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Dear Friends,

Greetings from St. Petersburg, Florida! I love the light in my Florida studio, and I’ve been working on the large Iowa Convention painting down here. Here is what it looks like now, and next week I plan to show you the finished version.


Work in progress: the large Iowa Convention painting.

I have also been working on two paintings for the July Barn Show. They are both historic mills in Raphine, Virginia. One is McCormick’s Mill and the other is Wade’s Mill. McCormick’s Mill was built prior to 1800 by the grandfather of Cyrus McCormick. Cyrus McCormick, we are taught in history books, invented the first successful reaper and founded the harvesting machine industry. Wade’s Mill was built around 1750 in the days when the area between Staunton and Lexington was the frontier of the United States. I’ll show you the finished paintings next week.


Wade's Mill is one of two historic mills Pat is painting for the Barn Show in July.


The other mill Pat is painting is McCormick's Mill.

I celebrated my birthday with my brother Dan Buckley and his wife Carol. They recently sold their house in Pennsylvania and are thinking about moving to Florida.

We had a special treat when Mary Margaret Winning, one of the owners of a local, famous dog track, invited my friend Joyce Wilson and us to dinner and an evening at the track. Derby Lane in St. Petersburg has the distinction of being the oldest, continuously running dog track in the world.

Mary Margaret told me a little bit about the greyhounds while we were there. Originally from Ireland, greyhounds were brought to the United States to help Kansan farmers chase away the jackrabbits that were devouring their crops. It was inevitable that rivalry would spring up among the farmers, “I bet my dog is faster than your dog.” That is how greyhound racing in the United States came to be.


Pat enjoys dinner and racing at Derby Lane dog track in St. Petersburg with friends and family.

Greyhounds are beautifully graceful and have a sweet disposition. They are special animals with more to offer than just speed. Anyone who is fortunate enough to have one as a companion animal is lucky indeed.

Today I am packing to return to Virginia, so I can then pack to go to Italy. I am very much looking forward to this trip, which I am taking with my oldest granddaughter Kate. You may remember Kate from last week’s newsletter, when I saw her off to her first prom.

When I return from Italy, I will be traveling to Roanoke College on June 23th to receive the Margaret Sue Copenhaver Contribution to Education Award on behalf of the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education. I feel most honored to be accepting this award, which recognizes outstanding commitment and work in the field of education. The Foundation is being recognized for its work in promoting the integration of the arts into all educational programs, with a special focus on programs for children who learn differently. For more information about the Copenhaver Institute at Roanoke College, please visit its website.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Please keep our troops in your thoughts. It is for them and the ones before them that we have this day.

Love,
Pat

 


The Moss Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2004

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