Patti Gibbons Art

This reinvention of self is taking a lot of work. AND TIME. Have I already posted that? I have been spending the week doing mock ups for my web designer, and getting ready to set up files in Drop Box. In order to do that, I have to clean up my Drop-box files -    delete some files to make more room, and then in order to find the files I need, I have to organize my desktop and hard drive into folders that make sense.  And once a day I have to take a break from the Drop Box ordeal to clean out the Cat Box.  I just wish I could clean the cat box with an "empty" button! In between those hours of sorting/filing/organizing, I pay some online bills, research hotels, make online reservations, search for work/shows, and play the occasional Candy Crush game. (I am embarrassed to say I play it...but I blame it all on my daughter!) Before I know it --- it is time to check what is ready to pick in the garden, and make dinner.  And then Larry comes home, and asks me ...

                                     The Strange Moon Like Landscape of the Golf Course A sweet little bungalow on the Course     At Wellfleet Harbor    The Salt Marsh at the Eastham Visitor Cente I am on vacation on Cape Cod.  Over the years I have come to know and love the Cape, with its oceans, bays, salt marshes, restaurants. The only thing I DON'T like about the Cape is the 4.5 hour ride which usually turns to a 6 hour ride due to traffic. Over the past several years we have been finding places of our own to stay, rather than staying with friends. We can come and go, and not worry that we are cluttering up their house with our photography and art equipment, or estate/junking finds. Renting sight unseen on the Cape is someti...

I've been painting.  Happily painting. In fields. In my studio. In the car. In my head. This is life as it should be. Spending every moment of your life doing what you love. My recent works are jubilant with vitality and color. GREEN. VERDANT GREEN. Get it while-you-can green. It's great to be alive again. Fully alive.

My mentor reminded me that this reinvention of my life is not going to take 2 weeks, or 2 months - more likely 2 years!  It gives me permission to be easy on myself, take some time to recover from 21 years of a very stressful job,  and not put so much pressure on myself to immediately get to work. "All will work out" is what others tell me,  and what has become my mantra. So day by day I do things to help align the stars for my success. I put out feelers, I am building my Internet presence. I am developing relationships with shops that are carrying my cards. I have one private student, and am nearly finished with a bevy of paperwork to teach autistic adults for 1.5 hours once a week.  I held my first mentorship/art meeting with fellow artists. I have spend some time outside traveling and painting plein air, and photographing the landscape.  I have a solo show in October, and the gallery owner is coming tomorrow to see what I have so that I can figure out...

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...