View from the Porch Villefranche sur Mer Blair Pessemier OIL/linen 16 x 16 inches
Grapefruit Tree Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 12 x 16 inches
Artnotes: En Route
“Victor’s cabs wants 45 Euros to take us to the train
station,” I tell Blair. I find G7 cabs would take us for 10 – 13
Euros but I have to buy twenty euros of credit to get the cab to pick us
up. We opt for just standing on the
corner at 7:15, and end up with a charming fellow who charges 13, suitcases and
Harika included, and leaves us with his card.
I am wrting artnotes today from seat 116 on the TGV to Nice
(Ville). I’ve commandeered an extra
seat, with an electrical outlet. I am
still pitifully behind in the technology race, working off an old Dell laptop
garnered from a job with German engineers a few years ago.
We’re headed to our winter painting venue: Villefranche-sur-Mer, just seven minutes from
Nice. I have big aspirations: to paint some large paintings, laid out on
the ground in the yard and to try to paint in oil once again. I have been most impressed with oil since I
have been going to the Atelier Grande Chaumiere to paint the live
model. Most people there use oil, and
it is impressive.
We had breakfast at a little café in the station. It was clearly where the all night owls
go: I saw a man in a golden domino
(that’s a mask which just goes to the nose) exiting from an late midnight snack. When we got out to the gate, there was one of
the famous Paris pianos ( fine instruments set around town on red carpet), and
7:45 found us next to a brilliant pianist.
“I am singer,” he tells Blair after multiple bravos.
I have other big ideas for this trip as well: to figure out how to build Monet’s
Bateau-Atelier and introduce it as a painting venue for our painting
workshops. Blair and I will put our years
in business school to use, building a
business plan. We’re thinking about
renting a boat while in Villefranche just to get an idea about painting while
on the water. It is a still sea in the
bay, and there are lots of possible subjects to paint from other boats to fabulous
villas on the water.
I am also going to work on organizing Artnotes into a
book. I would like to see how it looks
on an Ipad as I go along, so any volunteer viewers with such equipment, or an
Ipad to sell at a modest price, don’t hesitate to say so.
Of course, all these ideas may not come to fruition, but
it’s good to have some goals. There is
something about getting away from the everyday that lets the mind soar to new
heights. There are less interruptions,
as well.
Our train is at the gate, and a Welsh man and his wife help
us with our bags. They are headed
further on, to Italy.
+ we painted two
pictures on Sunday, in our house at Villefranche-sur-Mer!
