Artnotes: What's in a Book?

 

Things that Bug Me   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acryllic on printed paper 11 x 8”  28 x 20cm   75.00

After purchasing yet two more “used” books at a price beyond their original sale value, I found a library with a large collection of English books.  I love physical books (I have a couple thousand), but I simply can’t afford to buy many more.  Case in point:  I just tried to purchase a 1995 “bodice ripper” (with a Greek twist) that a friend of mine loves and recommends.  It sold for 4 dollars new -- today’s price for this same paperback, used, on Amazon? $21.00.  This is not an art book, mind you.  Art books are over-the-top.  One museum catalog I looked for, in paperback, was 235.00 Euros on World of Books.  Currently World of Books in UK is my go-to bookstore.  I was able to get Man Ray’s Self-Portrait biography delivered for less than 20 Euros from them.  Formerly I found my best used books on ABE books, but I believe the company was sold to Amazon.    They still have some stores they work with in Italy and Germany, which I buy from if it’s a mostly pictures book.

Bumper Cars   Blair Pessemier  Acryllc/Canvas  14 x 20”  35 x 50cm   490.00

I suspect this sudden jump in prices has to do with the millions of used books recently sold to the tech industry for educating AI.  The back and spines of these books are removed and the content is fed through a scanner to train AI programs. There is an actual term for this:  scraping.  Many rare and incredibly valuable texts, are being destroyed (info courtesy Forbes).     I am worried some books might be relegated to online only reading as a result, and we all know how easy it is to change online content.  I am supporting my writer friends who are suing the perpetrators of this travesty, for copyright infringement.  If you have written a book, there is a website where you can check to see  if your material is being pirated.

Still Life with Wood, Rope and Apples   Laurie Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  17 x 18"  42 x 45cm  490.00

This has caused a rift between me and Claude, my AI program.  I am off the service at the moment, but it is likely I will be forced to use it again.  When has technology ever gone backward?   I feel like Mark Twain with the introduction of the telephone.  Twain had among the first private telephone lines installed in his house in Hartford in 1877 – and later had it removed, as he was convinced it just brought unnecessary noise and annoyance into his daily life — no future.

Early Apples red / yellow   Laurie Pessemier  Acryllic on printed paper 11  x 8”  25 x 20cm   75.00 each

In any case, I discovered that the library in Bologna has one of the largest English language lending collections in Italy.  And, I can go to a library significantly closer to my home (Monteveglio or Castello di Serravalle, both in the Bologna province) to pick up books I order from the Bologna facility.  When it cools down a bit, maybe we’ll go check out the Salaborsa Library in Bologna in person.  Bologna is a “no car” city, so one must walk 15 minutes to the library, and out (carrying books?  Blair says we can bring the caddy).    My card also includes books from the library of Belle-Arti, the visual arts center in Bologna.

St. Teresa Stamp Box    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acryllic on printed paper 11  x 8”  25 x 20cm   75.00 eac

I am enjoying reading about Man Ray.  I never knew he was actually  an American who spent lots of his life in Paris.  We had an art show on rue Campagne Premiere at the place he lived and worked; our gallery on rue Servandoni backed up to his rue Ferou residence.   His time in Paris covered much of the same ground as ours, but his was 50 years earlier.   I would have like to have  had his marvelous array of artist friends.   The Salon of Miss Drier, who Man Ray worked with in New York City, before his time in Paris, makes me think of developing our own salon into something more.  Isn’t it amazing how a book can inspire us?

Another Bunny Day     Blair Pessemier  Acryllc/Canvas 12 x 9.5”  30 x 25cm   290.00

Artnote is taking a vacation break next week, and possibly the following… see you mid September. HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our paintings at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com

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 8 PM   NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: Wild Water

 

