Sunday, May 21, 2017

Artnotes: Ferrari

 Iris in the half sun   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  10 x 20"  25 x 50cm 
 Roses in a turquoise vase   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  16 x 11   41 x 27cm 

 Golden Iris   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  12 x 12  30 x 30cm 

Modena on Monday  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  11 x 16"  27 x 41cm

Modena May  Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  11 x 18"  27 x 46cm

Photos of the Mille Miglia




The week slipped by like a Ferrari.   Ha!  we went to the Mille Miglia race this weekend, where remarkable cars make the run from Brescia to Rome and back, over the weekend.   The first time we saw the race was in Castelfranco, some years ago.  Blair still fondly recalls seeing 18 gull-wing Mercedes’, including the prototype.  This year we saw nearly 100 Ferraris, as they passed through Pavulla nel Frignano.   It was a bit cool, and off-and-on rainy, so we limited our time.   It can take nearly 2 hours to watch all these fabulous cars pass.  People dress in styles corresponding to the year of their car; goggles are evident.  I believe it is one of Italy’s finest events.

We went to the race to “paint” cars.  Not only was that unrealistic, but we often missed getting the speeding vehicle into the camera picture frame. This was a constant source of laughter, between ourselves and adjacent onlookers.   We were at the edge of the Pavulla leg of the journey, where cars would downshift, making that vroom-rumble sound before passing in front of the bigger crowd.  The race takes place on country roads.  

We drove our own cream puff along parts of the route, inspecting the crowd and waving.  What a feeling!   I wanted to go faster.  It’s hard to drive normally after 100 Ferraris.   Our car is red, anyway.

I catalogued the last of the 459 books in the American Library in the Apennines.  We painted in Modena this week.  One can’t drive within the city center, so we stood beneath the leafy trees and looked in.   It’s a lovely city, and the buildings are the most beautiful colors:  pink, yellow; pumpkin.  My own house is of golden hues.  We’re hoping to have some Modena images for our show this fall. 

Somehow, the flowers in my own yard seem most appealing at the moment.  And certainly more forgiving.  Flowers don’t have to stand up straight or roll on the road.  My Iris are impossible colors of violet; the grass behind isn’t quite so brilliant in the sun, but almost.   Roses bloom on and on, especially the ones planted before this year.  Only one of our new climbing roses is in bloom, but I am optimistic.  The house is full of the scent of cut roses. 

The people next door, with our dog friends Oliver and Camilla, have planted acacias, which smell like California to me.  I love to walk over there to pet Ollie and smell the trees.  The owners are reputedly of the Ferrari car family, but there are many of that name in our area, so I am never sure.  Rumors fly in Rocca Malatina -- at the speed of Ferraris.


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