Paintings from Paris France by Blair and Laurie Fox PESSEMIER

2012-02-19T17:12:00.000+01:00

Luxembourg Gardens Sunning February Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 12.5 x 7 w $200.00

Luxembourg Gardens Tree February Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 inches $200.00

Luxembourg Gardens Statue Blair Pessemier Acrylic on wood 13 x 5.5 inches $200.00

2 sketches Luxembourg Gardens

2012-02-19T10:30:00.001+01:00

Sketch: across the Luxembourg Gardens Blair Pessemier Acrylic on wood 7 x 20 inches $200.00

Sketch: Luxembourg Gardens Laurie Pessemier Acrylic on canvas panel 12 x 12 inches $200.00

2012-02-18T10:39:00.005+01:00

Paris: last snow of winter Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 14 x 9 $450.00

2012-02-13T14:14:00.001+01:00

Red/yellow orchids Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $400.00

White orchids Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9 x 12 inches $325.00

Geese/Canal du Midi Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 9.5 x 14 inches $525.00

Invitation to our Show "Les amoureux de la France"

2012-02-13T10:33:00.001+01:00

2012-02-11T10:39:00.000+01:00

In the Greenhouses at Auteuil Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches $600.00

Sketches on a cold day

2012-02-11T10:36:00.001+01:00

All of the these are on 4 x 6 inch paper... by Laurie Fox Pessemier

$25.00 each or the lot of 8 for 150.00

This is the real paper color....

Snow in Paris

2012-02-08T09:13:00.002+01:00

Snow on our corner Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 15.5 x 15.5 inches 550.00

Footsteps in the snow Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 7 x 19 inches $200.00

2012-02-08T09:10:00.000+01:00

Three Impressions of the Serres d'Auteuil
Above and below Laurie Pessemier   Acrylic wood 7 x 12 (above) 6 x 19 (below)
Right   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/wood 7 x 19 inches
$125.00 each

2012-02-05T09:28:00.003+01:00

Blair PESSEMIER Luxembourg Gardens Medici Fountain in Winter Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $600.00

Blair PESSEMIER Luxembourg Gardens: Ice Oil on linen 16 x 20 inches $650.00

Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Luxembourg Gardens: Bleak Midwinter Pink Light Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 14 inches $375.00

Laurie Fox PESSEMIER From the roof of PRINTEMPS Acrylic on canvas panel 12 x 12 inches SOLD $400.00

2012-01-28T10:10:00.001+01:00

Dogs in the Luxembourg Gardens
Laurie Fox PESSEMIER   Acrylic on wood
6 x 9 inches     $125.00 each

2012-01-24T11:31:00.003+01:00

The View from my Window, Paris Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 16 inches $380.00

A few days in Trouville, France (Normandy coast)

2012-01-24T11:29:00.003+01:00

Low Tide Boat Basin Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15.5 x 15.5 inches $450.00

Apples Trees Calvados Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $325.00

Peek-a-boo View, Normandy Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7.5 x 20 inches $175.00

Early Morning Sea, Normandy Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 inches $380.00

Rowboat, Mudflat Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 20 x 7.5 inches $180.00

Windsails Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12 inches $150.00

Green fishing boat, aground Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 14 inches $375.00

Fishing Boat at Dawn Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 16 inches $400.00

2012-01-15T18:15:00.000+01:00

Silver Reflection Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16 x 20inches 600.00 SOLD

St Sulpice: red pants Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 inches 175.00

St Sulpice: man with sac and sunglasses Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 $175.00

St Sulpice: tourists Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 5.5 $175.00

Luxembourg Gardens: contemplating chess Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 7.5 x 9.5 $175.00

Collioure: Chateau Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16.x 20 $600.00

2012-01-09T12:09:00.001+01:00

Collioure: beach with palms Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches $600.00

Collioure: woman with dog on beach Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acryilc on canvas 11 x 16 inches $350.00

Fort Salses: Impression Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 13 inches $350.00

Chateau Salses Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 inches $450.00

Fort Salses with hills Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9x 14 inches $300.00

Collioure: Fort Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on panel 12 x 16 inches $350.00

Argeles: Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 16 inches $425.00

Collioure: Hills at Elme Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas panel 6.5 x 9.5 $150.00

Collioure: Street Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas panel 9 x 14 inches $275.00

Collioure Hills behind the town Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on panel 12 x 18 inches $350.00

2012-01-08T18:47:00.002+01:00

Grey Tree Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10 x 14 inches $300.00

View from the Windmill Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $300.00

Twisted tree at Museum M Blair PESSEMIER Oil on panel 9.5 x 6.5 inches $175.00

Two Fisherman at Port Argeles Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas panel 9.5 x 7.5 inches $225.00

Collioure: two girls on the beach Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 inches $400.00

Collioure: trees behind the museum Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 inches $300.00

Collioure: the jetty Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acryilc on canvas 9 x 10.5 inches $225.00

Collioure: waves Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 14 inches $225.00

Collioure: from Fort Elne Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acryilc on canvas 12 x 12 inches $275.00

Collioure: from the windmill Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 16 x 20 inches $600.00

Collioure: view from museum garden Acrylic on canvas 16.5 x 13 inches $400.00

Port Argeles: Two fishermen Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches $500.00

Port Vendres: beach Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 13 x 16.5 inches $450.00

Collioure: Clocher Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 11 x 14 $400.00 sale pending

Collioure: vineyards from Fort Elne Oil on canvas 16.5 x 13 inches $400.00

2011-12-24T16:01:00.000+01:00

Collioure Kids at the Beach Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 10 x 14 inches $350.00

Collioure Skipping Rocks Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 9 x 13 inches $325.00

Collioure: On the rocks Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on panel 7.5 x 12 inches $175.00

Collioure: boulevard Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10x 14 inches 275.00

Collioure: Trees in Shadow Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $400.00

Collioure: 3 men Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on panel 10 x 12 inches $300.00

Collioure: Chateau and reflections Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 9 inches $250.00

2011-12-24T15:56:00.003+01:00

Collioure Houses Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 20 x 20 inches $800.00

2011-12-18T15:36:00.001+01:00

Collioure: Night View Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 15 x 21.5 inches $800.00

2011-12-18T15:34:00.002+01:00

View from Red Fish Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 15 x 19 inches $700.00 SOLD

House on the rocks Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 9 x 13 inches $350.00

Lighthouse Port Vendres Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 7.5 x 13 inches $250.00

Sacrament Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 9 inches $200.00

Lady of Lourdes Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 6.5 inches $180.00

Boat and Church Port Vendres Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 9 x 14 $300.00

Boat Basin Port Vendres Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9 x 11 inches $300.00

2011-12-14T16:28:00.001+01:00

Collioure: fall vines with leaves Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on linen 11 x 16 inches $450.00

Collioure: Beach with palms Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 15x 21.5 inches $600.00

Collioure: Little scene from the window Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 9 x 6 inches $300.00 SOLD

Collioure: Oranges Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 9.5 x 12 inches $350.00

Collioure: Houses by the beach Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 11 x 16 inches $375.00

Collioure: vines by the side of the road Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 14 x 11 inches $350.00

Collioure: vines Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 16 x 11 inches $400.00

2011-12-12T15:07:00.000+01:00

Collioure: Sunny Monday Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $500.00

Collioure: Market Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $450.00

Collioure: Donkeys Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $300.00

ARTNOTES: Donkey News

It took almost nine hours, in our rental car (a Peugot 508SW that had just 5 kilometers on the odometer) to arrive at our holiday destination. Blair and I and Harika are spending Christmas and New Years in Collioure, a small (former) fishing village on the Mediterranean, very close to the coast of Spain.

This trip is, of course, a painting vacation – it is fifteen degrees warmer here, and we’ve actually seen the sun for some of the hours we’ve been here. This morning we went to the market, where Blair painted a terrific scene.

Our house is large enough we can have a studio room, as well as our bedroom, large kitchen with table, and living/dining room. The only drawback is its terrazzo floors, so we brought carpets from Paris to keep our tootsies (and Harika’s) warm.

For more than 50 years I spent every Christmas in my birthplace of Winsted, Connecticut with my family. The last 30 Christmases Blair spent there, too, with a visit to Virginia to visit his Mom, too. Now that my mother has passed away, my father doesn’t feel like celebrating and my sisters both have their own families (Blair’s mother died this year, too) . So it is up to Blair and I and Harika to forge a new tradition.

As soon as we got here I saw the advertisement for a Christmas fair. We settled into our house, got Harika situated, and walked downtown to check out the festivities.

We should have been hip to the magnitude of the production: we saw donkeys, in hats, carrying children around the town. We climbed the old Catalan/Moorish fort on the bay, and behold: there were camels, donkeys, sheep and geese (the latter two under the supervision of a farm dog). Hark, there were angels “on high”, or at least on stilts, casting snowflakes and golden glitter on the crowd. Wise and strong men lifted children onto the backs of the camels, bedecked in jewels, for spin around the interior courtyard of the 13^th century stone structure. The scene was, in fact, how it might have taken place seven or eight hundred years ago. Tears of joy and wonder filled my eyes as I sipped hot wine.

Christmas music played, and patterned light fell against the stones. We walked along the ramparts and watched the moon rise on the water. Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything finer or a better way to hail in the holiday season.

Our landlady set up a little electric (fiber optic) Christmas tree for us, and Blair is sending out cards. I brought my collection of Motown Christmas music. Maybe we’ll get a wreath for the rental car.

I have no wifi here, and there isn’t a starbucks or mcdo’s for miles around, so my electronic communication may be spotty. I have hopes for the library.

Collioure’s population is only 2,763 people. Maybe 10% of them were present on Saturday night; plus people from neighboring towns. I thought, why don’t more places do this? If I were king, or just a city mayor, I certainly would.

Collioure: Footbridge Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Oil on linen 10.5 x 16 inches $300.00

Collioure: Boat Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Oil on linen 5 x 10 inches $175.00

2011-12-03T11:54:00.001+01:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Pan M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 18 x 21 $450.00

Thanksgiving trees Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $400.00

Artnotes: Home for the Holiday

Artnotes and painting fell by the wayside as I flew toConnecticut for the holiday. It’s ourfirst Thanksgiving without my Mom, and everyone was a little blue – so Blairfound me a very cheap flight to Connecticut, where I was able to spread alittle holiday cheer.

It was perhaps the worst flight of my life – on the newairbus 380. Once nestled in seat 49F, onthe ground floor, I tucked my arms into the seatbelt to keep them from floppingonto my neighbors. King Kong, seated tomy left, was not as thoughtful. Amatchstick girl on my right, who had been en route for more than 40 hours fromKilamanjaro airport, was friendlier – bumping into one another was ok, actuallya comfort among the 582 passengers on board, 10 across.

The air was so thin, there was a request for “a doctor” asanother passenger seemed to be having a heart attack. I had difficulty breathing, and when thepanic set in I realized we were pitifully deprived of oxygen. Moments after the medical call, puffs of O2burst forth from the air handling system and I could once again think clearly. The lady beside me told me how she lovedAfrica – she’d been there as a volunteer in Tanzinia. “I spent 8 hours sleeping on the floor of theairport in Sudan due to a delay – no lights, no services,” she told me, “andthen to arrive in Paris to buy a 10 euro sandwich was such a contrast!”

It took 30 minutes to get the plane docked after landing (weneeded a special tractor to bring us to the gate), and another half hour to getus all off. “Welcome home,” thepassport agent greeted me.

I hopped on the Connecticut Limo with ease. It was already full, and I had to squeeze innext to a slightly smelly man with an Eastern European accent. A French guy from my flight perched on theedge of the seat next to me.

We stopped at another terminal for one more. A large, long-haired fellow up front threatenedto “drop” the driver, speaking loudly into his cell phone, if we didn’t getunderway at once. The girl next to himseemed embarrassed. The Indian we pickedup had six suitcases. There were groansof outrage in the van. The French guyand I visited about how we liked New York at Christmas. “Where are you getting off?” he asked.

The Frenchman moved back to the widest row, to the dismay ofthe very round couple, dressed in fur with piggy eyes, ensconced there,. The Indian then sat beside me. Allthe way home, the Eastern European was poking me in the ribs – “we’re drivingtoo fast”, he’d hiss. I wished for a seatbelt.

While the driver was arranging the six bags in the rear ofthe car, a radio reporter interviewed a woman at a New Jersey turnpike reststop. “Yes,” she said enthusiastically, “we’vegot four adults and a chihauhua in this car. But I kind of like it, lots of conversation.”

“Like us,” I told our group, “it’s what the holidays are allabout”. You could have heard a pin drop.

The Frenchman and the “tough” longhair debarked inGreenwich. My smelly seatmate got off inShelton. I wished the round woman in herfur coat a Happy Thanksgiving as her husband chided her “don’t fall” as shestumbled out of the car in Middlebury. “We’llbe alright now,” she told me, “now that we are almost home.”

Luxembourg Gardens Boules November Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 9.5 x 12 inches $450.00

2011-11-18T18:02:00.001+01:00

Scene by the River Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 16 x 11 $450 SOLD

River and Bridge Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 15 x 18 $575.00

Lighting Candle with St. Genevievre Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 inches $200.00

St. Anthony of Padua Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 6 inches $200.00

St Alexandre's Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 7 inches $200.00

2011-11-12T11:49:00.001+01:00

Port en Bessin Green Light Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 inches $450.00 SOLD

Port en Bessin Red Light Green Light Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $325.00 SOLD

Boulevard Raspail Laurie FOX PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 6 inches $200.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Trees Guynemer Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $375.00

Driving home at night Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $375 SOLD

Artnotes: Remembrance

“Les Marines de Port-en-Bessin” the invitation read, “10Novembre 2011”. Blair and I and our oldfriend Quentin had an expo in Port-en-Bessin in February 2005. At that time, the museum/cultural center tookone of each of our nautical scenes. Andfor the next two weeks those paintings are once again on exhibit in thishistoric World War II town on the Normandy Coast.

We couldn’t pass up the chance to go the the vernissage, thefollowing night. We rented a car andcast out at 9:30 AM the next morning. Harika was in complete agreement -- another opportunity to play on the beach. Whooppeee!

We sat down for a lunch of mussels and lamb chops at a beachsiderestaurant in Trouville, about 25 miles from Port-en-Bessin. Trouville has a long, sandy beach, and menwere paddling on surfboards as the tide receded. Harika frolicked on the sand as we ateoutdoors. It was brilliantly sunny, counteractingthe nip in the air. In mid-afternoon wedrove West to Port-en-Bessin, where we would paint.

It was the most wonderful day, with a super low tide. We could see remnants of World War II wrecks,and could walk out nearly to the end of the jetties at Port-en-Bessin. Men were harvesting pentoncles (bayscallops), with wooden-handled nets. Some were in giant boots, others bare-leggedin the icy sea.

Blair painted from above, but Harika and I opted to sit by the water. A short while into the painting we were chased off the beach by thearrival of a pit-bull: he sent the two of us plunging, me in my goodshoes, across fields of seaweed alive with sea snails. Paints and canvas akimbo, Harika leaping, wemade quite a site. I couldimagine the other dog snickering at us from behind.

One half of the beach at Port-en-Bessin is the scallop-shell graveyard. The chalk-on-the-blackboard sound of shellsbeneath our feet results in Blair carrying Harika over the rough spots. The other half of the beach (on the otherside of the locks which keep the fishing boats afloat) is an enclosed bay –this is where we painted. The light isextraordinary this late afternoon, and the pools of water amidst the sand aremirrors to the sky.

The last time we showed paintings at Port-en-Bessin theMayor of the town sang the “Star Spangled Banner”, a cappella, in ourhonor. He was there again on Thursdaynight, but we assured him he didn’t need to sing. He was cheery as ever, but a tear filled hiseye when we informed him of the demise of Q. Quentin was a veteran of World War II, and participated in memorialfestivities in Normandy a couple of times.

It was appropriate to be at such an historic setting as theNormandy beaches on the Eve of Remembrance Day. There are fewer and fewer witnesses to the big wars of Europe. Museums, cemeteries and cultural centers keepthe flame lit. In Port-en-Bessin thisweekend there was a big scallop festival and circus., in conjunction withVeteran’s day. We left the vernissageearly, to drive back to Paris by night.

INVITATION TO GROUP SHOW PORT-EN-BESSIN FRANCE

2011-11-12T10:32:00.001+01:00

2011-11-09T11:19:00.001+01:00

Painting by the Seine Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 inches $425.00

Pont des Arts and Ecole Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $350.00

Laurie in Costume Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 11 x 14 inches $350.00 SOLD

Party Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 inches $350.00

2011-11-05T11:52:00.000+01:00

View from the Kitchen Window Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 14 x 22 inches $550.00 Sale pending

ARTNOTES: A PARIS VIEW

Why are all these people walking around here? I wondered aloud.

Blair and I are constantly seeking new places to paint inParis. We’ve been painting here forabout 12 years, and we’ve covered a lot of territory. Maybe it was Halloween, but for some reasonI felt inspired to visit the cemetery at Montparnasse. It’s walking distance and is serviced byseveral buses, too. Monday was abrilliantly sunny day, and the trees looked heavenly.

What did surprise us is that there were so many peoplewalking around, plants in hand – but of course! November 1 is a holiday in France(Toussaint: all saints’ day) tocommemorate the dead. We soldiered on, despite my protestationsthat maybe we were being irreverent. Actually, a lot of people enjoyed seeing us painting, especially the kids, who weredragged along to pay respects to grandma.

The cemetery at Montmartre is not the stellar attractionthat the “Cimitiere Pere Lachaise” is. But even though Jim Morrison is not buried atMontmartre, several other noteworthy folks are, including Baudelaire and ManRay. While I was painting, a woman approachedme to ask if I knew where Jean-Paul Sartre was. Huh?

I managed to paint an alley of turquoise trees, as didBlair. People walked about, carryingpots of chrysanthemums – the classic grave flower here. Paris cemeteries are quite beautiful –elaborate flower arrangements and extraordinary chapels and sculptures abound. An extremely lifelike bas-relief of HonoreChampion caught my eye. I also like thestained glass, and cut metal work of the little chapels.

Holidays here are not much fun for Blair and I – we’re notpart of society (in some ways a great advantage). Finding a croissant on the 1^st ofNovember was challenging. We ended up atthe Rostand, where I painted the waiter and barman. Blair got in a “snapshot” painting of treesat the Luxembourg Gardens that morning. I wasn’t as pleased with mine. The outdoor food market took place beneath our windows, as usual, but wasfeebly staffed.

