Sunday, August 11, 2019

The Night of Shooting Stars








I did it.  I put over 100 paintings for sale on my new website:  www.pessemierstudios.com via Etsy.  Its just perfect, for me, at least:  I could do it, and I can maintain it.  I may not be emulated for my website style, but my goal is to sell 100 pictures by Christmas, 2019. Next week, I’ll get the blog under control.

I finished my site just in time for the celebration of San Lorenzo, 10 August  – the night of shooting stars.  I never see any, something about concentrating too hard, I fear; I wish anyhow.  Doing split-second things, like falling asleep or taking a dive into the lake, elude me.  

There was a little two (4) person circus in the plaza last night.  A couple played instruments, sang, did acrobatics; with a bit of slapstick thrown in.  Their main prop was what looked like an oversized swingset with legs and bars that served as instruments.  The front left leg, for example, was drilled with a few holes and strung with wires, as a bass.  There were strings for a harp up in the top of the “A”, and long, metal xylophone bars for pounding.  It was a remarkable thing; reminding me how I used to hammer on my swingset at 65 Prospect Street. Their 12 year old daughter, emerging from the rolling piano,  performed acrobatic feats as an encore.

Almost every night in August we have entertainment like this.  It is very small and personal.  I think it is a particularly Italian event:  it rings of Fellini.  I alternate between thinking how silly it is, and being touched to the heart.   We don’t attend every show, and I love to lie in my bed late at night to the strains of the Zocca Folklorico group in the distance.   It is not too loud, or too flashy, but always romantic.

We have many images, sketches, ideas in our craw for painting these coming weeks.  It is just so warm out that painting, or doing anything, in fact, has limited appeal.  Warm is an understatement for what we are experiencing here – it doesn’t cool down even in the night, and we’re sleeping in 24 (75) degree temperatures.  And, this being Europe, there is no airconditioning. 

I think it is actually better, if one is in reasonable health, to acclimatize to this heat.  It’s (partially) air-conditioning that’s created the pickle we are in now – those gases!  And, air conditioning inures people to the problem of the planet overheating:  if you can’t feel it, you really don’t notice it. 
I have my bathing suit on today, but not sure where to find fresh water. Pools abound, but I hate to swim where fish cant’ live.  The river is only about 3 inches deep.  I’ve been washing the floors to cool down the house.  I read about swamp coolers, but it seems a more difficult fix than the name implies.  For now, I soak my feet.

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