Dear Friends:
Members of the River Wilderness Art Association in Parrish, Florida,
visited me this Monday. What a delightful group of women!
The River Wilderness Art Association is an art club, and its members
are artists who also go to art and cultural exhibits together.
We met at the Finn Gallery, and then we went over to my house and I
gave them a tour. They asked me wonderful questions, and I so
much enjoyed talking to them. In addition to my watercolors and
prints, I told them about my etching studio in Italy and how my daughter
Becky helps me with them. I’ll be going there in June to
work on etchings for a couple weeks before joining the P.
Buckley Moss Society’s group cruise
on the Mediterranean. We also talked about silk screens, calligraphy,
sculpture—we could have talked all day.
Here I am with members of the River Wilderness Art Association from
Parrish, FL, at my home in St. Petersburg.
I gave the art group a calligraphy demonstration.
On Saturday, I met another wonderful group and gave them
a tour of my house. The NoName Adventure Club is a group of couples
who all live in the Clearwater, Florida, area and meet once a month
for dinner. Every six months, they add an “adventure,”
which is a surprise to all but the two couples who plan it. Their
adventure this time was to meet me. I’m sorry that I don’t
have a picture of them; they were a fun group. Meeting me at the
Finn Gallery in St. Petersburg was the idea of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hutchison,
whom I previously met in Lewisburg, West Virginia, at the debut of playwright
Greg Johnson’s play about my life called Thursday’s
Child. Greg’s wife Libby and Roger are cousins.
It’s a small world!
I’ve settled into painting in my St. Petersburg studio, and I
plan on showing you some pieces soon when they get a little further
along.
As many of you know, I often listen to books on tape while I paint,
or I’ll turn on the TV and listen to the news. The news
we are all hearing is troublesome, and these are stressful days for
us all. With the economic crisis, the current conflict between
Israel and Hamas, and the two war fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan, our
President-elect will be taking on a huge burden when he is inaugurated
next week. The President of the United States must surely have
one of the most difficult, stressful jobs imaginable, and I have often
felt sorry for President Bush as I have considered the impossible decisions
he has had to make since the 9-11 terrorist attack seven years ago.
I am thankful to him and our soldiers for keeping us safe for the past
seven years, for we have suffered no additional attacks on our own soil.
I ask you to join me in praying that God will be with President-elect
Obama and guide him in making the impossible decisions that he will
face as he leads our country and greatly influences the rest of the
world. I pray also that “we the people” will work
together to make this country and the world a better place.
Love,
Pat
Can you guess where this was taken? Granddaughters Sofia (back)
and Michela (front) Ghezzi on a Harley!