Paint Fox, Laurie,
Blair's wife, painted this last week or so, I've been gone painting for the last 17 days.



After so many trips back and forth US-Paris, I have nearly overcome jet lag.  When it gets dark out, wherever I happen to be over the Atlantic, I don my earplugs and eyeshades and nod off.

The arrival in Paris always peaks my imagination, and I can't wait to smell the air of the city where I live.  The chestnuts held off blooming until our arrival on 3 May.  The bright pink and brilliant white flowers are in full blossom at the moment.

We sold a record number of paintings in High Point, North Carolina, and a few more in New York.   Blair and I manned the "annex" of the showroom where we sell our paintings -- an extra bit of storefront was offered by the building management.  We reaped a concentrated dose of America in the form of its strongest asset:  the people.

The showroom opened at eight and stayed open until nearly that hour in the evening.  People buying for stores, galleries and interior design offices wandered in.  Having endured the haughty "sniff" of waiters and gallery owners in France, nobody in America can scare me.  This was playing "store", with great rewards.

The people from the showroom brought me flowers to paint.  I found a photo from the 1940s and painted it, too.  Sitting at the desk, or sometimes in a chair on the sidewalk, I painted as the world looked on.  A woman who writes children's books, Tinky the Yorkshire terrier, a family of Filipinos all enter and say "hello".  The sense of enterprise here thrills me, as "Lil' Bit", the pig, strolls by in a blue polka dot coat.

A man who works with the showroom tells me about photographs he's been taking while "on the road".  He passes a field and shoots film of cowboys tailing cattle in a cloud of dust.  Ascertaining my religion, a woman offers me a novena card, guaranteed to "work" -- I'll be careful what I pray for.   Sellers and buyers from all over the United States come into the annex and tell me what matters.  It reassures me that I am not losing the frame of reference that defines my generation in America. The details evaporate into the chestnut-scented air of Paris.

I bought three sets of paints while in America, where the prices are unbeatable.  Later this month, I will begin offering art lessons to American tourists visiting Paris.  It will supplement our art income, as well as satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit.

The train roars through Thomasville and High Point at regular intervals, hauling furniture and textiles, motorcars and coal.  I can feel the commerce shudder beneath my feet, as I pack another painting into appreciative hands.

Laurie (painting and text) and Blair PESSEMIER
"After work"  acrylic on canvas  10.5 x 15 inches
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