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Dear Friends:
How wonderful it was to be back in Waynesville, Ohio, where all the shopkeepers stop in and say "hi" and "thank you for coming." The Chamber of Commerce there does an excellent job of promoting the town and its businesses. Waynesville has a most interesting history of being part of the Underground Railroad. Several of the older houses in the town have secret tunnels and passageways and hidden doors. The Hammel House, the site where the Cobblestone Restaurant now sits, and the Seth Silver Haines House are all believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad. The Waynesville Historical Society has plans to investigate further in the coming year the properties that are said to have secret rooms and tunnels.
After Friday's show with Canada Goose Gallery, we went on a walking ghost tour of the town. It was a beautiful night with the leaves flying around us in the wind. Our tour guides were very good, and their love of Waynesville really showed in their desire to have us learn so much. One of the houses on the tour was the Seth Silver Haines House. The Haines were a Quaker family and therefore sympathetic to the slavery issue. There is still evidence of the tunnel in a closed off room in the basement. Slaves who had escaped the South would come up the Little Miami River to a tunnel opening which led up the hill to the Miami House and then on to the Haines' residence. Mr. Haines used the tower in the house to watch for the fleeing slaves.
Two other attractions on the ghost tour were the Hicksite Friends Meeting House, or "White Brick", and the Orthodox Friends Meeting House, or "Red Brick". The two churches are on opposite sides of the same street, and the Quaker Cemetery is on the site of the Red Brick property. These two churches have an interesting history. "White Brick" was built in 1807, but in 1836 the congregation split because of differences in opinion over the way they thought the church should continue. "Red Brick" was built by a portion of the congregation as a result of the split. I've included "White Brick" in a couple of my prints-The Canada Goose and Anniversary come to mind-and I want to do a painting of the two churches together next. Although the congregation split, the two churches remained friendly and cooperative with one another like two houses of the same family.
Friends who went on the tour with me had taken pictures of some of the haunted attractions in the past and brought the pictures to show me. Orbs were visible in the pictures! What a way to spend Halloween!
Not part of the ghost tour but a treasure just the same! This is the home of Cindy and Lt. Col. Ken Knotts in Xenia, Oh. When Laura DeRamus and Kathy Heims, owners of the Canada Goose, picked me up from the airport Thursday afternoon, we drove over to Xenia and visited Cindy and toured her home. Cindy is a member of the Trees of Life Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society, and she has agreed to create a quilted wall hanging around one of my hand-painted fabric centerpieces for a future fundraiser for the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education. The house is such a great pleasure to be in. When I first saw it, I said, "Wow! What a beautiful house!" It was built in 1853 by the Gordon Brothers and was the residence of William Ruthrauff when he invented Pepsodent toothpaste. I especially loved the windows that were built like doors so the air can circulate throughout the house. One of my former homes, on Snell Island, Fl., had windows like that.
Members of the Trees of Life Chapter at the Knotts' House. I'm standing near the middle with the black sweater.One of the joys of the weekend show was Canada Goose Gallery's new location near the corner of Main and Miami Streets. It's a wonderful spot! Laura and Kathy have set it up beautifully. They have such an eye for design! For me, the greatest pleasure was to be able to sit and see the way my work was presented. Their framing is exquisite! Around me were all the things that I love framed so beautifully. Great time, great show, lots of laughs-that's what life is all about for me!
More good times with the Trees of Life Chapter at Canada Goose's show. I have such fun with the chapters; they're family!
Early morning shoppers.
I so enjoy getting a chance to talk to collectors. I meet so many interesting people.I was most honored to attend a fundraising dinner after Saturday's show to benefit the Greene County Chapter of National AMBUCS™, Inc. AMBUCS™ is a national non-profit service organization dedicated to creating mobility and independence for people with disabilities. The Green County Chapter is known as Greenebucs and has fifty members. This group does incredible work, raising funds for AmTryke® therapeutic tricycles, helping related charities and parents of the children, and funding scholarships for physical therapists. AmTryke® therapeutic tricycles, known as trykes, are recommended by doctors, therapists, intervention specialists, etc., to help provide mobility to people with physical limitations. The therapist selects the appropriate tryke (there are sixteen basic models) and then selects from a whole catalog of pieces to custom fit the tryke to the child's handicap. This is the first year that four adult models are being offered. In 2007 and 2008, Greenebucs gave away over 100 trykes a year.
During the dinner, Greenebucs gave a tryke to 3-1/2 -year-old Kora Armlock. Kora is a precious little girl who was born with her legs crossed up by her chest and her arms straight out with her hands dangling. She is able to sit and stand a little after several operations. She was dressed as a princess for Halloween, and we had a good time admiring one another's fingernail polish!
Kora and I enjoyed getting to know one another.
Kora on her new AmTryke® therapeutic tricycle that was donated by the Greenebucs Chapter of National AMBUCS™, Inc.A couple weekends ago when I was in Kalona, Iowa, for my show with The Village Shoppe, the Moss Country Friends Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society held a fundraising dinner, and part of the proceeds went toward the provision of similar trykes for handicapped children.
AMBUCS™ work is incredibly important, and it was evident in the joy on little Kora's face as she test-drove her new tryke at the fundraising dinner in Waynesville. I'm very proud to support them. The P. Buckley Moss Society donated a print from its charity print collection, titled The House Warming, to Greenebucs for their Christmas auction that will be held December 2. The framing for the print was donated by Canada Goose Gallery.
While I enjoyed Halloween with my friends in Waynesville, Ohio, my grandchildren Picco and Chiara Gabellieri celebrated in Waynesboro, Virginia. In the picture above, Picco and Chiara are dressed up for Homecoming. In the photo below, Chiara and her friend Andrew Quillen are ready for trick-or-treating.
This weekend I'll be in Dublin, Virginia, for my show with Collector's Showcase. I'm also looking forward to having lunch with members of Moss in the New River Valley Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society at the Rockwood on Friday. I've been there before, and it is another joy!
Gathering Apples is a new giclée on paper that will be released during my show with Collector's Showcase in Dublin, Va., November 6-7. For more information, please contact the gallery at 540-674-0232.On my way home from Dublin on Sunday, I'll stop by Apple Barn Gallery in Buchanan to sign personalization orders from Apple Barn's weekend Show Without Moss. Maybe I'll see you there.
Love,
Pat
I can't resist showing you these two pictures of a villa in Cortona, Italy, that my daughter Becky wants me to buy. One is a sketch showing the whole property, and the other shows a couple of the dependencies. I know I have enough property as it is, but it's tempting!
Wouldn't this be something to own! Anyone have $2 million lying around?
The main house is a treat, but the dependencies need a little work. Aren't they beautiful though, even in this condition?
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2009