Artnotes: Fast Potato

 

Baseball Players   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/pen/paper 8 x 11.5"   21 x 29cm    90.00 each or 4 for 200.00 Baseball is one of the things I miss about summer in America, and I am writing this on opening day 2025. I enjoy live baseball of all sorts – young people, local teams, farm teams, college ball.  I imagine finding my place in the stands, sitting in the setting sun, watching the warm up.  I can smell popcorn and hot dogs as I write; cheap beer.  I listen to fellow fan chatter.   Maybe we’ll go to a game in Bologna this summer.   Blair and I followed a college league team one summer (https://baseballpainting.blogspot.com/)  –  it was an early foray into figure painting, which occupies me right now. Eurospin Ranunculas   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   18 x 15"   43 x 38 cm  475.00 Orange Ranunculas   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17 x 24"   43 x 61 cm  275.00 Our yard and the adjoining fields look like Ireland, they are so green.   The yard is full of some rather creepy puff balls which turned out to be (according to google lens) pine tree truffles.  We did not eat; mice did.  The wild flowers are coming on, and I’ve made a planter of wild primroses and pinky/purple flowers (lungwort).   Our ranunculas from the Eurospin are outstanding. The week has been taken up with sending out painting files for potential shows.  I am always a bit skeptical when they want me to talk about the painting – why did you paint this, and what are you saying.  In fact, I am sitting at my easel letting my muse work through my own hand.  I think most artists, visual, literary or musical are doing the same.  Take that, AI.   Magic is involved. We just got back after 4 weeks in Stimigliano, the potatoes I left in a cool, dark place had sprouted enormous eyes (why can I never stop that?).   I thought about planting them, but potatoes aren’t pretty in the yard.   I decided I could toss the potatoes, baseball style, out into the field beyond our house: like spring training, and later I’d see if they grew.    One potato, two potato, and on the windup for the third, Berlino stood in the path of my 95 mile-per-hour fast potato.  I clocked him in the snout, and he cried out in pain.  I immediately got down to his level (after chasing him -- he was scared of me!) and took a look.  No blood, but I did find some nasty tooth decay, which had nothing to do with the clobber.   Lungwort  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/paper  8 x 11.5  21 x 29cm  90.00 A trip to the vet ensued, and a cleaning/extraction.  In fact, it turned out the tooth which looked so poorly was a baby tooth that had never fallen out.  With sparkly white teeth and minus a milk tooth, the bill was the cost of a family of four in the bleachers at Fenway.   Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com 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 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: The Next Hand

 

Red Ranunculas   Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  16 x 14"   40 x 35 cm  450.00

“What if it’s wonderful?” I ask Blair, my only audience.  “What if when our money is worthless, friends and family live in a separate world, we are at our wits end, and we do something completely different? And it’s WONDERFUL?”    Tell me another one, Pollyanna.  Figures, Words    Laurie Fox Pessemier  8 x 6"   20 x 15 cmAcrylic/paper  90.00 What seems like a million years ago, when our business went kaput, our dog died, and everything we imagined and worked for had changed, we moved halfway around the world to Paris with almost no money.   My first few days there I woke up thinking I’d never be lighthearted again, and then, somehow, the sun came out, the birds sang, and we were smiling.  It got better and better and better.  Blair and I started painting again.   We felt that lightness that comes from being free.  We embarked on a new, better life. You can’t do anything when you are clinging onto the past.  Let go of the flotsam and jetsam, and when you see it, swim toward a new shore. The Show   Blair Pessemier acrylic/canvas  13 x 16"   33 x 40cm   475.00 I have been reading Vlacav Havel’s letters from Prison.   He was a poet/playwright dissident who led the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.  A bit of a Pollyanna, like me, he accentuated the positive aspects of his hard labor prison time.   He wrote, and thought while enduring horrible conditions.  I regret the poems and plays he never got to write; but yes, he later became president of the Czech Republic (1989-1992) leading and inspiring so many  people. Human    Laurie  Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   9 x 12"  24 x 30 cm   90.00 Another remarkable story of this ilk is from Italy, the Island of Ventotene.  Mussolini set up prison camp (actually on an adjacent island, Santo Stefano), from the remnants of a Bourbon jail built two centuries earlier.  700 opponents of Fascism were housed here, including Altiero Spinelli, who, with some fellow prisoners, wrote the “Ventotene Manifesto” in 1941.  This document became the basis for the European Union in 1984, adopted as the   “Draft Treaty Establishing the European Union”, or the “Spinelli Plan”.    It is very timely right now, as the enormous population of the EU is forming their defense. I am looking for that next hand to grasp, for the next turn in the road. I am writing and painting and remaining ultra-aware of future possibilities.   It will be summer again. Rolling Over    Laurie Fox Pessemier acrylic/paper 9 x 12"  24 x 30 cm  90.00 Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com 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 please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 7PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM  (NOTE -- we are accomodating the US time change this week )

