Artnotes: Two Second Flutter

 

25 January 2026   Roccamalatina, MO   ITALIA Join us for Sunday Salon  25 January (see below) Po Delta  Spoonbills  Laure Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  11 x 6.5  16 x 28 cm 150.00 Berlino had a great week – his fun and accomplishments outshine ours.    He caught and released a shrew after carrying it down the path.  He’s a bird dog, careful not to ruffle the feathers, and the shrew appeared to be healthy and unharmed.  Not so untouched was I, who tried to pry it out of his jaws (will it hurt me?) before my nonchalant dog just dropped it. I lost my hat and my headlight in a puddle.  He’s learned to pee in the water gulley by by suspending himself between the path (back legs) to the hill (front legs):  lots of area covered with this technique. Eurasian Nuthatch   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  7.5 x 10”   19 x 25cm  90.00 I record bird calls on the walk:  8 that day. Not so bad considering the fog and light rain.  I miss the birds when they are not present.  It is not unusual to hear 20 different songs in as many minutes in the spring and summer.   Merlin (Cornell’s bird app, courtesy my friend Jennifer) said there were 171 likely birds in the Guiglia area this day.  I was happy with eight and painted pictures of two.   In the larger picture (Emilia Romagna) there are hundreds (390) more birds just an hour or so car drive away, including spoonbills, flamingoes, ibis and osprey who all pass through the Po Delta.  Glossy Ibis Po Valley    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  6.5 x 11”  16 x 28cm   150.00 We entertained for lunch this week:  cauliflower soup, duck breast with a cherry gastrique, and pommes sarladaises.   0 kilometer sourcing:  actually, maybe 20 (how can they ever say 0?).  We have some great food raised in our area.   Our guest made an apple cake (her apples) for dessert.   It wasn’t an Italian menu, but neither are we.  Zero Kilometer (Pike Place Market memory)  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas    18: x 22"  46 x 55   490.00 I am trying hard to make it through all this “indoor” time.  Bernie and I go out to walk in the morning, but frankly, I am tired of being holed up in the house for much of the day.  I read poems about being indoors looking out the window.  Poet John O’Donohue from Ireland is good for that one – I am anticipating reading his books that I just found today.   Crab  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas    9.5: x 13"  24 x 33  390.00 There is a silver lining to the shut-in-ness.  Yesterday, I spoke with three friends on the telephone (or zoom). I visited with others during the week; Blair, too    I really need to talk and hear my correspondent cast a light on what is being said.   They tell me how they deal with the horrors of the world; what they think is important for food, for beauty; books that open a new perspective;  their totally shocking point of view (and sometimes my own which I hear for the first time).   And during that talk, I feel that same two-second flutter in my chest when I know how much I love them.   It is the feeling I felt when we first connected.  Or maybe, just maybe, today is our connection. Po Delta Migrating bird (Stork or Heron) Laure Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  11 x 6.5  16 x 28 cm 150.00 We drove the short distance to the junk store and bought a Chinese dish, two potholders and a stuffed badger for Berlino for all of 8 euros.  He tears it apart in record time, but that beast beneath the fig tree has been bugging him for a year.  Hmmph. Eurasian Green Woodpecker      Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  7.5 x 10”   19 x 25cm  90.00 HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier or Blair's @poeticfences See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and frames Support our art with a donation at:  https://donate.stripe.com/4gMaEW1XwfT041t1BCcEw00   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: (out of) The Rut

 

19 July 2025   Kranzberg, Bavaria GERMANY NO Sunday Salon until 3 August

On the Walk   Blair Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  9 x 13"  23 x 33 cm   390.00

Everything changed.  The Universe heard my plea for passion and joie de vivre, and VOILA!  It’s been an extraordinary week in the Munich area.  We spent time in the English garden with Berlino – just walking around, seeing other dogs, happy, fun people and eating lunch in the beer garden.  It was an unfolding of the week to come. Happy Dog on Vacation    Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/pencil/vintage paper  12 x 8"  30 x 19.5 cm  90 We saw an extraordinary show at the Franz Marc museum in Kochel am See.  The museum featured the world of the zoo, with terrific pictures by Marc, Macke, Klee, and many others painted between about 1900 and 1925.  Honestly, it was one of the best art exhibits I’ve ever seen – and I will write about it in a separate article later on.  It is a show I have not seen a single review of, and it makes me think maybe I could become the “reviewer of missed shows”, at smaller, off the radar museums in Europe.  We continued on to lunch in another more sophisticated beer garden on the way home – Berlino had the steak and I had one of the many fresh-water fish from nearby lakes. Kranzberg View  Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  9.5 x 13"  24 x 33cm  390.00 Thursday, we spent the morning sketching at the Glyptotek, which houses crazy prince Ludwig’s collection of Greek and Roman sculpture.  We were positively welcomed by a woman who provided us with pencil sharpeners because we couldn’t bring our marker pens into the museum.  I protested our single pencil would become dull and my needs were addressed. From the Glyptotek  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/pencil/vintage paper  12 x 8"  30 x 19.5 cm  90 each That afternoon was the highlight of our week, with a visit to the Bronze museum right here in downtown Kranzberg, where we are staying.  We had the luck to be guided around by the most knowledgeable person.   It turned out that our part of Bavaria was key in the Bronze Age.  “At Bernstorf, a part within the municipality of Kranzberg, a Bronze Age fortification was found in 1904 by local historian Josef Wenzl. It was dated at around 1360 B.C. and is the largest known Bronze Age settlement north of the Alps. Most significant were finds of gold and amber objects which contained writings in Mycenean Greek Linear B.” (wikipedia)    We learned so much about the Bronze age, of which I frankly knew very little.  And that Kranzberg played such a key role in the development of civilization, linking East and West. Yelllow Cow  Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  12 x 12"  30 x 30   490.00 It has been astounding how long it took us to get into this vacation mode.  Now I see the charm of here:  how they leave a little wild flower patch in the yard for the butterflies; two different people at today’s flea market admired my “look”.  This, after I could barely move my mind upon arrival.   Talk about being in a rut!  I feel like a sore tooth pried from a 70 year old jaw.  It’s been a traumatic experience, but now I feel so much better l look forward to the wonderful future ahead. The Flea Market  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 10.5 x 16"  27 x 41cm  490.00 HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier. Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lauriepessemier/ See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed, within the USA. Wild Poppies   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 10.5 x 16"  27 x 41cm  490.00 sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes

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