Spring in a Shell Laurie Fox Pessmeier Acrylic/wood 7 x 9.5" 17 x 24cm
Struggling with Winter Luxembourg Gardens Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 11 x 14" 27 x 35cm
First trip to Trouville 2015 Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 9.5 x 11" 24 x 35cm
Trouville February 2015 Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 11 x 14" 27 x 35cm
St Sulpice En Plein Air Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/wood 9.5 x 7" 24 x 17cm
Blustery Day St. Sulpice Blair Pessemier Acrylic/panel 12 x 12 30 x 30cm
Artnotes: Spring in a Shell
I scooped out the bulb and emerging flower from my balcony
planter, and set it in a glass shell container, placing SPRING on the dining
room table. Yes, finally, the hyacinthes
are beginning once again to emerge in Paris.
As you can tell from a motley group of artnotes, our
transition from Italy to Paris hasn’t been an easy one. Harika was terribly sick, followed by
me, developing an infected lung. I rarely take antibiotics, but the doctor let
me know with a temperature of 39 (102.2), it was antibiotics or the
hospital. I am improving, with my last
nauseating dose of antibiotic today. Ptui!
We sold more than 20 paintings from last week’s sale. As if on cue, three new exposition
opportunities have opened up for us in Paris:
Genio, a Venetian restaurant on Boulevard Raspail will host a wall of
our Venice images beginning on Monday; in April we will have a show of our
winter work “outside of Paris” at the Petit Lux; and from 24 June – 5 July we
will be at Space 102, at 102 rue Cherche-Midi, where we had a show last
spring. As I type that (run-on) sentence
I breathe a giant sigh of relief, that we will be able to show and sell work in
Paris.
There is a grand bed of saffron colored crocuses in the
Luxembourg Gardens this week. I saw
Mimosa for sale at the florist. The sun
comes up just about the time I wake up now, and it stays light out well after 6
PM. It’s still a bit too cold to paint
outside, but Blair and I bucked up on Friday at St. Sulpice.
It has been a difficult February for most merchants here –
tourism is down. I can see on Google
Adwords fewer people are searching “painting Paris”. Negative publicity is on the rise, and
people who have zero credibility are spouting off about the dangers of
Paris. Some fellow walks around in
neighborhoods which are of no interest to tourists, and wonders why people are
rude to him: he’s looking for
trouble. Honestly, it is much safer now
that it was two months ago. I remember
how businesses closed in New York City after the World Trade Tower tragedy – in
retrospect, what good did that do anyone?
Really, it was the WRONG-EST thing one could have done.
The sun is pouring into our apartment and I have a
commission ready to paint. After five
years (we’ve been at 110 rue de Rennes that long), Harika (canine) walked into the
kitchen for the first time. I
guess she thinks it is time to start living!
