Saturday, May 30, 2015

Artnotes: Not to Seriously

 Support   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas   16 x 20" 40 x 50cm
 Black Chicken Running   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/panel   10 x 12"  25 x 30 cm
Orange Chicken  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/panel   10 x 13.5"  25 x 34 cm
White Chicken   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/panel   10 x 12"  25 x 30 cm 

Grass in the Breeze   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  15 x 18"  38 x 46 cm
 Diana
Viktor


Artnotes;  Not too Seriously

A friend jokes about how his writing often goes unread:  "I got a letter from some guy threatening to sue me for what I wrote.  I thanked him for actually reading it."

Our first guests at Villa Loris spent three days with us, visiting, laughing, cooking…

We drove around, they hiked, and the discussions over the dinner table  was fantastic.  Viktor is a writer (I will make the cover for his book), and Diana is his mate, muse, great supporter.  We are not 100 percent in accord on all topics, but really that is what its all about.

We had thoroughly opposing views about  a number of issues, including people rights/roles (you can imagine the banner I raised) ; the Marshall plan (all it did, he contended, was create consumerism in Europe -- did you ever even think of that?  I didn't, and thus towed the benevolence line, which sounded silly to me in the end); and the inability of people in America to communicate warmly/comfortably (like Italians) on account of social media, cars, and other 20/21st century inventions.   I finally got so burned up, I took Harika for a walk in the late night rain to squelch my fire.

While I was out there, I thought, isn't this a wonderful thing?  The reason we have people with opposing view points is that they make us re-confirm our own beliefs, or they bring us information that makes us see things in a clearer way, and they encourage us to discover more.   As Harika pulled on the leash towards the house (are you crazy, mom? It's raining out here) I thought, this is why I cannot eliminate people with a different point of view from my life.  I need them for me to see what else there is. We need disagreement to have progress.   I returned to the house ready for more, but everyone went to bed.

Blair drove to Paris on Tuesday, packed more boxes, sold a half-dozen paintings, got his "codice fiscale" from the Italian consul  on Wednesday, and drove back to Rocca Malatina on Thursday.   Harika and I rattled about in this giant house, with her following me around like a shadow.  This is a house that needs people.   A new guest is coming today, for a longer sojourn.  She writes, and will paint with us.

We painted portraits of Viktor and Diana.   This house is full of old portraits:  individuals who were in some way involved in the development of the country, or just this life.  It's my intent to make a portrait of everyone who stays here -- to add to the wall. 

The one thing we did agree on was:  we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously.

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