Artnotes: Just a Spec

 

Year of the Horse   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/paper 20 x 26” 50 x 65cm   290.00 Another week in Roccamalatina.  Blair and I are thinking of far flung trips; moves, even. Are we too old for the latter?  Possibly, but living someplace without a car and a city with walkable art shows would be nice.  We no longer know so many people living abroad; it’s been our policy to live where we know at least one person. Primrose from the Grocery Store  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  17 x 12”    42 x 30cm  190.00 We’ve been working in our yard this (75%) sunny week.  The roses are snipped back and our first wild daffodils bloomed.  I saw a mammoth bush of forsythia in flower today, on the way to coffee. Yellow bursts out first. Wild yellow primrose line on our morning walk route.  I saw a honeybee and got a mosquito bite. Just a Guy (ater Harry Marinsky)  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  39.5 x 28”    100 x 70cm  290.00 Berlino had two training lessons this week, the first most successful.  He walked with Stefania and her dog Benjy, for an hour.  Stefania thinks some of his comportment issues are because we don’t give him enough exercise – she’s committed for an hour, two days a week.  I am good for a daily thirty minute walk, possibly a little more.  Blair is stronger in that department, but neither of us have ever been big walkers.  Berlino seemed to share our sentiments, as we found him, whimpering near the gate, on his second foray with the trainer. I did an indoor project in the house this week – I painted our white chimney in a mossy green Venetian finish.  Really, I just watered down acrylic paint of the chosen color and slapped it on.  It looks expensive.  The wall will hold my big Venus drawing.

Venus  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  39.5 x 20”    100 x 50cm  290.00 Coincidentally, we ended up at the “Venus” museum in Savignano (about 20 minutes away­) today.  We saw a Venus (of the Willendorf style) from the high Paleolithic period, 25,000 to 35,000 years ago.  It was dug up in 1925 when someone in Savignano was excavating for a barn.  It was really quite suprising and beautiful.   The most beautiful was a lapis lazuli Venus found in Lazio.  She was only the size of my thumbnail:  charming.   We were actually there to see the museum of the Elephant – a mammoth skeleton 2 million years old.   It is mind boggling to consider.  It was likewise unearthed nearby, around 1980.  It has provided information about elephant tusks, and other pachyderm phenomenon.  I had actually painted a picture of it many years ago, from a newspaper story, and it was so wonderful to see in person. All this made me feel small, a spec in the age of the earth.  That’s a relief. Mammoth   Laurie Pessemier   acrylic/paper   17 x 25”   x 41x 63cm    290.00 HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier or Blair's @poeticfences See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and frames Support our art with a donation at:  https://donate.stripe.com/4gMaEW1XwfT041t1BCcEw00   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: Be Here Now

 

Grounded Fishing Boat  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 8 x 12”  20  x 30cm   290.00 It’s hard to live in the present when it’s raining out.  All I   can think about is when it gets sunny and I can work in the yard, play with Berlino, go for a walk without my glasses steaming up… Yesterday we took advantage of our forced imprisonment and went to a museum. Catkins    Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17 x 12”    42 x 30cm  290.00 We drove to Imola, just on the other side of Bologna.  It rained much of the way, but was just sprinkling when we parked the car.  We went to the Museo San Domenico, which we’d been to a few years before.  This time we went to see a show of Tomasso Della Volpe.  He painted in the early 1900s and is referred to as Il Romagnolo – coming from the Romagna part of Emilia-Romagna, and painting around Imola and Cesenatica, by the sea.   He knew how to use color – particularly cadmium red, one of my favorite hues. Paintings by Tomasso Della Volpe It’s a beautiful little museum set in a cluster of buildings around a grassy courtyard.  Two young women, who spoke English, welcomed us.  They guided us to the show, and then helped us navigate the permanent collection.     I love this museum because it is completely “regional”.  Almost all the artists, from the earliest frescoes and icons, clear through the Futurists and even more contemporary ceramicists, are from around Imola.  Ceramics, from the Etrucans, Greeks (who both settled on the Romangna coastiline) and those originating from nearby Faenza, are featured prominently.    It is not an overwhelming collection – you can easily see it all in about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  It is just right, as Goldilocks might say.   Moonlight on Sea   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  16 x 13” 44 x 33cm     390.00 There is also a film about Imola, started around 1050; and archeological finds from much earlier.   One of the things I actually like about AI and current technology is the ability to visually reconstruct the history of an area.  We followed the still extant medieval streets back to our car (on a slightly larger street).

Seated Nude After Maillol    Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper 39.5 x 29”  100 x 75 cm   390.00 In celebration of Valentine’s day, we went out to lunch.  This is our 45th Valentine’s day together.  It’s a holiday I’ve always liked.  As a girl, my father always bought me one of those red satiny heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, accompanied by a card.   In Paris, we always had fantastic chocolates; in Italy, there is Perugia. San Valentino was in fact, an Italian.   It’s a simple present holiday: LOVE IS THE THING.  Tulip One  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17 x 12”    42 x 30cm  250.00 Speaking of looking forward:  this week, on Tuesday, is the celebration of Mardi Gras, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year.   It’s an auspicious day!   Is that the sun I see?    Berlino is starting school on Monday, to work on his comportment. Tulip Two   Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper   17 x 12”    42 x 30cm  250.00 HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier or Blair's @poeticfences See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and frames Support our art with a donation at:  https://donate.stripe.com/4gMaEW1XwfT041t1BCcEw00   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