At Montelibretto Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/newspaper 25 x 17" 63 x 43cm
In the Grove Blair Pessemier Acrylic/canvas 13 x 18 33 x 46cm
A Windy Day at Ladispoli Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/canvas 10.5 x 18" 27 x 46 cm
the library
Finally, after weeks of delay, the new bookcase was
delivered on Monday. Our American Library in Stimigliano has over
1,250 donated books, of various genres, available for
circulation. We found a lovely antique wooden bookcase,
slightly over twelve feet (3 meters) in length for sale in a second hand
lot. Because brown furniture is so out of fashion, and we are
among the few people who have a twenty foot long wall, unpierced by windows, we
were able to buy the libreria for very little money.
Needless to say, this maneuver has put crimp in our painting
this week. I use the library as my studio, as well, and my painting
surface was piled with books for three days.
The next day, we went to Rome, and scoped out painting sites
for an April engagement. We visited the boat basin in the Villa
Borghese Gardens, and are eager to give it a try. We were in Rome
for a meeting of the American Business Group. Blair and I have
always been involved in the business of painting, as well as the act of painting. The
ABG has the most interesting speakers, and this was no exception. We
heard from a recently retired journalist with a long career at the New York
Times, speak about fake news. It made me seriously consider quitting
Facebook, which targets people for what fake news they
receive. Google is king of the news targeting department, although
not necessarily fake, and depending on your profile feeds you
different information when you “google”. Which explains to me why
Blair and I always get different results. I won’t go into detail
about the biggest purveyor of fake news, which you can certainly guess.
On Friday, we drove to Montelibretti, to visit Libelulla, an
olive oil operation. They have an “adopt-an-olive-tree” business
(www.libelluladopt.com), and we are thinking of teaming up with them to offer
olive painting tours. We strolled acres of olive groves, and visited
the charming town of Montelibretti. It’s just a little more
than a half-hour from where we live, and the same distance from Rome. We
might bring our Rome-city painter there in April, if she would like a break
from the ancient stones. A full-fledged
olive-grove-hills-of-Rome tour is in the planning.
I still have to organize the subjects and alphabetize the
library, but the unpacking and shelving is complete. I am using a
cataloging program on the Internet to register each book, so they can be
checked out. We’re headed up to a snowy Rocca Malatina for a few days, to
see friends and celebrate Valentine’s Day. Red and white
paint.
