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Dear Friends:
What an uplifting Dealers’ Meeting we had this past weekend! Members of The Moss Portfolio staff and I hosted our annual winter Dealers’ Meeting at my home in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Florida atmosphere was perfect for our meeting, and the dealers were so relaxed and ready to share their ideas, opinions, and experience with us and with one another. I’m looking forward to another successful meeting with our dealers the weekend of August 7-9 in Waynesboro, Virginia.
Jake Henderson, President of The Moss Portfolio, (seated with his back to the camera) led a discussion on new product ideas and marketing strategies.
The Moss Portfolio’s President Jake Henderson announced that our new porcelain ornament for this year will be based on the print Winter Together, which has been very popular.
The Winter Together porcelain ornament will be released later this year and will retail at $40.00.
We also talked about the possibility of doing a teapot and a decorative bowl. We would love to hear your thoughts on those ideas, so please e-mail us at mossportfolio@pbuckleymoss.com.
I showed the dealers many new paintings I’ve been working on, and I was very happy to see how enthusiastic they were about them. The dealers’ enthusiasm and positive energy were so contagious that I’ve been working ever since.
Pictured with me is one of our newest dealers Laurie Ryman, owner of Willow Vale Gallery in Luray, VA. She has a great spirit and great ideas. I’m so glad that as a newcomer she wasn’t shy about sharing with us.
One of the pieces I showed them was a remarque I did on a Carlisle Barracks giclée. I added the statue of Frederick the Great that stands on the old parade grounds at Carlisle Barracks. Jeff Van Boskirk, owner of 2nd Floor Gallery in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, has asked me to provide a few more remarques on Carlisle Barracks to have at his gallery, particularly a few bride and groom remarques, as lots of weddings are held in the gazebo there. Remarques are fun for me, because they give me a chance to go further with an existing painting. When I create a painting, I have to declare it finished at some point; but, I’m always wondering, “What if I do this with it; what if I add that?” Remarques give me the opportunity to revisit my paintings and see what more I can do with them.
This is the Carlisle Barracks giclée that I remarqued with the statue of Frederick the Great, visible on the far left of the giclée. R. to L.: Jake Henderson; me; and Jeff Van Boskirk, owner of 2nd Floor Gallery in Mechanicsburg, PA.
I learn so much because of my art. For example, that Frederick the Great statue has quite a history. Frederick the Great was also known as Frederick II, King of Prussia from 1740-1786. The statue at Carlisle Barracks is a replica of a marble figure in Berlin, Germany, and it was presented to President Theodore Roosevelt by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1904 as a personal gift. You may remember from history class that Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German emperor and King of Prussia, is blamed for starting World War I. The statue was originally erected on the terrace of the War College building at Washington Barracks, DC (now Fort McNair). During World War I the statue was removed from public view in response to critical Congressional and public comments and threats to destroy it. It was returned to its pedestal in 1927, only to be removed once again during World War II and placed in storage, where it remained until March 30, 1954, when it was re-erected at Carlisle Barracks, the new home of the U.S. Army War College. This history was sent to me by Ronald E. Ouellette, who taught for a period of time at the War College and recently visited the Finn Gallery here in St. Petersburg.
We also discussed framing during the Dealers’ Meeting. We are blessed to have so many gifted, conscientious framers among our dealers who are very careful to frame art the proper way that will ensure its value and condition. For me, framing finishes a piece, and to finish it properly is so important.
Before the Dealers’ Meeting last weekend, Tim Finn, owner of the Finn Gallery, and I were the guest speakers at another Rotary Club meeting. This time it was in Sarasota, Florida, at a yacht club. There was such a wonderful view of the water that I could hardly keep my mind on the meeting. Tim and I once again explained the fundraising opportunities available to Rotary Clubs using my new print Peace Through Rotary Service. Ten percent of the proceeds from each print sold will benefit Rotary International. I’ve also created a special poster for the organization. I’m proud to be an Honorary Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary.
My daughter Patty had come down a couple days early for the Dealers’ Meeting, and she went with Tim and me to the Sarasota Rotary meeting. We all had a wonderful time talking to people and making new friends. The Sarasota Rotarians are a wonderful group of people who care about the lives and well being of others. I talked to several who work with learning different children. There were even a few people who are familiar with Bocas del Toro, Panama, where I still own a house. We had a great time talking about people and places we know down there.
Whenever I talk to a group like that, I realize how charmed my life has been. I have had so many opportunities to go places and meet people and experience so much that life has to offer. I feel so fortunate to be a “worker.”
I’m very excited to have my first gallery show of the year coming up soon. I’ll be with my friend Shirley Medlin, owner of Medlin Art, Ltd., in Leesburg, Virginia, March 6-7. We’ll release a new giclée on paper during the show titled Loudoun Countryside.
This giclée on paper, titled Loudoun Countryside, will be released during my show at Medlin Art, Ltd., in Leesburg, VA, March 6-7. It will retail at $85.00. For more information, please contact the gallery at 703-771-8696.
’Til next week…
Love,
Pat
My granddaughter Sarah Donnelly goes on and on and on, along with her basketball team, the Radford High School Bobcats. This past Friday night the Bobcats beat Floyd County (Virginia), the #1 Single A school in the state, to win the Three Rivers District Tournament. Sarah is near the center of the picture, wearing jersey #14.
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2009