Later in the week, we took to painting from our apartment windows. It is a bit of a challenge, as space islimited. We try to keep up appearances, incase we need to kick in the “bohemian art gallery” mode. A woman did stop by on Monday to inspect ourpremises for art lessons, but didn’t seem impressed. She was very nosy, and I breathed a sigh ofrelief when she took the elevator down.

Blair painted a view out the kitchen window, as I looked outat the corner of rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. We are both looking forward to our Decembersoujourn to Collioure, where we’ll have a view of the Mediterranean.

Jazzy Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 12 x 12 inches $400.00 SOLD

2011-11-04T09:58:00.002+01:00

The Street Where I Live Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 inches $450.00

Place des Vosges Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $300.00

2011-11-01T16:44:00.001+01:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Color in November Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $350.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Toussaint Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 11 inches $300.00

A collection of people: waiter (SOLD), barman (SOLD), customer in the Rostand Acrylic on wood approximately 6 x 10 inches $175.00 each

2011-11-01T16:38:00.003+01:00

Cimitiere Montpartnasse: Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER 15 x 18 inches $350.00

Tree at Montparnasse Laurie FOX Pessemier 12 x 12 inches $275.00

Cimitiere Montparnasse: Trees along the allee Blair PESSEMIER 22 x 15 inches $450.00

Reading the paper in the Luxembourg Gardens Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $175.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Jewel tones 31 October Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 11 x 16 $450.00

St. Sulpice: Saint Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $350.00

2011-10-30T10:11:00.001+01:00

Buzz Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 inches $350.00

ARTNOTES: BUZZ

Christine, Canaille’s mistress, was talking to a mostunusual man in the garden when we arrived early on Monday. He had eyeballs so large, I could barely seeany whites; his eyebrows were completely shaggy and encircled the top of hiseyes; he was round. He was as taken withme as I was with him, and came over at once to introduce himself. He was the beekeeper at the hives at theLuxembourg Gardens.

Blair and I have painted the hives, and the bees innumerabletimes. There is a collection of antique hives,and there are new, beeswaxed teak boxes with copper roofs which seem to pleasetheir occupants.

We sang our praisesof the bees and hives to the beekeeper. I asked how the bees were doing. In fact, he told us his bees were among the healthiest and most prolificin all of France. Why? No pesticides.

We discussed thecurrent nemesis of bees: colonycollapse. There was no sign of thathere. “Because of industrial farming,insecticides and pesticides are now integrated in the seed: at levels 2,500 times that of “crop dusting” –the former method for eliminating pests. Bees are fragile creatures – they have to remember where they are, howto get back to the hive and how to direct the other bees to the flowers –that’s too much to do when their bodies are compromised by pesticides.”

As he related this story, he buzzed with passion. “Here, in the gardens, we replace our queensevery 2-3 years; in America, queens are replaced 2 or 3 times each year.” Life is hard for the industrial bee, even ifyou are royalty.

At Tuesday’s open air market, the flower man had exemplary specimens: we settled on 18 pale pink and pale greenroses and a meat-colored chrysanthemum (in retrospect, perhaps we should havevisited the butcher first). He had otherequally beautiful flowers: multi-coloredanemones, carnations and cyclamen. Hehad a wizened look: a painfully thinnose, wire rim glasses and he was smoking home made cigarettes. He worked slowly, wrapping each purchase. He wasthe antithesis of the bee man, but perhaps just a drone instead of a royal bee.Or he could have been a wasp.

While walking by St Sulpice on Saturday, two honeybeesseemed to be engaged in a fight, one pursuing the other, first here, thenthere. They were flying at what seemed to be the purported 20 miles an hour a bee canachieve, not carrying pollen (Someoneonce told me you can outrun a bee, but anyone who has stepped near a nest knowsthat is not true). After lunch with friends we walked back andfound the two splattered on the sidewalk, engaged in a fatal embrace. I wondered if they were bees from theLuxembourg Gardens.

2011-10-22T19:11:00.003+02:00

Market Man Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches $175.00

ARTNOTES: An Eye to the Future

"The future you see is the future you get." RobertG. Allen

I ate the most delicious fish of my life on Mondaynight. I hadn’t really thought about theSaint Pierre, that fish from French waters, for years – I used to have a recipefor it. The St. Pierre is a flat,upright fish with spiny fins and a thumb and fingerprint on each side where St.Peter picked him out of the water to remove the gold piece from his mouth.

Generous friends took us to the Dome, where we had thefish. They were seeking sole,themselves, and the Dome reputedly has the best. Mymeal was so good, I wanted to cook a Saint Pierre myself, and set out for themarket on Tuesday to buy one. When myfish monger told me he had none, a woman customer sniffed, “it’s tooexpensive”. I examined my dress, and waslooking a little down-at-the-heel. Oh, well, I went on to the butcher and boughta wild hare, which I soaked overnight in red wine and spices.

On Wednesday, friends took us out to a “les Halles”restaurant which served hearty French fare. I had sheep’s brains, which were cooked “meuniere” – they were lightly breadedand fried producing a crunchy outside and a remarkably light center. I endeavor to eat differently than at home,whenever we go out, so I can expand my menu repertoire. There was a table of Chinese people next tous, who ordered what looked like everything on the menu. They were drinking red wine, so when it wasour turn to order the wine, we said, “we’ll have what they are having.” “Are you sure?” the waiter asked, “it’s 120euros a bottle.” They had four or fivebottles while we were there. Upon closer inspection it was a 1979Bordeaux. We opted for a respectable ’09.

I cooked my rabbit (he had the biggest legs!) for about 4hours, with onions, cepe mushrooms, and carrots, and invited over some French friends. I needed to practice my French. We’ve had a back-to-back English-speaking visitorssince the 6 September when we returned from vacation. I’vealternated between feeling delighted, overwhelmed, tired, but it is clear to meAmericans are at their best here in Paris. We live in the one place that brings out creative thinking and joy ineveryone. It especially works well forartists, musicians and writers, but that’s for another artnotes.

I couldn’t be happier here, I don’t think. We visited with Voyeu, the dog’s, mistress inthe park Friday morning. A bright sunnyday and we are talking about food; more specifically, about blood, and how andwhen one introduces it to a recipe. Canyou imagine such conversation? I took ita step further to the butcher . "Yes," hesaid, "I remember when my grandfather would slaughter the pig, then removed hiseye to capture the blood. It’s really wonderfulin a coq au vin. You must put a little vinegarin with the blood to keep it liquid." Both Mme. Voyeu and Christian, the butcher, made reference to pigblood. " I’ll bring you some," Christianoffers. "Oh, no," I protest, but sort of hopehe has some on Tuesday.

When I walked by the fish stand on Friday, there were threeSaint Pierres chilling on ice. I chosethe one with the clearest eye.

2011-10-22T19:02:00.002+02:00

On Tap Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches $175.00 SOLD

Patron Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 13 inches $150.00

Luxembourg Gardens: First Trees without Leaves Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 16 $275.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Man with beagle Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 12 $275.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Chairs Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches $250.00 SOLD

Baby Bird M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on paper 21.5 x 29 inches $175.00

2011-10-19T09:37:00.001+02:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Bees M. Blair PESSMEIER 18 x 22 inches $450.00 SOLD

Luxembourg Gardnens: woman with bicycle Laurie FOX Pessemier 10 x 12 inches $175.00

Eiffel Tower: Yellow Tree Laurie FOX Pessemier 12 x 12 inches $175.00

Eiffel Tower : Tree at the Pier Laurie FOX Pessemier 10 x 12 inches $175.00

2011-10-13T10:41:00.002+02:00

Giverny: Fuschia Tree Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $250.00

Montmartre: Vines M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 10 inches $175.00 SOLD

Notre Dame: Fountain Laurie fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 9.5 x 7 inches $175.00

Luxembourg Gardens:: Lavender Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 " $375.00 SOLD

Notre Dame Park: Romance Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $250.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Fall Weather Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 16 inches $375.00

Ile de la Cite Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 21.5 x 15 inches $400.00

Pont Neuf and Henry IV Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas12 x 24 inches $450.00 SOLD

Luxembourg Gardens: Orange Sweater Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 10.25 x 5 inches $175.00

Luxembourg Gardens: Queen Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 9.5 x 7 inches $175.00

Montmartre: Vineyard Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on wood 5 x 9.5 inches $150.00

Giverny: Creek Laurie FOX Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 18 x 15" $400.00

ARTNOTES: Smell the Flowers

A friend called on Sunday night to see if we’d like to paint at Giverny, Monet’s gardens, on Monday. It turns out that the gardens are open after hours (and before hours 6AM) to painters. If we arrive after 5:30 in the evening, we can paint until 8. We packed up our supplies and headed away from Paris at 4.

We paid our (artists’) entry fee as the guards chased out the stragglers. Blair set up his easel in the main garden, and I crossed beneath the road to the pond.

Giverny is a wonderful place, but in summer is chock-full of visitors; this painting opportunity was like a dream. It is a good reason to take my painting class – you, too, can inspect the dahlia up close and personal. I took this week’s two students to paint: both chose the water lilies.

I am looking at a deep yellow petal-ed flower, its edges beginning to turn brown. In this fading light the withering border looks purple. A small snail makes his way toward the center of the flower. I suspect this flora to be a sort of sunflower variety. The sunflowers are magnificent – the entire garden is a riot of yellow and purple. For the first time ever here, I can smell all the flowers as the dew begins to form. I can almost taste the nasturtiums which line the main allee. A pink rose shocks my eyes with its brilliant color.

