Artnotes: What Would We Do Without You?

 

Circus in Forano    Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   10.5  x 16"  27 x 41 cm   475.00 For the first time in a few years, we heard the shepherd playing the bagpipes beneath our window in Stimigliano.  This time of year they bring the sheep down from the higher elevations to graze on the fallow fields that border the Tiber.  The hardworking shepherds keep their watch, along with their vicious dogs, over hundreds of sheep.   It always puts me in the spirit of Christmas, one of my favorite times of the year. Barnacles  Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/flat Canvas   9  x 12"  23 x 30 cm 175.00 We went to the beach on Tuesday, where they were renovating our favorite restaurant.  We spent a long time on the beach – Berlino digging mammoth holes (Stimigliano is not to his liking, cobblestoned).  The sky and the sea were a deep ultramarine blue.  Even though I had my suit on, I didn’t swim – it was a combination of cold water and no other people to save me, just in case. We yelled hello to the late Harika-dog, where we set her ashes afloat 4 years ago.  Pitcher This   Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/flat Canvas   13  x  9.5"  27 x 46cm 175.00 A trip to Castiglion-Fiorentino was in the cards for Thursday, where we checked up on a friend’s house.  Luckily we did, as the window was open and cold air blowing through.  The last guest forgot cheese in the fridge, and shut off the electricity.  We abandoned the ship and will come back in a week when the smell dissipates.    We made a stop at one of the many used furniture stores in Arezzo, the “capital” of flea markets in Italy.

Over the Moon   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas 12 x 12"    30 x  30cm   475.00     We met someone new – that used to be a regular occurrence when we lived in Paris, but in small town Italy it is rare.  I had chosen that day to pin a rose to my beret, and it caught the notice of a photographer from the area (originally from Rome).  She would go to different small towns, interesting places (Orvieto was a favorite), and look around.  It was just a lovely chat with hope of more to come. Egg and Ball   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas 10.5 x 16"    27 x 41cm   475.00     It is social here in Stimigliano, which is part of why we came down to the Rome area.  At the same time, it is difficult, when being an artist, to accommodate a social life.  Last night we listened to a poem, Of Power and Time, by Mary Oliver.  It was about having three selves:  a childlike self, a regulated self (like the clock), and an artistic self.   That artistic self really needs solitude to perform.  Berlino  Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas (flat, not stretched) 16 x 23 "    41 x 58cm   175.00     Berlino very thoughtfully starts the day for us about 4:30 AM when he must walk (no matter when he last went out).   Blair takes him, I feed him, and he goes back to bed until about noon (lunchtime).  Blair and I rest a little (I almost never go back to sleep), but in this way, we are able to put in a good few hours of art time before the town comes to life, about 10.   Oh, Berlino, what would we do without you? HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: Too Much to Ask?

 

Metamorphosis    Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   9 x 12"  23 x 30 cm   475.00 I got the most wonderful surprise this week:  four friends adopted an olive tree in our name!  Actually they named the tree Harika Berlino, after our late and current dogs.  The tree is a stone’s throw from Florence, and equidistant from both of our residences.    I can’t wait to make the tree’s acquaintance later this month. Tunisian Orange Trees (from the archive)   Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/Canvas   10.5 x 18"  27 x 46cm 475.00

We drove to Stimigliano last Sunday (before we knew about our tree, which we could have visited en route).  A Bangladeshi and his son in the piazza Roma wished us a good day upon arrival.  There are people from all over the world (6 continents) in Stimigliano these days, and it isn’t a bad thing.   We had drinks that afternoon with a Romanian neighbor, and an Italian couple that taught at University in Australia.  It is very social here, in this town where maybe 50 people actually live in the borgo.   We are having coffee with a Canadian and her Thai husband this morning. Chi-chicken   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/paper  27  x 36"    70 x  90cm   475.00     A northern friend accused us of being hermits up in Roccamalatina, and I realized I had better get down to Stimi tout de suite to correct that.  Berlino likes it here, too, where all the folks at the café pet him, and he walks along the Tiber River.   Our apartment looked much better than we remembered, and my muse welcomed me when I got into my studio.  I painted a chicken and rearranged my library to accommodate larger paintings. The Last Begonia in a Moon Vase  Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas (flat, not stretched) 15 x 11"    37 x 28cm   375.00      Our barista was happy to see us, and and even more happy to announce on Wednesday morning that Mamdani is mayor in New York City.   Almost all the Europeans see this as a positive sign.  They have been enjoying an affordable and peaceful lifestyle for some time.  Happiness all around. I have reached the very end of my ability to tolerate hatred, selfishness, greed.  I am hoping all the disfunctional billionaire perverts get sucked into outer space and the Dalai Lama leads the world.  Is that too much to ask? HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: Part of the Crowd

