Grape vines in the Hills Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 10.5 x 14' 27 x 35cm
Trees at Lizzano Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 10.5 x 16 27 x 41 cm
Near the Bell Tower Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 10.5 x 16 27 x 41cm
Waterfall Blair Pesssemier Acrylic/linen 16 x 10.5" 27 1 41 cm
Trees at Lizzano Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 12 x 12 inches 30 x 30 cm
From the road behind Pevio di Trebbio Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 13 x 16" 33 x 41 cm
Behind Pevio Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 13 x 16" 33 x 41 cm
Bell tower Rocca Malatina Blair Pessemier Acrylic/panel 10 x 16" 25 x 40cm
Artnotes: More, more, more
Everyone I meet here in Rocca Malatina loves living here, or
so it seems. It is a bit of a “resort”
town, in the sense people, mainly from Bologna, come up here as a respite from
the heat.
We went with the most fun people on Wednesday up to Passo di
Croci Arcano. “Bring sweaters”, P cautioned. I didn’t need my sweater, but others donned
theirs. I clamped a hat on my head, a
refuge from sun and wind, and felt comfortable.
We were at 1,743 meters (5718 feet and
6.75 inches), where trees didn’t grow and grasses looked like the sea,
over huge wave hills. We ate wild raspberries
and blueberries, the best we ever tasted. We walked on the grassy mountain ridges, with
shepherds and their flocks in the distance (black sheep!), and kestrels
soaring overhead. Half the party made
the trek to the lake, and we roamed the hills.
Two cousins of our landlady brought us there. The one I rode with, G, was much like my
friend Sal, who has been my friend since age 4. We
drove fast, on winding roads through the mountains, past Monte Cimone, the
highest peak near our house (2165 meters = 7103 feet); there was no time to be scared at that speed and
we talked about all sorts of exciting things on the way.
All of this made me think that when one is DOING things,
there is no possibility of feeling sad or worried. G is always doing things: he has horses he rides all around the area, he
has four dogs, travels everywhere. I
love this attitude. It made me want to
do more, more, more, and I relish the arrival of a Paris/American friend next
week, who we will take to Urbino, and other smallish Italian cities. Italy is great for visiting little places, as
it was made up of city states until its final unification as a country in 1870. Each city is unique, and people are terrifically
proud of their particular region.
More “things” we have done this week, with a trip to the
waterfall at Lizzano with P. It was a
hearty but achievable hike into the falls, where the water was like ice, and
the air significantly cooler than in Rocca Malatina. I painted trees and Blair painted the
waterfall while we were there. I loved
seeing people, several walking with their dogs. Harika stayed at home this trip, while we
did reconnaissance for future forays.