I feel tremendously lucky to have had this experience. It’s not that I don’t like painting in the nether-reaches of the garden on a regular afternoon, but this day I am one with the water lilies. There’s a photographer also present – she sells her photos in New York. She sometimes arrives here very early to capture the fog on the pond.

The sun streams across the water – picking up just the edge of a lily pad. I can’t do it justice in my painting. The reflections in the water and the water lilies are really too much for me. I paint quickly, almost madly, trying to freeze time as the light changes. Every time I visit this place to paint, I bite off more than I can chew. Monet was truly a master. I am just a page.

Blair has more luck – painting in oil – with his overview of the flowers. Our painting companion makes several gouaches – she paints longer than we do. Blair and I collapse on a bench, in a daydream : after just one hour and a half I am “all in”. I want to go home and drink red wine and plan on another day with the flowers.

On Tuesday evening, our students are happy. We pack up our tools and take one last longing whiff of the flowers before the trip back to Paris.

2011-10-09T09:49:00.001+02:00

Sunflowers in a vase Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 16 x 10.5 inches $350.00

Trouville

2011-10-07T16:31:00.001+02:00

Streets Trouville M Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 $600.00

Big Waves Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 10 inches $175.00 SOLD

Apple Orchard Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5.5 x 13 $225.00 SOLD

Heavy Surf Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5 x 10 $200.00

Wading in the surf Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 11 x 7 $175.00

Le Havre Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 $350.00

After the Swim Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas12 x 12 inches $250.00

Trouville Sea Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $250.00

Trouville Scene Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 16 $325.00

Houses at the beach Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 12 inches $250.00

ARTNOTES: A Short Leash

Harika is mad at us. Shedoesn’t want to wear her leash. Shespent three days “en liberte” (free!) in Normandy and now there is H-E-double-Lto pay.

Earlier this week, we took a self-catering studio apartmentin Trouville, on the English Channel. After signing the papers for the small, but well equipped room in the TrouvillePalace, we stepped outside onto the sand. Harika ran around wildly as I committed a couple of swimmers (yes!) tocanvas. Blair painted the corniche withits wonderful Victorian architecture. Our hotel/apartment, in the same lyrical style, was built in 1918. It matches the original casino, intended toserve the English gamblers who’d won enough to buy a boat to take them acrossla manche.

A group of people gathered around a fishing boat at thequai. We joined the fray and found theboat to be full of scallops. We boughtten big ones at once, to take home to cook for dinner. Iseared them and set them in a sauce of bacon, garlic, crème fraiche and bluecheese.

I woke up feeling refreshed and we set out the next day tofind more great seafood. We settled on adozen oysters each and a glass of white wine for lunch (with a baguette). For dinner, I made fresh sole Meunière, usingtrue Dover sole fished out of the water that morning. This was something I could get used to. I bought fresh fish soup, served from a slushiemachine, with accompanying rouille and croutons. As anod to the Calvados region, I bought fresh picked apples and local sausage.

There are postcards in our room at the beach. Not only could we rent this studio, but thesame people have a floor in a pink Victorian house on the beach, and another ina Victorian building I just happened to paint, with a turret. I take one postcard, I promised to send to afriend moving back to America.

At 6:30 AM on Friday, we hop in the car to drive like mad toreturn the car at Avis at 10. Rush hour.

Come to think of it I am a little disappointed to be back,too. My leash is pretty short. Thatis why I am thinking of renting out our fabulous Paris apartment for themonth of December,.

Painting at Giverny

2011-10-07T16:30:00.001+02:00

Flowers Giverny M. Blair PESSEMIER oil on canvas 15 x 22 $350.00 SOLD

Yellow Flowers at Giverny Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 15 x 18 $350.00

Water Lilies Giverny Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18 $450.00 SOLD

Study Lily Pads Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches $150.00

Marsh Flowers Giverny Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 20 inches $150.00

2 October in Paris

2011-10-02T18:55:00.000+02:00

Bridge morning Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 19.5 inches $225.00

Louvre Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 15 x 18 inches $400.00 SOLD

Louvre and Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 13 inches 225.00 SOLD

Artnotes: a wink and a strut

Even though Paris is thought of as a dog-friendly place, it is very difficult to find a park which accepts dogs. The little corner parks have a sign sporting a dog on leash, with a big red “x” on it. In our neighborhood, only one corner of the Luxembourg Gardens is designated dog-friendly, and then all canines must be on leash.

Don’t get me wrong , Harika isn’t suffering. Yesterday she went to three cafes. For breakfast, at the Tourne-Bouchon, where Omar greets her in Tunisian. For afternoon “tea” we go to the Fleurus where Pierre plies our little beast with cookies and a bowl of water. And this Friday evening, we went to the Hippocampus to hear a new combo – Harika only goes for a bit of the last set, on her last walk of the evening.

Things have really perked up at the Hippocampus (not to be confused with the Hippopotamus all-you-can-eat restaurant chain – honestly, wouldn’t you feel a little bad about a turning into a hippo? Maybe that’s the strategy…). Our “Hippo” is a jazz club.

It is my idea of a perfect jazz club, that is: imperfect. It is accessible, yet with professional musicians. The food is mediocre, at best. But I can go there, be a regular, and enjoy the crowd as much as the music. A middle-aged French woman with red hair wears a blue flare-skirted dancing dress, with red and white piping; I know she hopes to dance, but the men are glued to their seats. I encourage two Americans to leave a good tip for JB, the waiter. He’s the only waitstaff left, and now he has more than a dozen tables to serve. The lights are a little too bright, and the interior has the sense of a designer who never saw New Orleans (neither have I, so maybe IT IS authentic?). There are pictures of Jazz musicians in 3-D, plantation shutters, a neon saxophone, and the ceiling looks like the night sky with sparkling stars. The music is still playing when we leave at midnight and walk around the block – it’s still warm enough to be wearing a sleeveless dress. I think of New Orleans.

I never think “perfect” things are perfect. A Louis Vuitton handbag may be perfectly turned out, but does it have any character? I never like those showdogs at Westminster – give me a mutt with a wink and a strut any old day.

Impressionist painting made painting “imperfect”. John Singer Sargent’s portraits tell a more interesting story than Gainsborough’s. One wonders what goes on in the mind of an “imperfect” Toulouse Lautrec painted performer. Imperfection leaves room for interpretation and hypothesis.

I paint the Seine, and the hideous Bateaux Mouche (tour boat) floats by: worse yet, at night, its spotlights blinding passers-by. But it is Paris: a perfect city riddled with crazy French ideas. A homeless man gave me two hot pink Eiffel Tower key chains the other day – the idea of a beggar giving me something, much less the icon of the city we live in was, well, imperfectly perfect.

Two views: morning by the Seine

2011-09-30T14:04:00.001+02:00

Pier and Flag Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on linen 15 x 22 inches $400.00

Across the Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18 inches $300.00

2011-09-28T11:25:00.000+02:00

Shadow Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 9 x 10 inches
at the Westport River Gallery: Westport CT USA

2011-09-28T11:21:00.000+02:00

Sunrising on the Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9 x 16 $450.00 SOLD

Notre Dame LFP Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18 $450.00

Black and White Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 16
at the Westport River Gallery, Westport, CT USA http://www.westportrivergallery.com/

2011-09-26T11:34:00.001+02:00

Poplars by the Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10 x 16 inches $350.00

Secret Garden Paris M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches $450.00

St. Park Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches $400.00 SOLD

Coffee and the News Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 10 inches $150.00

Cognac Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5 x 12 $150.00

Vines on Montmartre Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 $150.00

Lapin Agile Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 6 inches $150.00

Morning Cafe Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 $150.00

2011-09-24T18:26:00.001+02:00

JOYEUSE Blair Pessemier Acrylic on wood 4 x 20 inches $200.00

Last week a friend went to the “Epees” (sword) show at the Cluny museum. “Did they have Joan of Arc’s sword?” I quipped, thinking it unlikely. “Yes, they did!” Not only that, but Roland’s sword “Durandal”, Charlemagne’s “Joyeuse”, and el Cid’s “Colada”. Blair and I had to go see for ourselves.

Cluny, the National Museum of the Middle Ages, was the only major museum in Paris we hadn’t visited. I just never got around to it, and most guests prefer the Musee d’Orsay or a blockbuster Impressionists’ show. We arrived too late on Friday, so we went on Saturday at noon: no line.

Cluny is actually the “northern thermal baths” of Lutetia, a gallo-roman site (the only significant one) in Paris. They were constructed in the 1^st century – and used for two more centuries. It’s pretty breathtaking when one enters the “frigidarium”, where the Sword Show was staged. People in odd shaped shoes (we saw them, the shoes, that is) were walking there 2000 years before me. The building itself was older than any sword in the collection – including the hilt of Clovis’s father, Childeric’s sword. It was this sword that defeated the Gauls and “made” France.

Swords are as much mythical and symbolic as they were useful. People named their swords and attributed them with magical powers. Some could fly, and everyone remembers the mystery of Excalibur. I was surprised at the size of some of the swords: Joyeuse, Charlemagne’s sword, must be three feet long (Blair says 40 inches – officially it is 38.54 inches) – one can see it in the portraits of King Louis XIV, XV and XVI. Joan of Arc’s sword had a smaller grip, and was double edged – she brandishes it in her famous equestrian statue. The show included the skull of someone who’d recuperated from several sword blows to the head before their death. There were guides to how to wield a sword, and you could actually handle a sword: I thought it was heavy, but Blair was impressed with how easy it seemed to use.

