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Dear Friends:
My visit to Ottumwa, Iowa, and M & J Art & Frame Gallery was wonderful. As I have said before, Iowans are among the friendliest, warmest people in the world.
M & J’s gallery staff is so easy and fun to work with. Back row, L. to R.: Peggy Grogan, Lee Ann Kjer, Jeni Harter, Anne Arduser, and me. Front row, L. to R.: Anna Strube and gallery owners Chris and Bill Abigt.
I was met at the airport in Cedar Rapids Thursday by Karen Kincart and her mother Helen Sloan. They took the scenic route to the gallery so I could see the miles and miles and miles of corn and soybean fields that had been harvested and turned. All that beautiful, rich, black dirt! The vastness of the fields reminded me a little bit of Africa and all its space, nothing for the eye to see but the horizon where the land meets the sky. It was absolutely breathtaking and put me in the best mood for the show.
Later that evening gallery owners Bill & Christ Abigt and their wonderful staff hosted a catered barbecue dinner for members of the Moss Heaven Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society and me. What fun and camaraderie!
The chapter dinner was catered by Bubba Q’s BBQ, and it was the best barbecue I’ve ever tasted. Everything was so good! I especially ate too much of the baked beans and coleslaw, because I never fix them for myself.
Good food and happy people! Dinner with the Moss Heaven Chapter made me feel very welcome.
I made lots of new friends over the weekend, and I was very happy to see so many of my old friends, too.
I so enjoyed meeting the Graeff family. The children Anna, Anu, and Arun are taking art, and it was a joy talking with them.
Dizzy the Clown (a.k.a. Desi Payne) brings comfort and joy to nursing homes, schools, and the Ottumwa Regional Health Center with her Clown/Humor Therapy. She was also the inspiration for my Clowning Around print. Dizzy just stopped in to say hello and ring her bells, which is what we do when friends come to town!
Joe and Ellen Waterbury are dear friends and the makers of the famous dollhouse at The P. Buckley Moss Museum in Waynesboro, VA.
The halls are all decked out for Christmas at the Museum’s dollhouse, which has fascinated visitors for years. Thanks, Joe and Ellen!
Saturday night I got to meet the principal and many of the teachers of Ottumwa High School . Ottumwa High School is nearly a century old and has been historically restored. The most recent renovation was the set of gorgeous steps at the front of the building. Ottumwa is so blessed to have that lovely school and a principal and teachers who put so much heart, love, energy, and enthusiasm into helping their young people learn.
L. to R.: Chris & Bill Abigt of M & J Art & Frame Gallery, me, and Principal Steve Hanson of Ottumwa High School.
I’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Waynesboro, Virginia, with almost my whole family. Everyone will be there except my daughter Becky and her family, who live in Italy. This year, since there will be plenty of cooks on hand, I’m going to arrive a little later than usual and spend some time with my grandchildren instead of in the kitchen.
The day after Thanksgiving, my daughter Patty and I will head to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for a show with 2nd Floor Gallery. It will be my first show with owners Jeff Van Boskirk and Tamara Gillis, and I’m looking forward to meeting their collectors and releasing my new print Pennsylvania Capitol Building; A Capitol of Uncommon Wealth with them. I hear there will be a tree lighting ceremony in town Friday evening just before the show starts, and I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Pennsylvania Capitol Building; a Capitol of Uncommon Wealth will be released at 2nd Floor Gallery this weekend. For more information, contact the gallery at 717-697-0502.
The weekend of November 30-December 2, I’ll be in Waynesboro for my Barn Show and Museum Open House. The special print for the show is Caroling Season, which features the Afton Chapel in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The little chapel on the mountain is a non-denominational church led in worship each Sunday by a different local minister, two Baptist, two Methodist, and a Pentecostal. Music is very important in the church, and members provide Southern gospel, bluegrass, traditional hymns, and other more modern selections on the third Sunday of every month.
Caroling Season will be released at my Barn Show and Museum Open House November 30-December 2. For more information, contact the Museum at 540-949-6473 or 1-800-343-8643.
With My Love will also be released during the Barn Show and Museum Open House. This very special print edition will benefit the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education, with twenty percent of the proceeds of each print sold going to the Foundation for its programs.
With My Love will be released at the P. Buckley Moss Museum the weekend of November 30-December 2. It will retail at $70.
I’m also excited about my new etching edition that will be released soon. I was inspired to create this image during my visits to Cortona, because Tuscany is where the story of Pinocchio originated. It was written by Italian author Carlo Collodi in the early 1880’s. Of course, most of us are familiar with the beloved marionette through the Disney movie.
Keep posted for a release date for my Pinocchio etching.
Best wishes for a happy and bountiful Thanksgiving, shared with family and friends. Please remember those less fortunate and our soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Pat
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2005