Patti Gibbons Art

 Inside Vanderbilt Mansion  The back end of Mills Mansion at Sunset  View of the Catskills and the Hudson from the Vanderbilt   Formal Italian Gardens at Vanderbilt More of the Gardens With the busyness of the holiday season, my adventures have been cut short. I managed to get a few nice walks in however, and some historical sightseeing to boot. The Hudson Valley is rich with the treasures of historical mansions. Olana, The Thomas Cole House, Clermont, Montgomery Place, Vanderbilt, Wilderstein, The Roosevelt Estate, Mills Mansion. And that are only the ones in a one hour radius from my Kingston home. Because my adventure friend is over 62, she has a National Parks Pass which can be obtained at any National site for 10.00. That gets you into the Federal parks for free, such as some of the Cape Cod beaches, and other parks around the country - and up to three other guests I believe FOR FREE. So, in the spirit of saving and not spending, w...

It has been a long time since I have taken up writing on a regular basis. I have come to accept that I can't do it all, but with school having let out, I have more time to do that which I had given up, and then some. Tonight's photos are a newly published group from a mini-series I did called "Tears Along the Hudson".  Let me start out by stating I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER.  It is my husband's medium, and he has taught me much about seeing, shooting, and expressing myself through that medium.  I use it for documentation and as reference for my art, or to post my art on various social media sites.  But once in a while, the magic happens. And I can shoot hundreds of photos before I get "the one".  The five shown here were culled from 40 shots. I guess one out of 8 ain't bad...but good thing this is not film...at the cost of developing these days! The story: I had just gotten my new Droid prior to a trip I was making to NYC to visit som...

  Ethel’s Farm Stand Before leaving for Cape Cod, Karen and I had discussed what easy-to prepare, healthy, organic foods each one of us could bring.  Tuna, (ok, tuna is not that healthy but I love it) tomatoes, potatoes, rice, pasta, beans, mayo , olive oil and vinegar , red wine, white wine. There were foods from our garden;  zucchini, peppers, shallots, cucumbers, my favorite cooking seasonings: organic salt/garlic/parsley mixture, fresh lemons and limes, dill, and Italian herbs.  With these items I can make a wondrous marinara, or some mean black beans over rice,  savory eggs, and so much more. I had all that I needed.  But then it hit me about 25 miles from home:  SHIT: THERE WAS NO GARLIC.  I knew we would find some somewhere on our journey.  About five minutes after I said to Larry that I was going to be culinary handicapped if I did not have garlic, and were about to get onto the Taconic Parkway, we saw a simple ...

I intended to be writing more, but I have to admit, I have been putting my energy into my granddaughter the past 10 days.  This is the third year that we take Alanna for two weeks in the summer, and indulge her in every experience that we possibly can.  I joke that her social life is better than mine, which means we move like twisters. We swim a lot as we are graced to know many people with pools, a necessary respite on hot summer days when you don't have A/C.  We've also watched the first three Harry Potter movies, and just borrowed the next three from a friend. I am hoping that one of us will take her to see the last one in 3D before she goes. I was not the perfect parent.  I loved my kids, but I was a stressed single mom who had no money, worked and went to  college to get my BS and MS so that I could have a good job with benefits to support my kids.  There price for that often took its toll in ways that make me wince.  Short tempered, always ...

After 10 months of frenetically living two lives in one, I have the summer off from Job #1 so that I can spend my summer vacation time working full time at Job #2. Though I love Job #1,  I REALLY love Job #2,  but  I have to work Job #1 so that I can have a retirement income to support Job #2 , and hopefully be able to live happily ever after on the fruits of both.  I have to say that I burnt the candle at both ends the past few months. Teaching full time, studying under two artists, and working hard at producing art and working even harder at trying to sell it, left me VERY tired.  And, I have sorely ignored this blog, as writing was beginning to feel like Job #3, and I knew I could not do anything well if I did that...so....since Job #1 is on a hiatus for 2 months, I AM BACK WRITING - back with news and reviews from my travels and adventures around the Hudson Valley, with photos of the beauty of the Catskills, of life, and illustrated with the fruits of my...