Artnotes: Fluffed Up

 

10 September 2022 Stimigliano MO  Italia

Amorati Blair Pessemier Acrylic//canvas 15 x 18"   37.5 x  45cm   575.00

We drove to Stimigliano on Thursday to spend the weekend.  A friend would be there. “There will be 50 Dutch people in town,” he told us.   Our interest peaked.  We threw a few extra paintings in the car (we’ll open the studio) and took off. We went out to dine Thursday evening, at the Oasis di Vescovio, a restaurant nearby.  We sat outside, despite thunderous peals a dozen miles away.   Our waitress, a charming woman, offered to speak English to us.  “I speak English better than Italian,” she admitted.  “I am from Ukraine.”   She went on to tell us how her father has been recruited into the military and her mother stayed on to be with him.  She was lonely and afraid, but thankful to be in Italy with a job.

Bench at Vescovio   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  18 x 12"  45 x 30cm  575.00

One of the marvelous things about the Dutch is their height.  I feel like a "little thing" when I am around them (I am 175cm; 5’8” tall).  I found my neck hurting as I craned upward to have a conversation with a man from Amsterdam.   I love this kind of “upset” – it can make me feel totally different.   It underscores the importance of meeting people in person – you can bulk-up or relax, step in or step out, or brush your arm against a friend.   Body language is a critical element of communication.

Fall Color    Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas/crayon  31 x 19.5"  79 x 50cm  650.00

These last few weeks I have had trouble with my bearings, my ideas, my plans – I am re-evaluating a lot of things.  I believe, more than anything else the return to one-to-one interaction has been the biggest disruption. It’s mostly good, although I have been standing up for myself more than I once did, occasionally too vociferously.  On the very positive side, it makes me consider putting myself further out on the line – with a pop-up store, or participating in art shows, or just entertaining people more often.   With that, I am forgoing this week’s virtual Art Salon in favor of doing something in person.

Wild Yellow  Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/canvas/crayon   14  x 10.5 "   35 x 27 cm   490.00

One of the things I like best about parties is that people are dressed up.  Luckily, I had a diaphanous number in my closet.  But I didn’t hold a candle to the lady in the brilliant, metallic striped skirt, or some of the summer dresses that billowed in the setting sun (it was a late-ish garden affair).   The bride herself wore a fabulous translucent chartreuse dress, with sparkly gold undertones – she was beautiful. The piece de resistance, however was the Pakistani “prince” in his feathered hat and traditional robes.  He fluffed up the rear as he perched on his chair, and I thanked my stars I was out and about in the human world again.

They've desiignated our street in Stimi "Lover's Lane" and encouraged posting romantic pictures.    I'm sharing my Etrucan. Satyr  and The Cat and Mouse