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