 

Martina's House (red vines)  Laurie Fox Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   16 x 13"   41 x 33 cm   475.00 “How about Chinese food?” I asked Blair, when the restaurant we’d planned on was closed for lunch.  I found the #25 pick by Trip Advisor in Bologna, a city of 1600+ restaurants.   It is called “Amole” and is officially a multicultural Osteria.   It serves marvelously spicy Sichuan food in a terrific contemporary Chinese setting; multicultural waiters in black t-shirts, Amole.  I don’t expect anyone reading this to go to Bologna for Chinese food, but it made me seriously happy. Two Red Chairs   Blair Pessemier  ink, paint, paper   5 x 8"   13 x 20 cm   75.00

Bologna has truly wonderful Italian food, just ask Stanley Tucci.  I have eaten some very delicious Italian dishes in Bologna.  It’s just that I occasionally like perfume-y aromas, and exotic flavors.  Italy doesn’t really go there, probably because the number of immigrants is limited.   I have that sense of “food like Mamma used to make (when?  1952?)” everywhere I eat.   By that same token, that food is nearly perfect, and you can eat almost anyplace and not be shocked or poisoned.  And of course, there is nothing to compare to real Italian pizza. Fiery Trees   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  16  x12"    40 x  30cm   475.00     It is amazing what food I grew up with in America, from my Polish grandmother to our Italian neighbors; my great grandmother’s New England style restaurant later purchased and run by Lebanese.  My own meals were often served at Pete’s Steak and Lobster House where my uncle tended bar. The Venetian Restaurant in the neighboring town served my aunt and uncles and me on Sundays.  As soon as I was able, I ate Chinese food in New York, then Seattle.  Blair and I courted over Japanese dishes.  We ate Iranian fish from the Caspian Sea and ultimately feasted in star French restaurants around Paris when the dollar was strong.   A steady diet of pasta or rice followed by a main course is not always what I want.  How lucky I am to be able to say that. Rabbit Stew   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  8 x20"   2 0 x 50cm   395.00     We were in Bologna for the second time this week to visit the dentist.  I am a regular, and I wore my Halloween witch’s hat on Friday.   We had a meeting about how to proceed with dental work, but then settled in to talk about life.   My dentist just wrote a book about dentistry, with contributions by stellar doctors worldwide.   He speaks at various events and tells me, “the conference organizers apologized for offering such a meager fee, but to me it seemed enormous, and I brought my wife and kids to New York”.  Money is only a minor aspect of life in Italy, and family and friends, vacations, kindness, style, livability are all equal or stronger.  He goes on to tell me about his colleagues who moved to the USA, and how they have a very different life than him. I try to explain.  I am not Italian, and worry about money all the time, but I am working on it.  Maybe by the time I get my citizenship (’31), I’ll be part of the crowd. HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

ArBreaking Bread

 

Brooklyn Bridge   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   19.5 x 12"  50 x 30cm  575.00 Modena is about an hour’s drive from our house, even though it is officially less than 30 kilometers (18 miles).  We arrived there last Saturday only to find there was no place to park – one must park on the ring road around the town and walk in.   There was some event scheduled.  We felt lucky to find a spot in the nearby pay lot, and set out on foot. Working the Nets   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas 12 x 16"  40 x 30cm  475.00

