Paintings by Blair + Laurie Fox PESSEMIER: Artnotes: The Doing

Lola and the Satyr Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/canvas 13 x 16" 33 x 41cm 550.00

We are on our way back North from our sojourn at Pompeii. We are leaving 48 hours early, because the weather is very windy and rainy, and predicted to continue like this through Monday. Conditions make it impossible to paint outdoors, but we are ready to leave, anyway. We never got to Naples, nor to Amalfi, but will likely return to tie up a few loose picture-ends and visit later this spring. In fact, Naples is just 2.5 hours from our Stimigliano house, which makes a day trip possible.

Villa Poppae Blair Pessemier Acrylic/canvas 16 x 12" 40 x 30 cm 550.00

We reignited our painting muses in Pompeii, and are in touch with the importance of making art. Really, this focus on DOING SOMETHING makes such a difference in our overall wellbeing. Despite both of us having been sick for part of the trip, we were able to paint more than 30 en plein air pictures between us. We will continue our painting, from sketches and from photos when we get to the studio.

Bronze Crow (from Fountain Laurie Pessemier Acrylic/wood 7 x 13" 16 x 33 cm 200.00

That said, there is nothing like plein air painting – in fact we met a guard at the Villa San Marco (named for its rediscovery in the 1700s, there was no San Marco in 79AD) who was drawing from life as he surveilled the villa. We spoke about how much difference that looking and interpreting on a surface makes, as opposed to copying from photos.

Alex is a brilliant guard, reminiscent of a wonderful book I am reading: All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley. In the book about Bringley's 10 year stint as a guard at the Met , he describes how every guard is awed and knowledgeable about the art and history that surrounds them. Thye Pompeii guards can tell by our paintings just which house we painted in. They tell us about their personal favorite buildings, and the history of each.

This trip, this Pompeii project, has been such a boost for both Blair and I. It has given us purpose and something to look forward to as we bring the project and the art to a conclusion in a book, and hopefully a show of our Artwork. I can’t wait to get it all organized – something it is hard to do in our adequate, but small accommodation here. We need to lay out all the work on the floor; I need to put all my thoughts into “index card” form. Then we can make a project to share with the world.

Casa Frutteto Blair Pessemier Acrylic/canas 13 x 16 " 33 x 41 m 550.00

That inspires me to do greater planning for next year’s project. Maybe we’ll find sponsorship, so we can take a larger house, and stay as long as needed. Or even find a subject like the Malatesta Temple in Rimini, or the Cathedral at Modena, closer to our house. It’s not really only the travel; it’s the doing that matters.