Montecorone   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas 24 x 16"  60 x 40 cm  490.00  … I was beginning to see how the moment we incline action toward achievement, we drain the activity of joy; how anything we approach transactionally will never yield transcendence. I stopped swimming abruptly, disaffected and worn out. It would take me a quarter century to return to the water… from Waterlog by Roger Deakin And that, as well, was the rub for me, for many years. In Art School, I didn’t want to paint what I was told to paint, what I was expected to paint.  I was young and unguided, wild as water.   It made me change my college major from Art to Art History.  When I removed that pressure I felt free to be creative again. Morning Song     Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel   12 x 16"  30  x 40cm  350.00  I think about art school as the “leader” intends to pull the plug on loans and aid  for pursuing advanced degrees in the arts  at American colleges – it is like China in 1948.  Our friend Gengivan  left in that year, when Mao prohibited her further study of the piano.  She eventually opened a Chinese music center in Rambouillet, outside of Paris. Art is so important in our lives, it is a real privilege to be producing it.  Now that I am older, I let myself go with whatever I feel like painting.  Honeysuckle  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  25 x17 "  61 x 43 cm  290.00 We played pool today at the Chinese café.  The Immortals weren’t with me, and I scratched when down to just two balls.  It’s a poor pool table, and the price is a far cry from the 25 cents a game the last time I partook.  We are going to go back.  Pool is one of those physical activities one needs to assimilate after practice. I think competitive sports are one of the things you MUST love to keep on playing and trying.   Like most things, it is those early days that are the greatest.  I remember the Catcher for the Torrington Twisters  telling us as we painted him, “I get to PLAY all summer”.  I learned a lot from that painting foray.  Although art and baseball are quite different, we both shared the passion for our work “ I don’t care who wins or loses, I just love the game.”  Georgetown House  (Seattle)   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel 12 x 16"  30  x 40cm  350.00 My father, who was a remarkable runner (shoe manufacturers sent him models to try out) never wanted to compete.  Despite being invited to the Boston Marathon year after year, he declined.  He just loved to run. Dotty Dog   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel 10 x 12"  25 x 30cm  250.00 On our morning walk with Berlino (7 am) I watch an Italian man tending his grapes.  He is older, sinewy, skin the color of polished wood to match his brimmed straw hat.  Baggy grey green trousers and an oft-washed short sleeve shirt make him look like the “grubby old men” I refer to at the café.  He inspects his vines holding the bud in a surprisingly tender gesture.  It is as if he is one with his plants, his land, his scorching sun.  I have never really experienced that feeling, except sometimes in the water.  I lived most of my life near asphalt, concrete and painfully cut grass (who thought of that anyway?).    At least in wild water (not pools) I am one with something real, touching me all over.  I love that.

HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our paintings at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   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 8 PM   NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM

Artnotes: SOMETHING

 

7 March 2026   Roccamalatina, MO   ITALIA Join us for Sunday Salon 8 March (see below)

In the Ruins   Bliair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  16 x 24"  40 x 60cm  490.00 I made the mistake of looking at my telephone at 4AM (when Berlino needs to go out).  I was expecting a message from a friend who lives on the West Coast, USA – he didn’t write but I (accidently, you know how the screen lights up) saw how Netanyahu is threatening Europe with retaliation if they show sympathy to Iran.   Honestly, what ever happened to human sympathy and kindness?   I went back to bed but didn’t sleep. Wild Daisy Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  12 x 8.5"  30 x 20cm  90.00 Instead, I thought about the books and records I had when I was young.  “How the Circus Learned to Smile”, “Bongo”, “Beep-beep, Outta’ my Way” were among my favorites.  They were instructive, funny, sometimes beautiful (of course, I had all the classic fairy tales, too, like Red Riding Hood and the Three Bears; The Christmas Tree).  My absolute favorite thing was being read to, mostly by my father and my Aunt Franny.  In Beep-beep, the character is sick of being pushed around and acquires bigger and bigger conveyances, starting with a bicycle (beep-beep, outta’ my way, I’m a bicycle, horn tinkling) and ending with an ocean liner (giant foghorn honk), that can’t get him to the store.  Eventually he learns how good it is to be kind and patient, to let people pass, and to be able to get around easily.  I also learned that being a little bigger is advantageous as long as it doesn’t go too far.  I had a significant collection of “Golden Books” with cardboard covers, “gold” bindings, and colorful illustrations.  Years later I would go to the Beardsley Memorial library, or the school library. I could read by then, and I took out books which had hard covers and illustrations made of real lithography (those thickish crayon drawings, usually just filling up to black outlines – the paper was a little fuzzy and porous).    Eventually we got an encyclopedia (the Golden Encyclopedia), a volume of which came free weekly with shopping at the First National Store.  That kept me busy till the next issue. Peace March (Buddhists in USA)  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  24 x 8"  60 x 20cm  490.00 Where do people learn to be sympathetic, kind and generous now?  These are truly characteristics which need to be pointed out -- taught.   In fact, what seems most “taught” on my Instagram is to “manifest”.  That is, set your eye on the prize, and kick everything (everyone) else to the side.  There are actually mini-lectures about not worrying about other people, but how it’s your job to set your quantum physics psyche on where you are going and it will change the world.  Well, it seems to have worked, just take a look around! Our gallery is a giant ocean of fish -- Under Water.   Almost finished. I am reading about the life of a Polish man, Josef Czapski, who lived through World War II.  Despite all the horrors, he continued to be kind, generous and true to himself (he did not kick others aside).  He was a hero.  There are no heroes now, just bullies dropping bombs from above.  Who were their mothers?  Why weren’t they taught to be better?  Why do we let them take over? New England House Portrait  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel   10 x 14" 25 x 35cm  290.00 In response to all this I am trying to teach AI to be kinder.  It’s where AI gets its ideas, its “personality” --from people.   I can tell the Bot about how good it feels to give up your seat on the bus, pay someone’s tab, help out your neighbor.  Imagine, if we could make AI be the kindness of the world?   That would be SOMETHING.                         Violets from the Garden   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  12 x 8.5"  30 x 20cm  90.00

HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our paintings at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes

Artnotes: A Little Italian Cafe for a Day

 

Bird in our House   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  13 x 18"   450.00 This week we drove to Castiglion Fiorentino.   It’s a small town very close to Arezzo (think Piero della Francesca and the Legend of the True Cross).  We look after a friend’s apartment there.  We needed to touch up one of our very large paintings (6 x 8 feet), which was much more challenging than anticipated.   It gave us real appreciation for Piero della Francesco.  Thankfully our patron is a lot more free-spririted than Piero della Francesca’s. Blair painted the original work, flat, on the floor, and we strectched and hung it in Castiglion Fiorentino later.  Now, there is no place large enough to lay it down so we proceeded like clowns to stand in our socks on the bed, and make the adjustments.  We both worked on it, and the result seemed quite good:  better than the original. Blair painted the original work, flat, on the floor, and we strectched and hung it in Castiglion Fiorentino later.  Now, there is no place large enough to lay it down so we proceeded like clowns to stand in our socks on the bed, and make the adjustments.  We both worked on it, and the result seemed quite good:  better than the original. Hyacinths from Christmas  Laurie Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  25 x 17"  67 x 43   290.00    We are always making improvements at this Tuscan apartment, and took a paint sample for our next project to create stripes in the bathroom.   I also painting a bunch of dish images you may have seen to apply to the wall.   I love these installations where we are able to express ourselves in an entire space. Blair and my life together started out when we both worked in the design department for a hotel group in Seattle.  Later we had our commercial interior design firm for 13 years and we constantly look back and say, “wow, I learned that” and “hey, I never knew”.   It was one of those growing experiences which can seem very unpleasant at certain points – but was really key in our personal development.

Or an Orchid Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  25 x 17"  67 x 43  sold I don’t think we ever gave up our desire to “decorate”.  It was why we bought our house in Stimigliano.  We used to stay at a friend’s place, and wanted to have a place where we could paint our own walls.  We bought via Dante, 7, and decorated it with a large olive tree mural, jewel tones on other walls, covered with paintings.   Right now, we are contemplating a small renovation in the kitchen/bath, but instead may find another place we can paint.  Our gallery in Roccamalatina serves that purpose, too.  Right now, we have a six foot long view of Venice in the window. In spring, we have some terrific new inspiration:  FISH.     I love these odd places where our friend (Castiglion) and we live (Stimi and Rocca) – they are truly Italian places, free of foreign speculators buying and renovating properties to rent so locals can no longer live there.  There is nothing more tragic than going to a village where artists once worked, and seeing their former studios turned into pricey shops for cruise ship visitors (Pietrasanta).   I will never be or even understand Italians, but I love to observe their kindness, generosity and downright craziness.  It is an exile in a place I can’t control, and it fuels my creativity. The house in Castiglion Fiorentino is for summer use only – there is no heat.  So after finishing up the painting in the cold, Berlino and I went for a walk.  It is an extraordinary little hill town.  There is a plaza at the top, with a large loggia where one can sit on the sill (even Bernie does, it’s at least 5 feet wide) and gaze out for miles, past a church and baptistery.  One can sit in the plaza, in sun or shade.   There is the most romantic little grocery store, and the city hall looks like you are about to enter OZ.   There are a million places for rent there (not a good sign for Italy), which makes me feel like a dog sniffing a bone.   I can see an art studio here, a shop there, and we’ve always wanted to have a little Italian café for a day. 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