Artnotes: Like a Bird

 Trees in the Early Morning   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  9.5 x 13"  24 x 33cm  

 ​First Rays   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   9.5 x 14"   24 x 35 cm

 Pink Sky   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/linen  10 x 12"  25 x 30cm

 Fog in the Valley    Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   15 x 18"  37.5 x 46 cm    

​Persimmons on the trees  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  19.75 x 12"  50 x 30cm

​Persimmons in Winter  (actually turquoise blue, which doesn't register on the camera)  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Block print  3.5 x 5"  9 x 12.5 cm

Artnotes:  Like a Bird

“Try this one.” V shows me a five gallon bottle of odd green liquid.

Oh no, no, thank you.

“It’s made from a plant, Ortica.”  His partner steps outside and returns, trying to hand me a stinging nettle. He holds it gingerly.  

I imagine a prickly throat. 

After a plastic shot glass full of grappa (“only 43%” they assure me), we left the Alpini with a half bottle of Ortica liqueur and a warm feeling.  People are always surprised we moved from Paris to Rocca Malatina, Italy, but we love it here.  We loved Paris, too, but the big change of 2015 has been fabulous.

I am looking forward to holiday festivities here.  A friend is buying us a butterball turkey at the PX in Pisa, and I am inviting anyone who wants to come (call first, so I make enough mashed potatoes).   It could be an opportunity to serve the Ortica liqueur.   We are invited to partake of the traditional “seven fish” on Christmas Eve in Modena.  And tomorrow we go to a Christmas party in the country.  Cookie baking is on the agenda.  I’ve already made those nutty crescents…

I have been doing artwork all week, working toward the perfect card (it may just be electronic this year, considering $2+ postage).  I have painted pictures and made woodcuts.   I am enjoying the woodcuts tremendously, and they get better and better.   I am offering a Woodcut package:  For $100.00, I will send you, anywhere in the world, four woodcuts throughout the year.  They will be printed on high quality, acid-free paper, so they will last forever, and they would be good to have individually or as a set, or would make a nice gift.   

The Rocca Malatina ambulance drivers got to go practice new driving maneuvers at the Ferrari racetrack today – now I understand why the ambulance service has so many volunteers.   It's not just an organization of ambulance activities -- they sponsor events in the town, like a pair of bagpipe players to walk the streets on Christmas Eve, and hot mulled wine after midnight mass.

The sun has been shining up here in the mountains, as the lower-lying cities have been blanketed in fog.  The temperature is actually cooler down below, and the “ice” warning flashes on the dashboard of the cream puff.  It is the most curious thing living at this altitude: I feel like a bird.

Art is where you find it

Fruit Trees at Garafalo in Winter   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen 24 x 35.5"  60 x 90cm

 Last of the Leaves   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  13 x16"  33 x 41 cm

 Winter trees   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/linen 9 x 13"  22 x 33 cm

Monte Cimone   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Block print  2.5 x 7"  6 x 18 cm

ARTNOTES:  Art is where you find it

“It was a beautiful operation,” Dr Gottarelli announced, beaming from ear to ear.   It was evident he really loves what he does.  He operated on Blair on Friday, performing a modified inferior turbinoplasty on Blair’s nose.  Blair hasn’t been able to breathe through his nose for years, as those of you who have hosted us overnight are aware of.   And Dr. Gottarelli is famous for this particular operation, which is without pain (really!) and no packing of the nose.  He and one other doctor in Dallas, Texas developed this procedure, and it is really fab.

But I digress.  What I really want to talk about is how there is art and joy in so many things.  Dr. G is thrilled when he can perform surgery.  He is as much an artist as we are, in an alternate medium.  He’s not the only person I’ve known like this.

Years ago, Nora worked in the produce department at Larry’s Market in Seattle.  She was from Paris, originally, but studying to be a dentist in the USA.  Every year she would go to Alaska in the summer and work on the teeth of Eskimoes.  “When I get on the plane, and see them lined up along the runway,  all SMILING (Eskimoes rarely smile) with their beautiful teeth,  I am thrilled.”  You see?  Same sort of thing.

Blair had the operation done at Madre Fortunata Casa de Cura, a chic private hospital in Bologna.  I translate it as Lucky Mama’s House of Healing – more or less.  It is still a fraction of the cost of a US hospital (I got pre-authorization from our health coverage), but lots more than the public hospitals in Italy.  I have told the ambulance people in Rocca Malatina  THAT is where to take me if the occasion arises.   The hospital is staffed by nuns, old and young.  Woven Frette linens, with the hospital logo, cover the beds.  A crucifix over the door.    I was encouraged to stay with Blair in his room and there was a bed for me.    They asked what I wanted for dinner, and were disappointed when I said I wouldn’t be dining in.  Harika might have stayed, too, but that wasn’t certain.   We drove home.

I think a lot about loving what I do.  It was always a big problem when I had a “real” job.  My boss never wanted me to enjoy myself.  When they finally succeeded in making me hate my work, I’d have to quit. 

 I got new block printing tools while in the USA, and spent a joyous afternoon carving a plate of Monte Cimone.  Except its backwards.