In a word, it was a very stimulating show. And I got to see the Unicorn tapestries and all the marvelous portable arts of the Middle Ages. It is a favorite period in art history – with so many rich crafts (okay, not everybody wants a reliquary, but I think how neat they are to carry/house things – a place to store chili peppers, for example). There were ivory treasures and silver pieces; crowns and column capitals. As we left young boys were climbing into the well in the courtyard.

We’ve had a hard time getting back into the swing of life in Paris since the summer. We’ve had many distractions, and finding time to paint has been difficult: it’s not that we don’t have free hours, but there is a mental “open road” one needs to achieve before launching creativity.

The sword show, and more importantly, the Cluny museum put me into the mind of making things again. It’s our chance at immortality.

2011-09-22T10:38:00.000+02:00

Smoking at Cafe Nemours Laurie fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5 x 13 inches $175.00 SOLD

Autumn Bois de Vincennes Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9 x 16 $175.00

Fall, Bois de Vincennes Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 16 $300.00

2011-09-17T18:15:00.001+02:00

High heeled Boots Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 7 x 13 inches $250.00

Harika in the Park Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10x 16 inches $300.00

Artnotes: Glasses

Our building is framed by neon eyeglasses on both sides. Going up the hill toward Montparnasse is a pair of red round rim glasses; walking away from our building toward St. Germain are a pair of sea green pince-nez.

Blair is ordering eyeglasses online. He went to the optometrist for an exam, and his glasses, here, will cost at least 560 Euros, or 775 US dollars. We can get them online for $112.00. But we have to measure his pupillary distance. He wants to do it himself, but every time he looks in the mirror, his eye shifts. He tells me how to hold the meter tape, convinced I am trying to blind him. I tell him it’s 58 mm, he thinks its 62; we compromise at 60.

The man who made my glasses had me put clear glasses on, then made a dot where my pupil was and measured between them. It is the tack we eventually take.

The glasses are such a good price I am thinking about getting a pair myself, although I have these terrific 60s frames. With the mail-order glasses one must select an online frame.

While the bus was stopped on the way home today, I watched two men in the eyeglass store trying on frames. One was a large headed big man, probably a customer, observing himself in heavy black frames. The other guy, a handsome long-haired fellow was wearing a rimless variety, plucking frames from the walls. I thought he had a universal head that would look good in any frame. That’s probably why they hired him.

There are lots of eyeglass stores in France. Eyeglasses are covered by the country’s social security system, and in this myopic society everyone needs to see more clearly. While contact lenses prevail, I would venture everyone owns at least one pair of glasses.

Every occasional I paint without my glasses on – it is an interesting phenomenon. Colors look brighter. Sometimes I think my paintings are what everything looks like without corrective lenses. It leaves a little to the imagination.

I believe Harika doesn’t see well. She often barks at a baby carriage or a rolling suitcase, mistaking it for another dog. She shies away sheepishly when she realizes her folly. Her hair is usually in her eyes – a fine line between a sunshade and an obstruction. Once a little girl asked boldly, “how does that dog SEE?”

I got a marvelous book from the library on eyeglasses. Of course, it claimed eyeglasses were invented in Franc e (but did credit Benjamin Franklin with developing bifocals), and had pictures of glasses used by Louis XIV. There were all sorts of interesting methods of using glasses: embedded in fans, for instance.

I love to LOOK. As the trees are changing, I see the many shades.

2011-09-15T18:24:00.000+02:00

Notcha feeling Punk Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5.5 x 10 inches $275.00

2011-09-15T14:54:00.000+02:00

Turquoise Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5 x 10 inches $175.00

Shoulder Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 10 inches $175.00

Yellow Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 4 x 10 inches $175.00

Luxembourg Gardens Yellow Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $250.00

Luxembourg Gardens Fall M Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 15 x 18 inches $450.00

2011-09-08T18:31:00.003+02:00

Nightfall Highland Lake Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $400.00 SOLD

2011-09-08T18:25:00.001+02:00

Women on the Dock Highland Lake Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 14 x 18 inches $450.00

Highland Lake Marshall and Henry Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches $400.00 SOLD

Two Fishermen in the Farmington River Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 inches $325.00 SOLD

From the Boat Launch at Burr Pond Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 inches $425.00 Sale pending

Riverton M Blair Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 20 inches $225.00 Sale pending

2011-07-30T19:40:00.003+02:00

Horn Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 10 inches

Glasses at Chez Panis Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Man in Park Louvois Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood app. 6 x 10

Two women with camera LFP Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Kids at Park Louvois Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Waiter smoking Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Chez Panis Japanese Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

Couple in the Luxembourg Gardens Laurie Fox PESSEMIER acrylic on wood 6x 10 inches

Amy at Chez Panis LFP Acrylic/wood 6 x 10 inches SOLD

Two woman at table Luxembourg Gardens LFP Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12

Tour Eiffel M Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 10 x22 inches SOLD

2011-07-23T15:58:00.001+02:00

Two ladies St. Sulpice Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

Waiting for the concert Luxembourg Gardens Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 7 inches

Luxembourg Gardens Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 18 inches

Painting in the Garden Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 18 inches SOLD

St Sulpice Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 16 inches

Petunias Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 6 x 9.5 inches

Senate Late July M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18 inches

2011-07-19T19:06:00.003+02:00

Break Blair Pessemier Oil on canvas 12 x 24 inches SOLD

2011-07-19T19:00:00.001+02:00

Thinking Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Sunglasses Raincoat Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Shock of hair Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

The waiter Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Turning to look Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 10 x 10 inches

Bedroom eyes Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Really? Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches SOLD

Visiting from Afar Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Relaxing Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Profile Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on Wood approx 6 x 10 inches

2011-07-16T17:57:00.001+02:00

Chair game Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches

Musical chairs M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9 x 12

Card Shark Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 12 x 7

Fireworks Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 10 inches

Artnotes: my own ears

“Aren’t the fireworks scary for her? Dogs can’t stand this…” Harika yawned, as the American woman looked at us like the SPCA enforcer. Harika isn’t afraid of fireworks, I tell her, or any noises, really – Harika grew up on the beach in a resort town. Her biggest fear is of German shepherds and horses (hide the puppies!).

Thursday was Bastille day, and it has been years since we’ve watched the fireworks. They were better than I remember, with red, heart-shaped explosions; multi colored sprays, like Christmas lights; and showers of gold coins. I try to paint them, after the fact, but it’s just not the same. I will keep trying.

We missed the morning parade, but I stood on our balcony watching the airshow from afar. In fact, the swallows stole the show. They looked bigger to me than the planes (my vantage point), and are ever more maneuverable, turning on a wingtip, beaks wide open.

We all waited nervously on the bridge at Concord for dark, 11 PM. I listened to the banter of mostly Americans, some Italians, around me. Chatter, chatter. No French, they are all on vacation. I try to put it all into perspective, but it’s better just to ignore it. One man is going on at length about how lucky they are to be in Paris while they can still walk; the talk evolves into estate planning and who is getting what in his will. I try to make believe I don’t understand, but I do. The Eiffel Tower twinkles. Soon it will be extinguished for the show. The iron lady disappears. There is a hush and a scattering of red white and blue bursts fill the sky. We are underway.

I’ve been reading about how to be positive, succeed, lead my life -- there are scads of internet preachers, and enough people around me with the same mission. However, I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION: it is one thing to read about it and try to make yourself do it, but there is something deep inside which tells me what is right. I have an inner compass. The word in French is boussele – someone in the park brought the word up, asking me what it was in English, and I thought yes, I have my own.

I know what to do, and when and how. It is all there. I am complete, like a set of dishes, and there’s no sense in bringing out the dessert plates when we’re going out for ice cream.

Who I am is a strong person, sometimes weak when it comes to dealing with other people. I have a giant desire to be happy and self actualized, with Blair and Harika.

There is no formula to happiness. In fact, what works for one doesn’t work for another. Two great individuals might have two completely different formulas for life. But they didn’t read about how to get there on the internet. They didn’t cling to other people’s ideas at all. They listened to the universe with their own two ears.

2011-07-10T14:59:00.000+02:00

Sunday Morning Sailboat Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches

Sunday Morning M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 8 x 12 inches

Two boys and a boat Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 inches

Observer Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6.5 inches

2011-07-10T14:57:00.002+02:00

St Sulpice Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches SOLD

2011-07-10T14:55:00.001+02:00

Park Play Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16

Quick move Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 7 SOLD

Blue checks Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 8 x 10

Backgammon Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 4

Sunny Afternoon Chess M. Blair Pessemier Acrylic on canvas 10.5 x 18 inches

2011-07-10T14:49:00.000+02:00

Medici Fountain M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 18 x 22 inches

Red Coat Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5 x 12

Sunglasses/pearl Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

Happy in the Pak Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

2011-07-03T20:42:00.001+02:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Visiting with Dog Laurie Fox PESSEMIER 12 x 14 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: Ponytail Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 6 x 10 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: Park Slope Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: playing chess Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 13 x 22 inches

2011-07-03T20:37:00.000+02:00

Luxembourg Gardens: resting with book Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acyrlic on canvas 16 x 12 inches

2011-06-25T18:07:00.000+02:00

Ballerina Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Ile de la City Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 22 inches

ARTNOTES: Three Surprises

Why why why did LinkedIn send out 778 invitations to connect with me this week? I have no idea. I was just trying to connect with one person, who I don’t really know, to sell our 3D Interactive Hospitality Management services. Is that ever a far cry from teaching plein air painting?

