Patti Gibbons Art

After spending the first part of the day cleaning and purging the hall closet, I took my granddaughter over to Rhinebeck to check out the Hudson Valley Pottery and Ceramic Studio, where my friend works. Alanna LOVED being there so I will enroll her in a few classes while she is here.  They have kid classes and a summer camp, and definitely a cool place for any age to play in the clay. While she was there, I headed to Wilderstein  to paint.  It was late, and I had about an hour to work before they closed.  When I arrived it was beautiful; the sky a mix of cerulean blue and clouds. The last resident to live there was Margaret Suckley, the confidante and probably lover of FDR. She died at 100 in 1991 while still a resident of the house.  I have not gone inside yet, but the grounds have trails for hiking, and the house has a beautiful view of the Hudson. It's free to roam the grounds. I set up camp on a bench and painted. It wasn't long before the cica...

I was perusing Facebook, when I saw a Facebook Page that was "suggested" to me.  I rarely pay attention to such things, though once in a while I click on one, and even rarer, purchase something because of them. But before I get into that story, I must preface it with the story of the previous purchase, which was  multiple copies of the CD Amchitka , a concert that "launched Greenpeace" with Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Phil Ochs.  I have posted about Joni Mitchell in my past posts, so the bots put an ad that featured her music on my Fb page. Once I saw Joni's name, it was in my shopping cart in no time flat.  I bought enough to give a few loved ones a copy too.  And, I loved it. SO back to the story about the FB page that was suggested..it was called "Living The Artist's Life" . I clicked on the page, "liked it" and started reading.  A few days later I researched the book and made the huge leap on Amazon to buy it.  It was a ver...

As of Friday afternoon, 2 pm, I officially walked out the doors of the school that I had taught in for the past 21 years.  I worked really hard to get my art certification, and I worked hard for the 21 years that I taught art to youth at risk, those who had autism, those who were emotionally challenged, and any combination thereof. During those 21 years I split up with my fiance, moved out of my house, met another man,  moved back into the house, got married, barely survived adolescence with my two children, sent a daughter to war, welcomed two grandchildren into the world, have watched my daughter suffer with cancer and other illnesses, had to put my mom in the nursing home. I listened to, hugged, educated, mentored and loved thousands of children. I saw four shifts in education which meant I had to reinvent the wheel four times, and witnessed education go from being an honored profession, to one disrespected and blamed for the woes of the world. The child became the on...