound. Just as we were about to arrive at the stop: whoosh, there went the bus. It was another half hour until the next bus, and at least six kilometers to walk to Eze, so we decided to walk through the winding roads at the top of the hill (yes, some vertiginous) down to the water to catch the train home.

Impression Villefranche Trees Laurie Fox Pessemier 9 x 13 $225.00

I felt a little uneasy as the sidewalks disappeared, and it seemed we were walking through a tunnel of old stone walls. Enter a Lamborghini or two, at high speed. “Hold the painting supply bag out far”, I told Blair, “they’ll see that before they hit us”. Princess Grace speeding along these roads came to mind.

Wherever the view broke through was marvelous. We found little chemins through the heavy growth that made me feel I was in a movie set. Eventually we came out where the greenhouses for the flower industry here are. They were full of beautiful blooms. An abandoned chapel at the side of the road, a house that cantilevered from the precipice, were inspiring.

Anemones Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on linen 13 x 9 inches $200.00

I felt like singing as we neared the town. We paid our two dollars to the mean ticket taker at the Beaulieu station, and felt the magic of the fun house dissipate on the platform.

We still haven’t made it to Eze, but the walk surpassed anything that could be there. It’s just how this universe works.