Not that teaching plein air painting is my penchant. Painting: YES; plein air: yes; teaching: half and half. 2-1/2 out of three isn’t bad. For me teaching is a dangerous thing: I realize I can seriously damage someone’s creativity if I am not careful. Honestly, does a bridge need to look like a bridge, or a boat a boat, or a building a building? No, they don’t. So I like to think of myself as a guide to helping one connect with one’s muse – and in doing so create a provocative work of art.

While I was guiding our youngest “stagiare” on the banks of the Seine, what should appear but a ballerina? Blair was painting on a slightly elevated area near us, as the ballerina, wearing a black tutu, skimpy leotard and pale pink tights and shoes, jumped onto her toes near him. “Look”, I exclaimed, as she swung her very thin arms and expressive fingers over her head.

It’s what I like best about Paris, and best about teaching, even: anything can happen. Pure magic lightly touches down on the cobblestones. The ballerina’s photographer asked if he could photograph her with Blair, who eagerly agreed. L, my student, and I, were surprisingly involved in our own work (at this point she made the bridge light purple, which was what the picture needed). It wasn’t until the dancer took to pirouetting, en point, in front of me, at the edge of the quai, I decided to paint her.

We had three sets of guests this week, from America and Germany. We drank wine, and ate delicious dinners (cold pea cream soup, langoustine ravioli, quenelles of pike, veal, stuffed quail, profiteroles with hot chocolate) listening carefully for a special message from afar. There are many messages: mostly stuff about life, that I hold for a day I will need it. I am so lucky to have far reaching relations on account of artnotes.

I sent my mother roses on the “find a grave” website (I am subject to becoming morbid when left alone too long), and immediately afterward a letter came in the mail, expressing condolences, with yellow rose petals inside. My mother was a big fan of roses, and St. Teresa, the “little flower of Jesus” kept my mom in roses. Shorty sent off many a novena on my behalf, like it or not. I had a fight with St. Teresa in her basilica in Lisieux, France some time ago over my mother and Alzhiemer’s. But all is forgiven.

Lots of people I hadn’t heard from in years became contacts on LinkedIn. It wasn’t such a bad thing after all. It’s hard to have magic when one is in control.

2011-06-25T18:04:00.000+02:00

Tour Eiffel: Mother and children Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14

Tour Eiffel: Base of the tower Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13x 15

Tour Eiffel Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 4 x 6 inches (framed 8 x 10)

2011-06-25T18:00:00.000+02:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Pink Dress Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Luxembourg Gardens: Beagle Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Luxembourg Gardens: Giggle Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Luxembourg Gardens: Lunettes Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Luxembourg Gardens: Striped Shirt Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Luxembourg Gardens: Diana Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

2011-06-18T14:43:00.001+02:00

Luxembourg Garden: Bee house M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 14 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: Waiting out the rain in the cafe Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic/canvas 12 x 12 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: view from the balcony Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: across to St. Etienne Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12

Luxembourg Gardens: Rain on the bench Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12

Luxembourg Gardens: kids playing Laurie fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 20 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: Class at play Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

ARTNOTES: Never Lonely

I can’t believe it’s another week since I wrote artnotes. We’ve had a busy week – guests, many paintings, a weekend full of art lessons.

I am making the adjustment from painting with my friend Y, to painting with my darling Blair. Sometimes we can bring out the worst in one another, or the best. Somehow we’ve managed to paint together four times this week.

We went, with Harika, first to the café La Palette. It’s a bit of a meat market, but what could be better than men and women looking and acting their best? Hand gestures, good hair, SMILING. It’s funny, from the outside looking in. That’s the role of the artist. It’s always been my role. I prefer to look into a closed shop, or restaurant, or a night time window across the street, than actually being “inside”.

Without Harika, we went to the café at the mosque the next day. Men with trays of hot ultra-sweet tea come by tables to take your order. Just putting my lips on the edge of the glass makes me as happy as champagne. The place is more populated than it was a few years ago, by all nationalities. The hubble-bubble pipe is more present: I could smell different, delicious tobacco. There were two veiled ladies beside us, one toking heavily on the narghila. An affectionate couple in the corner confirmed the relaxed atmosphere of the place. I took out my paints and made images.

I took Harika to the park on Wednesday: she lies beside me while I paint. Blair painted an exceptional “boules game” in oil, in another part of the park. She and I did a series of people paintings on wood. Two people are lying in recliner chairs near us. I feel a little sorry for them, with nothing to do. Are they thinking?

We brought two students to the Luxembourg Gardens on Friday. They were very different: one about 45 and charmingly reserved, the other 16 and charmingly confident and direct. What we all had in common was art, and we painted up a storm: in about 5 hours of painting, we produced, among us, 13 paintings. A (very good) painter we painted with a few weeks ago would say: “I can only give birth once a day”. Altogether yesterday we produced a litter.

On the phone I talk with my Dad about my nephew: he is a great young pianist. It is not clear he will pursue music as a profession, but we agree that to make music or make art is a gift: he will never be lonely. It is a wonderful door to open.

Laurie (text) and Blair (painting) PESSEMIER www.paintfox.

2011-06-16T14:59:00.001+02:00

Luxembourg Gardens: Sailing boats Laurie Fox PESSEMIER acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Luxembourg Gardens: Man with hat Laurie Fox pESSEMIER acrylic on wood 6 x 10 SOLD

Luxembourg Gardens: Girl in dappled light Laurie Fox PESSEMIER acrylic on wood 6 x 10

Luxembourg Gardens: Relaxing Laurie Fox PESSEMIER acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches approx.

Luxembourg Gardens: Boules M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 11 x 22 inches SOLD

2011-06-16T14:55:00.000+02:00

Cafe Mosquee: ladies with the narghila M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 18 x 22 "

Cafe Mosquee Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx. 6 x 10 inches

Cafe Mosquee: Man smoking Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

Cafe Mosquee Smoke Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

2011-06-16T14:52:00.001+02:00

Ladies of la Palette: Eyes Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6x10 inches SOLD

Ladies of la Palette: Hair Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Ladies of la Palette; Blonde Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

Ladies of la Palette: Necklace Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches

2011-06-12T19:34:00.003+02:00

Metro Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 18 x 22 inches

Cafe St Sulpice Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Bartender Cafe St Sulpice Laurie PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Chubby Waiter Cafe St Sulpice Laurie PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Reading the Paper Cafe St Sulpice Laurie PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Summer Night Laurie PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14"

Chess: watching the Game Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx. 10 x 6 inches

Chess: next move Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx. 10 x 6 inches

Place de Vosges: Woman Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acyrlic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Place de Vosges: Woman Blair PESSEMIER Acyrlic on wood approx 6 x 10" SOLD

Place de Vosges: Man Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acyrlic on wood approx 6 x 10"

Chess: Contemplation Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Chess: The Game Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches SOLD

Chess: Two fellows Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Chess: the next player Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches

Cross Legged in the Chair Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood approx 6 x 10 inches

2011-06-04T11:20:00.003+02:00

Trees and Chair Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acyrlic on wood 6 x 9.5 inches

Notre Dame early morning M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 22 x 18 inches SOLD

Artnotes: Royal Birthday Party

When friends asked if we’d like to go to Versailles for a picnic, we jumped at the chance. It was Harika’s fourth birthday on Friday, and she needed a trip outside the city. We packed our tiffin with tomatoes and mozzarella, stuffed endive, and devilled eggs. Our friends brought roast pork and tabouli, red wine and water. There was cake for dessert, and we sang “Happy Birthday Harika”. Her best friend, Urti, the fox terrier, helped her celebrate.

It is possible to enter the grounds of Versailles from the back side. It used to be free to park there, but now Indians have the franchise to maintain the lots: 5 Euros. The three cars in front of us (all carrying descendents of the king, no doubt) fought the guy in the booth, but eventually paid. We passed Marie Antoinette’s hamlet, and parked near the Petit Trianon. Harika ran ahead to the big pond (sufficiently sized to land a 747, thanks to Louis XIV), where we pitched our blanket.

It’s been a long and sunny week in Paris. The tilleuls (little leaf Lindens) are in bloom, and my eyes and nose are running to beat the band. Our geraniums revel in the sunshine, blooming like never before. We water them daily, but otherwise it has been the driest spring since 1976, an outstanding champagne year. It makes me want to go out there to inspect the vines.

I alternate between loving the city and longing for the country. Our seven big windows let in a lot of light – despite lined drapery in the bedroom, the light begins around 5:30 AM and lingers until past 10 PM. We’re sleeping less and midday at the dining table can be pretty warm. Running the oven for dinner is not advised (it’s 10:30 in the morning and Blair is cooking a chicken).

We have lots of friends and things to do here in Paris, but the grass at Versailles felt good beneath my feet. Harika ran around in circles and rolled in what we hoped was just the scent of tilleul blossoms. A boy was flying a kite with his father, and his sister was robed like Marie Antoinette, plus a baseball cap. Other dogs, mostly small, milled around the end of the pond. One could rent a boat. We switched sides of the pond to accommodate shade, between lunch and dessert.