We went to our friend Gary’s birthday party in Modena.  It was a significant number ending in “0”:  TV, computers, cell phones, the Beatles, wars, peace, love, hate, and AI all in the same lifetime.    Gary is the friend responsible for our move to Italy, for better or worse.  We love being here most of the time – the other time we simply crave change.   We left Paris, for goodness sake, the most wonderful city on earth.   And we are always talking about new places.  Hence our trips all over Europe, and “studies” of art and rivers.   Right now, we are thinking about Genoa – not for good, but for a month in the winter (it has a seaside climate).  I never want to go backward (aka USA), but forward, and am so happy we carry our happiness and security with us, wherever we go. Breaking Bread (after LdV)  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/paper 29 x 54"  74 x 150cm  575.00 (ships rolled) At the birthday table of ten, we were four continents , six countries.  It was just fabulous to break bread together (well, Indian food) and sing Happy Birthday.  We had been through so many experiences together and apart, it is always such a thrill to laugh and sing and eat. Sometimes I fear there is a stigma to eating anything these days, and was thankful the majority of us weren’t counting calories.   Breaking bread is of such significance in all cultures:  sharing, enjoying, keeping alive, celebrating!   I came home compelled to paint it, and used Leonardo da Vinci’s inspiration.   If musicians can interpret someone else’s music why can’t I? The Catch   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   16 x 12"    40 x 30  cm   475.00 When, satiated with food and conversation, we walked to our car, a policemen said, “you can’t go there”.   “For how long?” I asked.   At least an hour he retorted.   I decided to pull the Italian drama card, and cried that we had a child at home, we couldn’t possible wait.  He spoke to his superior, but didn’t relent.  I saw that we could pull out of the parking place and make it straight out the exit lane – there was police tape, but I could lift it.  So, Blair gunned the engine,, I lifted the tape over the roof as I hopped into the car.  Breaking the law, and the breaking bread all in the same day.   We made it. In the Fall   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   12 x 16.5"    30 x 42 cm   195.00 HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed.   4 drawings 15 x 11"  38 x 28cm  by Laurie Pessemier  250 for the set sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 7PM (THIS WEEK ONLY); NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: Making Dessert

 

Large Crow Fall Berry Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic on large paper (arrives rolled)  56 x 36"  142 x 9y 2cm  375.00 A trip to Venice is always nice – Tuesday was one of those glorious deep blue days, sky and water shimmering.   We sat on the back deck of the vaporetto and met the nicest people from San Antonio, Texas.   They really wanted to talk about life away from the USA.  They loved to travel, but hated being away from their family.   I felt the same that day – we left Berlino at home, and I feel sad doing things without him.   Never mind he’d likely trade me for a hamburger. Commission of Boston Church   Blair Pessemier

We were in Venice  to check out the Architecture Biennale there.   We are working on a project, “ReuseIT”, to renovate a ruin near Bologna.  I thought we should bone up on current architectural ideas, terms and presentation.  In fact, the show was rather a bust – it struck me like an end-of-the-school-year project.   The photos and presentations I’d already seen online of these projects were superior to the real thing, in all cases.       Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  15 x 18"   37 x 45cm   475.00     This was also the least crowded I’d ever seen Venice.  There were very few people on the vaporetto, and even less at the show.  I had a bench all to myself in the park where I sat sketching people (I dropped out of the architectural tour).  It was the first time I really noticed that parts of Venice are never visited, and other parts generally overrun.    The best part of the day was a very good lunch at a little restaurant near Giardini.  Fall Nuts  Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   12 x 16.5"    30 x 42 cm   195.00 Being in that part of Italy made me rethink my idea to document the Danube into a project to document the Po, the longest river in Italy.   The Po starts as a small spring in the Piedmont and irrigates the grand plain of Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.  It floods the rice fields (think risotto), welcomes migrating birds and spawning fish, and dumps into the Adriatic.  I look for motorboats to facilitate parts of the trip.  In the Fall   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   12 x 16.5"    30 x 42 cm   195.00 It’s quite cool here in Roccamalatina right now.  The heat is running, the door open for the convenience of Berlino.   I hear different birds than I did in the summertime.  They are cutting trees next door to us – trying to save what they can of the umbrella pines.  The air is mildy foggy, but the sun still comes through all sparkly, and creates sharp color and shadows.   We are going to a birthday luncheon today, featuring Indian food.  Blair is making dessert. 4 drawings 5 x 8"  12 x 24cm  by Laurie Pessemier  100 for the group HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed.   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM