Artnotes: The Next Trip

 

Morning Walk Roccamalatina  Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas   12 x 16"    30 x 40 cm   395.00

There are no greater or lesser civilizations but a succession of flowerings.  Every nation has its day.  Claudio Magris, Danube Where do I start?  I guess at the end.  We drove back from the Munich area early this week, in a sea of traffic:  cars from Germany, Austriam and Netherlands headed south for sunshine.   We left Bavaria a couple of days early, because more rain was predicted.  It’s positively glorious here in the Apennines of Modena, and I’ve painted outdoors and replenished my vitamin D.  Murnau Schloss  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  20 x 16"  50 x 40  490.00 You know you are in the right place, at least for the moment, when you can’t wait to return from vacation.  Seeing the house (my dead plants), opening the door, and turning on the tap all seemed divine.   My old clothes don’t seem quite so dowdy, and looking in the freezer makes me happy.  I’ll be making jam soon.   I have ever so many more spices here and made katsudon for lunch (had to fake the dashi). Bee Keeping  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  24 x 18"  61 x 46cm   550.00 Two books I’d been waiting for arrived while I was away.  I am reading about the Danube and already planning a new foray there in 2026.  Can I rent a boat on the Danube?    Roses (15 x 11) and Fan (8.5 x 11)  Laurie Fox Pessemier   120 each 200 pair I cut off a great number of depressing news sites from my social media.  There’s something about visiting a place with such a long history as Bavaria (we covered the Bronze Age to the present) that makes one realize that although there are tremendous difficulties along the way, there can be better times ahead. Flowers from the Walk    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/newspaper   24 x 16"  . 61 x 46cm    210.00 And who would have though Germany could have been so interesting?  I picked it mostly because it wouldn’t be too hot.  A friend was supposed to join us and didn’t, so we each had studio space.   I love the museums in Munich and the city itself.  Rococo churches and deep woods, fresh water lakes and beer gardens kept us all busy, including  Berlino who also liked his fenced yard.  Rococo!!! On the way home, we stopped at a museum in Buchheim and visited the Max Pechstein show – he was a die Brucke painter, an expressionist of the same era as our Blue Rider Group.   He will figure into the story of our trip, to be published some time in the fall (at least digitally).   We managed to produce about a dozen or so good paintings over the month, and I did a few dozen works on paper.   Travel is such an eye opener.   I can’t wait for the next trip. 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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Artnotes: Another Week

 

Magnolia    Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas  12 x 12"  30 x 30 cm   390.00

There is nothing like a change of venue to change one’s point of view.  I realize from this Munich trip how unique our own life is.  I am staying in a neighborhood, quite nice architecture, rich, lake nearby, but without a shred of life. “Joie de vie” seems a million miles away.   I feel like I’m at my late mother-in-laws retirement home, where I always wanted to run out into the courtyard and scream “go WILD”.   I am not complaining, just surprised. George     Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  12 x 12"  30 x 30cm    490.00 Vacation for me has always been a different than booking a trip and checking off monuments.  One year my resolution was “to live life so I never have to take a vacation”.  Vacation has crept back into my life, but instead as an experience that helps me see anew. “There is nothing to see here right now,” the clerk told us at the ticket counter of the museum in Buchheim.  It sounded like a lie, based on the people milling around the gift shop, but maybe they were just shopping.  So Blair and I slogged through the rain back to the car, where Berlino lay snoozing.  We decided to drive on to Gabriele Munter’s house in Murnau. Gladioli Laurie Fox  Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 20 x 12"  50 x 30   490.00 Gabriele Munter was a key woman artist in the Blue Rider movement, and the partner of Kandinsky for several years.  Hers was like a grandma’s house, white with blue shutters -- I would estimate 1500 square feet, on three floors.  But what floors!  Kandinsky painted the stairway and together with Munter, painted much of the furniture.  It is the antithesis of what we think sophisticated.  There were paintings by the two scattered around the house, where we ambled about with a good size crowd.   One could look out the window and see the scene which was painted in the frame nearby.  It was wonderful. Glad   Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  20 x 8"   50 x 20cm  490.00 We’re visiting many museums and odd sorts of places, picking gladioli at the u-pick lot.  Today, we decided to go the flea market in Munich.  I had my doubts (Munich is not known for its flea market, the guidebook reads), but to my astonishment, THIS was where the JOIE DE VIVRE was hiding!  All the things one ever wanted were spread out “unter der Linden” – dappled light illuminating rugs and old records, hand made clothing and toys (Berlino got a stuffed bear).   There were people and dogs of all colors.   It brought tears to my eyes and made me think, maybe we’ll stay another week. Trees by the Lake on Vintage Paper Laurie Pessemier Ink/paper  8.5  x 11" 21 x 29cm  120.00 each. HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier. Follow us on Instagram @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. sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes

