Let's do a photo update, here is my latest photo of me. Let's see one of the both of you on your trip.

Paris didn’t look as I expected at 6 AM on Tuesday morning, touching down at CDG airport.  When I think of Paris in the early morning, I think of pink skies and dusky silhouettes.  It was a fluorescent kind of day.

The ride into town made up for the lack of atmosphere – the chestnuts kept their blossoms on this 4 May.  We passed the statue of the Musketeers, a landmark I recall from our first trip here in 1993.

We hit the ground running, and on the 6 May, nine of us assembled at the Petit Lux.  We drank champagne and Nicole made a special dessert crowned with a sugary plaque which read:  Joyeux Anniversaire.  Blair’s birthday.

I learn things whenever I travel, often from unexpected places.  In Winsted, my three-year-old nephew Henry prepared a death defying show of his inline-skate prowess.  His brother, Marshall (5), rode his bike over a ramp/jump, hurtling through the air and back down onto the driveway.  With superhuman concentration, he negotiated this feat perfectly.   A friend once told me, “When you drive a race car, you just look at what’s directly in front of you.  Shut off your side vision and press the pedal hard.”

Watching the Kentucky Derby later that week, I could see that same focus in the faces of the jockeys:  three minutes of pure concentration.

Our trip took a turn through New York City – the most beautiful I’d ever seen it – positive and light.  On the upper East side, we passed beneath a cherry tree in blossom.  We stood mesmerized below.  I will make new lino-prints of trees in flower.

We drove to North Carolina for the twice-yearly furniture market.  We are always impressed with the magnitude of this furniture expo, furniture being one of America’s last industries.  My mission was to convince manufacturers that Europe is the marketplace of the future – the EU is now 450,000,000 people strong.  I was shrugged off, nicely, despite my collection of facts, figures and undying enthusiasm.

On the other hand, we sold the greatest number of paintings we’ve ever sold at High Point market – and returned with commissions for twenty-one more.  Maybe that is the horse we should be riding.

The trees and flowers in the Luxembourg Gardens have never looked as beautiful to me, as they do this year.  I identify new species and watch the progress of the old.



Laurie (painting and text) and Blair PESSEMIER