Artnotes: My Kingdom for a Map

 

Ed Pickard   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  12 x 16"  30 x 40cm  550.00

“[I’d trade] my kingdom for a map”, I tell Blair as we listen to GPS send us down another impossible road.  Granted, the town of Spoleto is medieval in its layout, and GPS doesn’t like all this stone.  30 minutes later (spouting “I’m never going anywhere with you again”), we exited the car. Figures Alive  1 , 2  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  90.00 We took eight long escalators and then an elevator to arrive at the Rocca Albornoziana, the castle-fortress atop the Duchy of Spoleto.  I wanted to see a particular fresco displaying figures against a dark background.  I am in constant pursuit of figure painting/drawing inspiration.  We had to go up three more flights of stairs to the reception desk, and then another to the fresco.  But oh, it was worth it.  At the Restaurant  Laurie Pessemier acrylic/paper  9.5  x 13"   24 x 32.5cm   125.00 Have you been to Spoleto?  It’s the home of a summer festival of music and art, which composer Gian Carlo Menotti started in 1958 (Amahl and the Night Visitors).  I do not know anyone who has ever attended it, but whenever we go to Spoleto, I think what a great thing it must be.  Art is everywhere, and there a music venues and posters and photographs from festivals past.  In fact, I think I could live in Spoleto, but I am not sure how many people actually LIVE there, the festival attracting tourists every summer. Painting with Yukie:  Dish and Lemon  Laurie  Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17x 23.5"   40 x 63cm   275.00 The town itself is marvelous.  We’ve been to the cathedral, and walked all around the twisty-turny streets.  We hadn’t been to the castle on the hill, so that was our destination.   There were bits and pieces from as early as the 5th century, with big concentration from around the 11 century, the 13th and the 15th.    We saw great carvings, and interesting metal work – mining was prominent in these hills.   I still want to go to the cathedral of St. Salvatore, which claimed many of the Rocca’s remains for its interior; there’s also a Roman amphitheater we’ve not yet seen, underground attractions,  and some Roman temples on our list for when it’s not raining.   Many future trips remain. The fresco was terrific, one of many – and many with surprisingly dark backgrounds.  We saw frescoes with Berlino’s breed (spinone) of dog from the 15th century.   We were the only people there, except for a field trip of bored looking teenagers.  I like to imagine the hundreds of years of different people there, from the top dogs to the poor workers.  Imprecise stone stairs were taking their toll on my knees this cold day, and I wasn’t carrying a tray or bucket of water.    I had to hold onto my hat most of the time against the wind.  Like Mary Poppins, many new ideas blew into my head.   Trips like these just make me look forward to the next one. Girl  Laurie Fox Pessemier acrylic/paper  7 x 5"  16 x 13 cm  75.00 Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com 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 please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 7PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM  (NOTE -- we are accomodating the US time change this week )

Artnotes: Enough for Everyone

 

Oh Istanbul   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  12 x 16"  30 x 40cm  450.00

