Artnotes: Surprise

 

Stimigliano, RI Italia

Gondola Lamp  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  9.5 x 13"   24 x 32cm  375.00  “How did you get all those lemons?  My tree doesn’t have any,” a neighbor kibitzed.   Yellowjackets  --those pesky stingers ate the mites off of my trees and now the lemons are ripening.  Sometimes a bad thing can be a good thing.  For example, mosquitoes protecting the rain forests and wetlands:  poor dears didn’t do enough, and Hadrian’s Villa was built anyway; the Suez and Panama canals continue to flow.  And now we’re genetically modifying mosquitoes.  I can somehow see a frightening result:  who said it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature?  In Stimigliano    Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas 10 x 18"  25 x 45cm  450.00 Lately, I’ve been making lithographs using household materials (aluminum foil and coca cola).  It’s an imprecise science for me, and enjoyable as such.  I loved printmaking when I was in art school, but because there were so many chemical mixes and processes involved, my practice fell by the wayside away from school. Contrary to the “ideal” of printmaking (that is, making identical perfect pictures), for me there is an added dimension:  unpredictability, surprise, genius.   A less than perfect plate introduces a ghost in front of the town hall.  My muse has the possibility of hopping into the picture.  Lithographs:  Tree, Commune, Flowers    Laurie Fox Pessemier 6 x 4"  15 x 10cm  75.00 I like that about life, in general.  A friend wrote recently about how she took a class, and it wasn’t what she expected, but BETTER.  After we get through the initial shock of things not being what we expect, we are fresh and open to outrageous enjoyment. Giuseppe's Peppers   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 16 x 9.5"  40 x 25 cm  450.00    My trip to Corsica was that way.  I sputtered and groused – but in the end it was more wonderful than I had imagined.  I did come away with a cold, that led to a cough.  It kept me inside, working on art.  There was much hanging around our apartment this week.  We expected a delivery of two easy chairs on Monday They are wonderful chairs, sorely needed, as I have been reading in a reclining position for ages.  Harika used to like that I’d lay next to her on the bed and read, but now that she’s not there, it’s just weird.  With these chairs, I sit up and read, and can even throw a leg over the arm, Napoleon style. Fall Weeds    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  19.5 x 12"  48 x 30cm  450.00 I love how the universe works. And when we get lemons, we’ll make Limocello! The Orange Tree  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  10 x 10"  25 x 25cm  350.00 INVITING All Artists to present their Work:  Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary Rome 8PM ; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles  11AM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85625088767?pwd=WldKRk9VbUVITWtRS0FFK2JwdGEwQT09 Meeting ID: 856 2508 8767 Passcode: 887182

The Cream Puff

The Church, Rocca Malatina   Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen  15 x 18"   38 x 46 cm    Sold

“I’ve got a car for you,” the proprietress of the coffee shop announced to Blair on Wednesday.  A town resident had died, and the family was wishing to dispose of the car.  “Free!” she told Blair.  Touched by her generosity and thoughtfulness, Blair had to refuse. “We are picking up our new car today”.

Church and house next door   Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/canvas  10.5 x 14"  27 x 35 cm  

​People who buy cars online miss all the fun.  Where else can I sit with a swarthy southern Italian who taps in his words in Italian and they come out of the computer in English?  And we don’t just stick to car talk – he tells us his brother-in-law is a painter; I tell him my best friend’s name is Sal, like his.  

A friend who speaks both Italian and English tells us, “this guy is southern Italian, I can hardly understand him. And besides that, be careful” (there's a trickiness associated with the south).   I reply that I am from somewhere else, too, don’t speak Italian at all, and Sal deserves a chance to sell me this car.   Besides, the fact his name is Sal, and my friend is Sal (who sold us almost every car we bought), has big good vibes to me.   And I can see this guy, smell him, shake his hand, look in his eyes.   Our insurance agent says, “where did you find this guy, I can hardly understand him.”  The name of the dealership is “Passione Auto”. 

​The Yellow Tree across the Street    Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  10.5 x 16 "  27 x 41 cm   

The salesman at Renault was a nice person, don’t get me wrong.  He did everything right.  But Blair and I couldn’t face a car payment and a WHITE car.  Almost all cars in Italy are grey or white.   And Sal had exactly the car we are seeking.  Yes, our new wheels are candy-apple RED, just a shade off Ferrari.

He assured us he could do the paperwork necessary to register it in our name.  We got  international drivers licenses, but otherwise we have the same papers we always had.  Two other dealers wouldn’t work with us, and even the immigration specialist had his doubts.    

So we returned our rental car (the last of 5 months of loaners!) in Bologna and powered up the road to Paradise in our new old Citroen C5 wagon.  

The Cream Puff  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   9.5 x 14"  24 x 35 cm  

Laurie and Blair Pessemier

p.s.  our "Mostra" (art show) in Rocca Malatina has been a roaring success.  GRAZIE TUTTI for your good wishes and patronage!

Artnotes: Awfully Nice at the Sea

Grotto di Labante   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   20 x 14   50 x 35

Tree at la Vignola  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Ac;rylic/linen 14 x 14"  35 x 35 cm

Swimming at Nice   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  12 x 12 cm  30 x 30cm

"la Vignola"  Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  8x 18"  20 x 45cm

Meditteranean at Matterlink   Blair Pessemier   Oil on linen  20 x 24"  50 x 61 cm

Gates at Rocca Malatina  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/linen 9.5  x 13"  24 x 33 cm

Artnotes:  Awfully Nice at the Sea

We went to Nice this week to return that ever-so-expensive rental car we borrowed in Paris.  Renting the giant vehicle was a must, to get our last belongings out of Paris. It cost more than 1000 euros, yikes!

We needed a way to unwind once we got to Nice, a 5-1/2 hour drive from here. I drove the new September rental car (700 plus insurance – Amex doesn’t cover Italy) and Blair drove the Paris car and we met at the airport.   I was thrilled to be driving, in Italy no less, going just as fast as the underpowered Fiat would allow.

I remembered a place we painted two Februaries ago while staying in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  It was in Nice, and I so wanted to jump in the water that foggy day.   This 85 degree sunny day fit the bill.

I hardly ever feel strong desire for anything, but this I did.

We got there and everything became finer than I could imagine.  There were bunches of people:  young men all standing on a green signal buoy  out from shore, other young people trying to get on a large, square “raft of the medusa” floatie.  Fat men stretched out on rocks, young girls afraid to swim.  I put on my suit and went to the water, Blair staying with Harika on an out of the way shady set of steps.   I climbed down the rugged metal ladder into the water.  It was just a little cool, but slippery in the way of sea water.  I slid in, and floated and bobbed, swam a little against waves stronger than I remembered, but feeling great.  I returned to find Blair with my skirt on, putting on his suit underneath.  He went in just like I did and we both came away with such a wonderful feeling, like a well-preached sermon.  “It was so “slappy””, he told me.  I felt just the same, and we both felt we had found a place, an experience, where, had we stayed in the water any longer, we would have gone to another place, a perfect place.   It was like a transporter of our life, with all ideal elements – moments later the sky went all wrong and the magic fled.

We drove back to Rocca Malatina, and ate dinner at 11 at night.  If felt ever so ready for the next day.