(Admin. I post for Lauri and Blair)

“I always use complete sentences when I write on the Internet,” my brother in law announced.  I cringed to think of certain emails I have sent lately:  an exercise in fragments and dashes. What formerly turned me off about “how are you’s” and “how was your weekend”, I now recognize as a vestige of politesse.

It wasn’t without thought that I gave up those small phrases.  The pressure to get to the point, and not waste someone’s time seemed like the right thing for the late nineties and early aughts.   But in 2009, there is once again time for pleasantries.

Blair and I participated in the Madison Art Society’s painting sale for the library yesterday. We had a booth beneath a yellow striped tent in historic Madison, Connecticut.   We didn’t know we could be part of the sale, or the group, until Thursday, so our preparation was hasty.

We needed something to hang our paintings on.  We searched the bowels of the abandoned building we live in (it isn’t exactly abandoned, but it is shut down because the renovation work on the retail space, 7,000 square feet, was done without permit.  There is no end in sight to its dilapidation).  It is a behemoth of a space full of displays for selling carpet and tile – but none quite right for paintings.

We made a trip to the Home Depot, to review their inventory.  A four-by-eight sheet of pegboard, not the most romantic of materials, was twenty dollars.  Three sheets, plus trims seemed like more than we should spend on a small town art show.  Besides, it wouldn’t fit in the car.

It has been up to Blair to get our booth together for the show.  “What about those doors?” he asked.  I said I thought they weighed a ton.  “At least they won’t blow over.” Blair wired together, at the hinges, a tri-petal flower of old doors, replete with fine brass finger latches.  Miraculously, they fit into the car, along with the paintings. We arrived at the tent at 7 AM on Saturday.  “Nice doors,” was our first compliment of the day.

I forget what a relief it is to be with a group of artists. We’re a little standoffish at first, looking at one another’s work, but by 11 AM, we all get on like a house afire.  It’s been a real strain to feel at home in Connecticut, but this has taken me a long way. On top of it all, Blair sold a painting!

Recently, Blair received a note from a classmate who now lives not far away, in Connecticut,  suggesting perhaps they could “twitter”.  While I appreciate Facebook and a look into my friends' lives, there's nothing like the real thing.  As I look into the eyes of a fellow artist as she asks, “how did you get to be able to paint so freely?” I smile wildly in my heart.

Laurie (text) and Blair (painting) PESSEMIER
Repose   MBP  Oil on canvas  24 x 36  $475.00