Orangerie in the Luxembourg Gardens Blair Pessemier Acrylic on linen 13x 18 inches (gallery)
Woman with Umbrella Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas panel 12 x 12 inches
After moving back to Paris in 1998, people would ask “why
are you here?’. We would respond, “for
the light”. It was the light that fueled
the impressionists, a sort of misty, thick colored light (from yellow to blue
to pink) that made those paintings wonderful.
About 18 months ago my friend Y said she felt the light had changed here
“it’s never pink!” I thought we just
weren’t outside early enough. Now, this spring/summer 2013, I notice the
change, too.
I had my most talented workshop participant ever, I believe,
this week – a young woman, about 18, who was born to paint. She was home-schooled, and just started
taking some art classes. She had such a
way of building up her painting from paint, not from drawing – and the result
was practically pure impressionism. It
was thrilling -- beside her, I felt humbled.
I learn from each and every painter we paint with.
The British call it “white cloud” in their weather
reports. It is the refrigerator type of light that Seattle had. And it is the light in Paris the very moment
of this writing. It is somewhere between
overcast and brightly foggy, but it takes the light, shadow and warm coloration
out of the picture. A photographer I met
here a few weeks ago commented on it, and a painter I just painted with had a
hard time defining the light here. I am
not sure what is happening, but it has pushed Blair and I to seek new sunsets.
We are looking at new locations for painting this winter: of course, Tunisia comes to mind, but there
were security issues I wouldn’t want to repeat.
We’ve been looking at the Southern United States, where we can paint and
sell paintings (or I could open a game and wild herb/vegetable restaurant: Afield (or is that just my thinking?)). Morocco is also possible, or the south of
France, like last year.
It’s not that the light was always perfect in Paris: just sometimes. And those times are breathtaking. Indoor light has changed as well, with the
introduction of energy-saving/mercury laden light bulbs. Warm incandescence, casting a golden glow on
your partner’s cheeks has given way to a fluorescent-green-y glow (think
lime-light?).
Atlas and Astor Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas panel 12 x 12
I am painting dogs in the park now – we are going to have a “dog
show” at 14, rue Servandoni, before we close on 30 July. They go for walks in clouds or sun, Harika,
in her black coat, officially preferring the shade. You never hear them complain.
Dog on the grass Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood about 6 x 13 inches
We’ve still not had a single summer-y day here. I feel the earth has tilted on its axis and
we are headed for a new ice age. I am reminded of the documentaries on the
public TV of my youth: “there was no summer and crops failed”. I feel hair growing in my ears and nose and
Harika’s canines seem to be getting longer.
The ice age, right around the corner, darn it! I joke we are having summer in Siberia, but
in fact, the temperatures there have been warmer and the sky sunnier than
here. Picnic, comrades?
Harika
Young Dog
Canaille
Shakespeare
No comments:
Post a Comment