Artnotes: A Dog's Life

 The Square   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   16 x 12"  40 x 30 cm

 Doorways to the Canal   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  12 x 8  30 x 20cm 

Harika in Venetian Color   Laurie Fox Pessemier  12 x 16"  30 x 40 cm

Artnotes:  A Dog's Life

Two Jack Russell terriers in coats, perched on a delivery boat, barked uproariously as the vessel plied the waters of our neighborhood, Dorsoduro, in Venice.   Harika was duly annoyed, barked back, but eventually thought better of it, as there was no way to engage with the two canines.  We went on our way, but for some time afterward I could tell where the boat was, by the sound of the two sentinels.

Dogs are tops in Venice.  There are all sorts of breeds, often dressed up in coats.  We regularly saw:  a great Dane; a half dozen Jack Russells (one that had been immortalized in a sculpture in an art gallery); a griffon that Harika terrorized to the point it would run when it saw her; King Charles cavaliers; Brittany spaniels; a boxer; two Bernaise mountain dogs; a few labs; a golden retriever, and a collection of mongrels, from which Harika hails.  

Venice is the perfect place for a dog, because there are no cars.  Although most dogs are still on leashes, it is possible to let your dog run freely in a square and play, without fear of being run over.  There are lots of dogs on boats, accompanying their masters at work.  Harika was sad to leave our apartment, where we had a yard, and a heated floor.  

We left Venice this week to return to Paris.  Three trains, two of them planned, got us home seven hours late (the entire journey was meant to be a little more than 8 hours, so you get the picture). 

It’s icy cold here but sunny.  Not painting weather, but not too terrible.  I am wearing my fur coat, which people like to “pet”, so I feel a little like a dog might.  The pond in the Luxembourg Gardens is frozen over, and watching the seagulls walk on the water always amuses us.

We’ve hung our Venice collection of paintings on the walls here.  Our apartment seems outrageously cluttered, with canvases stacked up everywhere.  I can’t to go someplace else and start over.