Artnotes: "What do you want to do?"

 

White Horse Yellow Field  Laurie Pessemier  acrylic/canvas panel  20 x 16"  50 x 40 cm   .490.00

Well, here we are outside of Munich, in Kranzberg, Germany.  We have launched our Blaue Reiter campaign, painting, and visiting our first museum this week.  It is not quite as easy as I imagined, but we have a month to work on it.   Although we thought there would be many English speakers here, there are not, and that lack of communication presents some challenges for me.  Instead of buying at the meat counter, I am selecting packaged foods.  I am amazed at the translation capabilities of my telephone, but it adds another veil to really getting to know a local. I pick up a word here and there. Bee House  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel 16 x 20"  40 x 50cm    490.00 We have painted every day so far.  I am trying to espouse the German Expressionist qualities of painting.  It isn’t exactly a style, but an attitude to put one’s Expression (with a capital E!) right out there.  Materialism be damned, spirituality reigns – paint what your muse dictates.  I am not painting from photos, and if I use them it is only as a guideline.  Hostas in a Beer Glass  Laurie Fox  Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 13 x 8 "  33 x 20   390.00 A friend of mine describes her art struggles like “laying an egg”, and I am feeling that very strain.  I think, in a way this is good, because that struggle strips away the usual way of doing things, and I express myself more fully. Madonna (many religious statues here*)   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  16 x 11"   40 x 27  290.00 There is a little lake not far from our house, where we have been swimming a lot (it’s hot here, too, but less).  Being in the water makes me really happy.  There’s a beer garden on the lake, where the very first day we had a sandwich of herring, onion and a pickle on a hard roll.   The beermeister is very cheery and the fish guy is from Pakistan.   I love it there, amidst throngs of happy German families.   I have been surprised to find out men wear leather shorts, even in the summer, in a natural way.  Today, at the neighboring town of Freising, I noticed leather shorts worn with the saggy bottom effect associated with jeans. Milking Stool   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  13 x 13"  33 x 33cm  390.00 I managed to paint a white horse in a yellow field today   I am so used to using pens and watery acrylic paint on paper, it’s hard to get back into the painting on canvas groove. We are in a very unusual house, with good bones and plenty of room, but with a combination of post WWII and Millenial influences.  Silver plated egg cups in an imitation-Ikea cabinet. Grape Arbor outside my Bedroom   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  12 x 12"  30 x 30cm   390.00 When I write about our trip, I love that it is so multi-dimensional.  I know  I am just supposed to write about fabulous this and that, and those moments are there (I am almost the only person I know who hates a resort vacation).  Mostly, I like  that even through I’m afraid to go to the meat counter, we get to the checkout and Blair’s left his wallet at home – the clerk, who fortunately speaks some English says “what do you want to to do? Dogs and Saint on Vintage Paper Laurie Pessemier Acrylic/paper  8.5  x 11" 21 x 29cm  120.00 each. *  there are so many tiny baroque chapels here, we are making a secondary little study of those.  I know nothing about why they exist, but provide terrific little follies to stop and admire HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including Portraits by Blair Pessemier. Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier If you’d like to visit/take a painting workshop: https://www.pessemierworkshops.com See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed, within the USA. sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes