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: 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