I wake up every day with worry.  Early.  Berlino, sensing perhaps my chagrin, shakes from his bed in the living room.   We tell him, no, three o’clock is too early, and he rests until 4.  We try again to calm him before Blair eventually takes him out for his morning jaunt:  5.    Jumping IN   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  90.00 This is a difficult winter, literally and figuratively.  Blair and I lived our whole lives as grasshoppers, painting and entertaining others, the best life on earth.  And we saved a little, and paid into retirement by the urging of our government.   We live a modest life in Italy, pretty much on the money we invested in Social Security.  Now, we are worried.   Not only is Social Security threatened, but the looming tariffs on European goods endangers our art sales.  It is scary, and there’s nothing scarier than being awake at 3AM. Relaxing in the Drink   Laurie Pessemier acrylic/paper  25 x 17"   63 x 40 cm   275.00 I used to think that the world would just get better and better, when I was in my late teens and early twenties.  Equality was on the rise, and I believe possibly we all loved one another.  I had somehow extrapolated that to how great it would be when I was 60, 70 – taking our love and flowers out into space.  Ha. New Home for the Genie  Laurie  Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17x 23.5"   40 x 63cm   275.00 I like to be generous.  It is more blessed to give than to receive.  An old communist friend from Paris (since deceased) used to say, “Laurie, it feels so good when I give someone else my seat on the bus.”  He’d never been to Catholic school, and only learned this as an adult.   My catholic school, St. Anthony’s, closed a few years ago.  We learned to help one another – where do people learn that now?  Another friend of ours, of the grasshopper ilk, urged us to entertain, and later colonize (in the positive sense).     Italy is a generous country. Pasta is cheap, and everyone wants to buy us a coffee.  As Italian friends in Hartford Connecticut used to tell us, “we may only have spaghetti, but there’s enough for everyone.” Cellist   Laurie Fox Pessemier acrylic/paper  12 x 9"  29 x 20cm  SOLD Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com 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 please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 7PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM  (NOTE -- we are accomodating the US time change this week )

Artnotes: What We'll Find Next

 

Swimmingly  Laurie Fox Pessemier  acrylic/paper  8.5 x 11"   22 x 28cm   90.00

I had one of my very best meals in Italy this week, after a trip to the beach at Santa Severa.  It was our third choice of restaurant, the first one never getting their act together (at 12:35 the waitress insisted it was 12:20 and could not seat us.  We showed her the phone time, to no avail); restaurant 2 was in a shopping center; finally, we arrived at Ristorante Rosetta.    It was a giant banquet hall sort of place, anticipating extended families of at least 12 members on Sundays, ample parking. Spinning  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   12 x 12"   30 x 30cm   475.00 We ordered the Rigatoni with mussels and pecorino (this was not an entirely Italian restaurant, where mixing shellfish and cheese are strictly prohibited); it was absolutely divine, with large grindings of peppercorns for crunch.   We followed up with a Rombo (turbot), which was cooked to buttery perfection, and deboned (for the first time anywhere in Italy).   The potatoes accompanying the fish were thinly sliced and perfectly seasoned, beautifully arranged on the plate.   Although dogs were allowed, we left Berlino in the shaded car to sleep off serious playtime on the shore.   We were eating cat food, in any case. Net Mending by the Sea  Blair Pessemier acrylic/canvas  18 x 12"   45 x 30cm   475.00 It was a rugged beach day, very windy, and new rivulets of water after heavy rains punctuated  a normally smooth walk across the sand.   Berlino somehow saw through to get his toes wet.   There was lots of flotsam and jetsam.   I bid hello to Harika, whose ashes are dispersed here.  At 11 AM we were the only folks on the beach, and even though I had my swimsuit, I didn’t go in.  This may have been the first time I’d been there when no one was in the water, regardless of the hour.   It’s been a hard winter. New Home for the Genie  Laurie  Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17x 23.5"   40 x 63cm   275.00 Santa Severa has a marine museum, and a small Etruscan museum.  It is in the center of the “Etruscan” region, between Tarquinia and Ceveteri (where the Rosetta restaurant is).   If you’ve not explored Etruscan history, it’s worth a look – many people feel the Etruscans were a more sophisticated and developed civilization than the Romans.  The Romans just spread further. We drove back to Stimigliano in the afternoon, where we are hanging at the moment.   The house here seems very small, but the places to go are closer in.  Who knows what we’ll find next? The Jolly Joker  Blair Pessemier acrylic/canvas  11 x 14"   28 x 33cm   475.00 Sign up for Artnotes by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com 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 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