I had packed painting supplies for the group, and encouraged everyone to paint. Neither of our friends had ever painted outside before, nor used acrylic paint, particularly my five colors (I make all of my paintings with five colors only: turquoise, magenta, lemon yellow, dioxyzine purple and white). Three of us painted the same view of the Grand Trianon, and I made a portrait of Urti afterward. It is always delightful to see such different outcomes: one royal, one like the Dordogne (it must have been the red wine) and mine, in my regular style. Blair didn’t paint because he painted Notre Dame at 5:45 Friday morning.

Blair's Geraniums M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 15 x 18 inches SOLD

Vase on Balcony Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 24 x 12 inches SOLD

Midnight North Africa M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches

Decorative Maples Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 9.5 inches

2011-05-28T11:56:00.002+02:00

Folly, Bois de Boulogne Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10 inches SOLD

La Maison Rose Blair Pessemier Oil on canvas 12 x 24 inches

View from Montmartre Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 16 inches

On Montmartre Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

LA BELLE FRANCE

Magenta. I would like a poem about Magenta*. The ‘Poet Publique’, sitting at his typewriter on a lesser square of Montmartre, asked me to tell him more. “It’s red, but with more blue tones,” I told him. “Still red, but cooler, not as angry. It is my favorite painting color [along with turquoise].”

His long fingers tapped the keys of his old fashioned, mechanical typewriter, a brand I didn’t recognize. Across the way a man played a guitar and a woman sang. It was a surprisingly unpeopled scene, especially for Montmartre.

I needed an artist’s statement for an art show** here in France. I have ten pieces on display at a gallery in Feucherolles, outside of Versailles. Magenta is part of my painting, and I thought the poem might describe my philosophy. Plus, it would already be in French. And who could ignore a “public poet”?

We sat beside the poet as he typed. He gave us other poems, in French and in English, which he had written. He wore glasses, a white shirt and a ‘hip’ jacket – a bit of an Oscar Wilde look. We’d been walking around Montmartre, trying to develop a slow and interesting tour to offer our painters. I am not sure it is possible. Montmartre is steeped in history, of art, and other things, but it is brutally “touristique”. Montmartre is “unimproved” Paris, much as it was several centuries ago -- untouched by the Haussman plan of the late 1800s.

We drove out to the show at Feucherolles on Friday night, with two charming friends, who were instrumental in our inclusion in the event. Pauline, the proprietrice, arranged the works of 18 artists at her country-farm. There were a half dozen out buildings of substance, in addition to the house and shop. One enters the gate and is transported to an expansive “secret garden”. Pauline’s husband, Harold, is a landscape gardener, who transformed the grounds into a magic place of hidden fountains and rare trees.

My work was in a little building with a stone terrace, shared with someone who worked in mixed media depicting giraffes and donkeys, and a video artist. In an adjoining open space was a collage artist and in the barn, a photographer. There were sculptures and prints, drawings and other paintings – all housed in idyllic follies around the grounds. Much stone. At the furthest reaches of the property was an area for children, defined by trimmed boxwood, with lush foliage all around. One could get lost in the details of flora and artfully tumble-down ruins – a veritable fantasy.

“How do you like la belle France?” someone asked me. I replied effusively in the affirmative: this was truly what France is most proud of. It was like being on George Sand’s, or Collette’s estate outside the city, but this is the present, and it was an honor to be part of it. To top it all off, I sold two paintings on opening night!

Du Bleu en dit qu'il est pur

Et n'a

Comme n'en ont ni le ciel
Ni la terre

De frontière palpable

Et je crois

De même

De la couleur qu'on dit magenta

Qu'elle n'a pas d'autre frontière

Que le rouge qu'on y voit

L'air et le feu

Trouvent là

De quoi se reconcilier

2011-05-25T11:51:00.003+02:00

Color Table Blair Pessemier Acrylic on Wood 7 x 20 inches

Geraniums on Balcony Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 24 inches

Boules Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 16

By the Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 5.5.

Trees and planter Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 9.5

Bench among the Trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 12 x 7 inches

Sunshine in the Luxembourg Gardens M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 18 x 22 inches

Shadows M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 22 x 15

Pont Neuf M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 12 x 24

Concert in the Park M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 9.5 x 16 SOLD

Drama M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 12 x 12

Ponies in the Park M Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 15 x 21

Pont des Arts M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 15 x 18

Paris Scene Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 13 x 16

Parasol in the Park Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12

Giverny Shadow Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16

Beaux Arts Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16

Outside Giverny M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 13 x 18

Color 101 Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 6 x 20

Waiter Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 10

2011-05-21T11:27:00.000+02:00

Painting by the Seine Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 16 inches

ARTNOTES: Paris Painting Workshop

I have always theorized that children teach their parents, not the other way around. And I think the same is for my painting students. Today we had our first of this season’s painting sessions, and our two painters taught us a thing or two. As Blair and I noodled out another depiction of the Pont des Arts, the woman I painted with created an abstract composition of quintessential Paris. We started out a little nervously, but in no time at all, our paintings were complete.

Blair and his fellow occupied the other side of the river. His associate painted in oil, the scene in front of him but oh, so far away. It was like standing on the quai next to Milton Avery. I was so impressed by them. Remarkable.

Our week plus has been action packed, and these notes a little truncated. While two students arrived a day early and left on Thursday, another arrived three days late, so the “week” of teaching is now ten days. I’m pooped.

At Giverny, we visited the gardens and the house Monet lived in. The highlight for me was the visit to the museum, where we saw Bonnard’s paintings of Normandy. M and I studied the brush strokes and the colors: Bonnard and I share a palette of turquoise, magenta and lemon yellow. Fortified with inspiration from three corners, we retired to a nearby field to paint.

Another friend, M2, needed a day out of Paris and we gave him an easel and canvas so he could play along. The four of us turned out radically different pictures. Painting at Giverny was much more “public” than our earlier roosts. People treated us as if we were yet another feature of the official visit, and we talked with folks from all over the world.

Blair has joined me in the “ham” department – we have come to accept and enjoy the banter and shutter-snapping. I like to think it encourages other people to try their hand at expression.

We’ve been to the Luxembourg Gardens and will go to to the Eiffel Tower, Seine near Notre Dame, and the Bois de Boulogne before we call it a workshop. Who knows what visual surprises tomorrow will have to offer?

Laurie (painting and text) and Blair PESSEMIER

2011-05-08T11:12:00.000+02:00

Roses on the balcony Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 4 x 20 inches

Chess set Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

April Showers Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 inches

Resting near the pond Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 10 inches

A day in the park Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 12 inches

Sitting on the edge Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 10 inches

Souvenir Concord Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 20 inches

Shadows in the park Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 4 x 13 inches

View from the Winter Garden Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 10 x 14 inches

ARTNOTES: Another View

When we were in Germany on Thursday, Harika played with another dog, Joey, at the office we were visiting. Joey is a border collie, a slightly larger dog than Harika, and nobody’s fool. He got me to throw the stick for him for a good thirty minutes. Harika is not a “retriever” in any sense of the word. She wanted the stick, but was unwilling to go after it. So, she let Joey get the stick and as soon as he brought it back and dropped it at my feet, she stole it and ran away with it. It was a different approach – and with dogs there are no rules.

I need to be doing more than one thing at a time. I think of myself as a multi-tasker. When people tell me to “follow my dream”, I always want to ask “which one?” And often the allure of the dream is just that: it is a dream, not a reality. Dreaming of being thin is always better than not eating.

I dream of having a paying job where we can travel: not huge distances, but go to a place, meet with clients, and tour around. This week we went to Germany to discuss such a job. The ‘big’ job with this firm didn’t turn out as expected, but we will work on a smaller scale. For me it is just perfect: I can work for someone, get paid (sticking point: commission only for the moment), and spend the rest of my time on my other dream: painting and doing art workshops. Ideal.

We drove through Belgium on our way. We stopped for French fries with mayonnaise and I had a meatball brochette. Belgium may have delicious chocolate, but the food, especially roadside food, leaves room for improvement.

When we got to Cologne, we stopped at a large city park for a walk with Harika. Driving in Germany, especially around cities, is stressful. It doesn’t help that my only words are good morning, please, thank you and god bless you: gesundheit! We walked Harika around a pond and through the grass. The trees in Germany are much larger than those in France, and German trees are allowed to realize their greatest potential: tall, stout, leafy, green. I can breathe.

Once we got our wits about us, we re-embarked for a trip downtown to see the Cathedral, the “Dom”. After crossing the bridge across the Rhine three times, we arrived. It was easy to see, because it is huge: the tallest structure in the world from 1880 until 1884, when it was eclipsed by the Washington Monument. As far as church spires go, these are the second tallest in the world. It is at this cathedral the relics of the Magi, the Three Wise Men, are housed. The church commenced construction in the 13^th century to house these very artifacts.

I had hoped to hear the bells, but had to be satisfied with the steel drum player, an American, outside on the Plaza. The plaza was a vital place, even on Wednesday afternoon.

We pressed on, got lost, bought a map, and finally arrived at our destination, a hotel in Bertzdorf. It was one of those charming German “hofs” and we had a lovely room on the second floor looking out to the courtyard. The lilacs were in bloom, viewable from the winter-garden. We ate our dinner in the “bierstubbe”, seated on well-worn wooden benches while a nearby table hosted a card game. The fish was perfectly prepared; Harika enjoyed the pork mignon wrapped in bacon, too. We drank a local German red wine, which was good.

If Joey didn’t give me the stick so Harika could steal it, she had another technique. She growled fiercely, showing her sadly undeveloped teeth and her “taureau” eye (as Christine in the park calls it); through fear, amusement, or both, Joey let her have the stick until I took it back and threw it for him again. Good dog.

2011-04-30T18:37:00.001+02:00

Kiss 2 Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

Kiss 1 Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

Harika gone red Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 6 inches

Spring Tree Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches

Springtime in the garden M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 13 x 16

Kissing in the garden Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acyrlic on wood 6 x 20 inches

Good morning M. Blair Pessemier Oil on linen 51 x 32 inches

2011-04-24T20:06:00.001+02:00

Dappled Light Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 13 SOLD

2011-04-16T15:07:00.002+02:00

Senate sketch Luxembourg Gardens Blair PESSEMIER Oil on linen 18 x 21.5 inches

Lilacs Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 24 x 12 inches SOLD

Chestnuts in blossom Laurei Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 20 x 7 inches

Grandfather and child Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 10 x 8 inches

Artnotes: a Job to Live

“It’s our job to go on living,” a dear friend of mine told me not so long ago. Her sagesse came from years of sadness about the early demise of her parents, when she was barely a teenager. She used to spend hours at my house, around my own mom and dad, perhaps living vicariously with my family. It was with this wisdom in mind I just left my own mother, dying, in Connecticut.

When I left Paris on 22 March, there was just a hint of spring with daffodils and tree buds; on Thursday, 14 April, a canopy of green covered the park. To Harika’s delight I insisted on sitting on a bench in the park when we alighted the train at Luxembourg Gardens. (she came to the airport to meet me!) The chestnuts are in blossom. My azalea tree on the balcony is past full bloom and my jasmine has flowers. I’ve red and yellow roses.

The gypsies are in the market, bearing lilacs. Aromatic in tones of purple and violet a large floral bouquet sits in the center of my living room. I am so happy to be home.

I spent three weeks in the US, apart from my dog, and mostly apart from my husband, who was visiting his own mother and then returned to Paris. I spent a week at High Point Market, leaving early, to get back to my mother’s bedside in the nutmeg state. We had three major crises while I was there, to the edge of the grave and back. I was crazy with worry and living out of my suitcase. I made the decision to return to Paris.

Now, I am struck with an urgency to live. Three paintings on Friday, cookies, artnotes to my beloved readers: I have missed these parts of my own life. My mother, 25 years my senior, lay dying, a victim of the world’s cruelest disease, alzheimer’s, which robs both the victim and the family of joy. I want to make every day count and I force myself out of bed early, despite jet lag to paint and write.

My painting workshop begins in a month. I have a really wonderful job possibility which we interview for on 27 April. I am eager to paint again with my girlfriend Y, hopefully on Monday.

The usual folks and dogs are at the park. Some of us are sneezing, and pollen dusts the benches in the early morning. Blair and I have been bringing dog cookies to Harika’s friends. Atlas has had to take a pill because this is the time of “heat” for many female dogs and he can’t eat or sleep (despite the fact he is castrated). His counterparts are equally anguished, and some girl dogs just don’t come to the park in that condition. Neutering is not a popular option here, despite its benefits for longevity or the unlikely event of breeding one’s dog (personally, I think people are too cheap or lazy to schedule the operation).

The windows are open in our apartment and birds fly by. I am hoping for a new, great idea to enter on the wind and I await a beautiful summer.

2011-04-06T22:13:00.000+02:00

On the Deck: High Point Party Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 12 x 24 inches

Artnotes: Party on the Deck

“We need to be ready two days early; everyone is in church on Sunday morning; did you hear that so-and-so isn’t showing this market; will the daiquiri cart be set up on Hamilton?” So goes the chatter at High Point Market. It is a ritual – we all sit together and say the same things every year. Some years good, some years bad, and the current year rarely eclipses markets of distant past (there’s a Bentley dealer in this little town!).

Thanks to a friend, we are in a new showroom, in the elegant 200 Steele Building. I painted today’s painting on the deck behind the showroom, during a party hosted by the building.

I have been admiring the small upholstered chairs/table at Dorya Interiors, across the corridor from us. It has the look of tea tables in an Eastern country: and lo and behold Dorya is from Turkey. It is a contemporary look that is Istanbul and beyond. There are some great light fixtures, and a fainting couch reminiscent of a 60s Chevrolet. Somehow, I see Orhan Pamuk’s house furnished in Dorya. I hope I make a million dollars and can buy something for my Paris apartment.

Another “drawing card” in this building is Selva. It is a furnishings company from Spain, with very cool contemporary furniture. Nobody just makes furniture anymore – it is lighting, fabrics, and a way of life. It is the wave of the future: these design houses are from around the world, offering something more than the US furniture company (now manufacturing in China) has to offer. Harden, in this very building, is an exception, with manufacturing in the USA.

Legacy, the company we are showing with, quintessentially American, has its product made in neighboring Mexico. I love turning that tradition of Mexican metalwork into outdoor tables and chairs in a transitional and modern look. Fluffy cushions in chic fabrics come as part of the chairs (seems obvious, but not all outdoor furniture is sold with).

We got here a couple of days early to hang our artwork. It is a challenge to get our 100 pictures onto a 39 plus 12 foot wall… I have a large collection in the neighboring storage space, to complement our repertoire. It has turned out to be our most productive area: what we chose to hang is not necessarily what sells.

I introduced myself to the girls in building reception. (they call themselves girls, one about 25 and the other at least 60). My cards are on the big round table there – urging customers to come see our paintings.

Blair and I have been coming here since 1980, and it is a tradition like summer vacation or dinner at Grandmas. In fact, I sit at a table with a man from Florida talking about that. He admires our baseball paintings, and surprisingly, knows about Torrington, CT where we painted them. He, too, spent summers on a lake there, and talks of it being the perfect summer. The lake has changed and times have changed, but those warm sunny days and mosquito nights created the perfect memory.

So it is with the market. I see some of my dearest friends when I come here. Over meals of hot venison sausage and ramps, a bowl of chicken soup, a side of fried okra, Huguenot pie, we catch up on our lives.

2011-03-10T18:28:00.001+01:00

Sailing in Trouville Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 20 x 6 inches

Kite flying Trouville Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 13 inches

Boules Trouville M. Blair PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6 inches

Trouville Lights Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 13 x 6 inches

A day on the sand Trouville Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 18 x 13 inches SOLD

Fun by the sea Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 13 inches

2011-03-05T15:31:00.002+01:00

Among the trees LFP Acrylic on wood 20 x 6 inches

Babysitting in the park LFP Acrylic on wood 6 x 14inches

Waiting for Spring LFP Acrylic on wood 6 x 20 inches

Chess in March LFP Acrylic on wood 12 x 6 inches

Tending the dogs LFP Acrylic on wood 6 x 20 inches

Visiting beneath the trees Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 18 x 13 inches

March in the Park M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 13 x18 inches

Chairs in the Alley Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6 x 20 inches

Artnotes: "Foreign" Correspondent

As I prepare to go back to the US in a couple of weeks, I think about how much things have changed in the past six months. This has been perhaps my longest sojourn ever; I’ve not been back to see my family since early September 2010. The longer time I spend abroad the more developed my international point of view becomes. It is as though I am a piece of cloth in a dye vat: the longer you leave me here, the stronger my color becomes.

Last night we had a Tunisian man to dinner at our house – someone we had met in 2008 in Tunis. His family had been very kind to us, had us to dine with them, and shared aspects of their life. He moved to Paris two years ago and I was thrilled to be able to receive him in our home. He wishes to marry a woman like his mother, because “women in Paris are so complicated”.

In Paris, I can meet and see people from every corner of the world. Because I am outside my own society, and those non-officially-French people are also on the outside, we form a loose cloud around, but separate from, the nucleus of what goes on here. I am relieved not to be part of any society. I find “inclusion” restricting, so that after a while I can’t see clearly, but only through a societal veil.

On the bus, a mother and grown daughter of a Portuguese heritage enter and walk down the aisle. The mother takes a seat across from me, and the daughter hugs her, puts her head against mother. I can see the two of them really enjoy this sensation of closeness, not in the way of my observing it, but as a constant comfort over many years. I can imagine them knowing the other’s smell, not consciously, but there. It is how my mother was with her own mother. It is so different from what I know, and what I see of current relationships in America, or even in most of France.

I have been contacting universities with “semesters abroad”, hoping to entice further subscribers to my art workshops. A particularly eloquent professor expresses how once one has lived abroad, one never sees things quite the same again. It’s a jarring experience, to be free of all conventions, but the freedom gives one the chance to really learn.

We dine with a German friend, and we talk about everything from John Galliano to hearing aids (I thought it a good idea to make and sell hearing aids like glasses in the pharmacy 1x, 2x and 3x. Upon further research, hearing aids can only be sold by “specialists” in the US, protected by government regs). Over her table we roar with laughter and disagree about how to enjoy food.

It is not as if I want to be Tunisian or Portuguese, German or even French, but I love to see another way of being. I don’t want to be any nationality, so I can pick the values and ideals that seem right for the circumstances. Wasn't that what America was all about?

Garden M. Blair PESSEMIER Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches