Gondoliers in the Fog Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/panel 9.5 x 12 24 x 30 cm
Venice Waterway Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 15 x 18" 38 x 46 cm
From the Accademia Bridge Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 15 x 21.5" 38 x 55 cm
Along the Grand Canal Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/panel 12 x 16" 30 x 40 cm
Santa Maria della Salute Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/canvas 9.5 x 12" 24 x 30cm
ARNOTES: DOGE'S PALACE
With the help of our Italian dictionary, Blair was able to
sign us up online for the Italian senior discount on TrenItalia. One hundred fifty pounds of luggage (paint is
heavy) and a twenty five pound dog in a bag raced from track 21 to track 11 in
Milan in under ten minutes. For only 67
euros, Blair, I and Harika made our way from Cervo to Venice in just 6
hours.
I had a hard time not bursting into tears as we stood on the
Vaporetto gazing over Venice. We had not
been in this beautiful city since the 1970s:
it was BETTER than I remembered.
Blair agreed.
We made our way to our cozy rental apartment in the Dorsoduro
district, near the Accademia bridge. An
enthusiastic Emma with her cocker spaniel Charlotte met us at the dock and took
us to what used to be their apartment.
Heated floors and a grassy back yard – what more could a dog ask
for? A real Dog’s Palace.
We walked to the store to buy food for dinner – each little
bridge and byway eliciting a new round of ooohs and aaahs. And no cars.
NO CARS at all in Venice. In
fact, I noticed the “ambulanza” plying the waters today, with its flashing
light.
Sunday morning found us on the banks of the grand canal – my
work, a complete failure, already painted over.
As I looked upstream, the gondoliers were just getting underway. One was singing Santa Lucia.
The gondola shop is very close to our apartment. Blair checked out the ailing vessels, took
pictures. We rarely take photos, but
we’ve seen so many scenes too good to pass up.
With Harika, we’ve walked to St Mark’s and the Doge’s
Palace. We’ve unearthed an art supply
store. I am limiting myself to smaller
canvases at the moment.
The fog has been most intriguing, but today we painted in
sun, from the Accademia bridge looking toward St Maria della Salute. I pinch myself and ask, can it really be this
beautiful?
