Paintings by Blair + Laurie Fox PESSEMIER: Artnotes: In the Game

ARTNOTES: In the Game
Chess men Spring 2013 Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on Linen 10.5 x 16

We had a delightful painting session in the sun on Tuesday – watching the chess players on an early spring day. When I haven’t looked for a long time, it’s hard to SEE. But the longer I sat, the more I could see the hat, the gesture, the slouch in the chair, the look of interest in the eye by lookers-on. I could feel myself reaching my own stride as the chess players did, changing chairs, changing tables -- a smile, a handshake and a game. It’s like a moment out of life – I have been reading how Vladimir Nabokov became maniacal when he hunted for butterflies – he’d walk 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) a day searching for butterflies. He couldn’t feel the limit – it’s how I feel with the painting or the chessplayers feel with their game. No matter I have painted that scene fifty times, Nabokov would go over the same territory, like the chess players sit with the same pieces every time. It changes, it’s new. And when this day is over there is another one.

Chessmen Bundled Up Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic onlinen 12 x 12"

I can feel that way a little with writing. I have a new article in “A Perfect Event” magazine, where they also feature pictures of our home: http://issuu.com/aperfecteventmag/docs/spring2013_1/31 (if that doesn't exactly work, we are on page 30)

Rue Vaugirard from the Park Blair Pessemier Acrylic on linen panel 12 x 12" SOLD

We went out on Friday to make a portrait of a woman and her children, in the park. I wasn’t sure the proximity to the playground was a wise idea, but in fact, the closeness to the lollipops was a bonus. They were a lovely family, from Holland (where it’s colder than here – the forsythia is not yet in bloom). Blair and I both painted them, in just 90 minutes – small pictures.

The daughter, almost three, was very interested in the painting process. She’d place face and nose close to the palette – to look deeply into those colors and smell the paint, then watch me put the brush to canvas. It was charming and inspiring, and makes me feel lucky to have such an intimate experience with someone so young. Maybe someday she will be a painter, too.

I painted again that afternoon with a family of three, in the Luxembourg Gardens. Because the Senat (which adjoins the Gardens) has been debating volatile subjects, our bags are checked each time we enter. With painting supplies for four people, I worried I’d be there all day, but the guard recognized me and waved us through.