Art On The Avenue!

River Farms, former property of George Washington

Hey, Peeps!

This Saturday is a spectacular fun event in Alexandria, Virginia. It is called Art On The Avenue, and it occurs every October. On Saturday, Mt. Vernon Avenue in Del Ray will be closed down, so that the city can turn out to shop all day for one of a kind objets d'art, as well as unique clothing, jewelry, tasty food and drinks.

I hate to miss a good time, so I will most definitely be there with bells on.

You can catch me at 11am - 12 noon,  in the Del Ray Artisans Gallery at the Colasanto Center doing an oil painting demonstration. I will be painting the architectural scene shown above, which happens to be a gorgeous building on the Potomac River, not far from my home.

Painting buildings is a challenge, so who knows how much I can get done in one hour, but we shall see. 

I will also be passing out Catalogs of The Art League School, as well as save- the- date cards for the Art League's fabulous schedule of events this Fall/Winter, and benefactor opportunities at the Art League.

Uh oh, sounds like to I need to have six arms, like Shiva.

SO come on down. Be there or be square.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

For the Birds

Question: What is a raptor? It's a bird of prey who eats his food after catching it in the wild with his talons.

The Garden Club of Waynewood threw a party Friday night, featuring 7 unusual invited guests: Raptors all.

Three owls, 2 falcons and 2 hawks made the garden club's acquaintance. There was a lot of squawking amongst the guests of honor.

Facts for your next dinner party: Owls have 75% more neck vertebrae than humans, because they cannot move their eyes from side to side, and have narrow fields of vision. Thus the swiveling head motion, "The Exorcist" style... Owls are not intelligent enough to train, but they sure are cute, especially the tiny ones. Their hearing is superb.

I'm Not Sure, But I Think This Owl is Making Eyes At Me!

Profile of the Barred Owl

Falcons are a bit more excitable and threatening, close-up. They have long needle like beaks, which can spear their prey, and their finger-like talons are long and sharp. I saw one knitting, without needles!

Hawks like to float along in the sky until they see a fish through the water. Then they swoop down in a corkscrew flight at 200 mph, at a force of 20g's. (The corkscrew is a necessity, because their eyes are on the side of their head. But it is also handy at a Wine and Cheese tasting.)


Humans cannot maintain their consciousness beyond 7-8 g's. If we could figure out how the hawks do it, then maybe we could conquer the world!

Or maybe we would all just be making ourselves dizzy.

Your Imaginary Friend,
Patsie

The Garden Club of Waynewod Turns 50!

Large Red-Tail Hawk

Falcon: check out his talons, thank you very much

Dear Imaginary Friends,

My garden club turned 50. Due to their impending midlife crisis, they decided to have birds of prey come to a meeting and attack us. OK, not really, but close.

The Raptor Conservancy lectured us about raptors, and brought seven charming and not so charming examples.We had a few cute owls, a few scary falcones that semed possessed, and two hawks.

ALL of them like to hunt their prey, scoop them up with their extra long talons, and carry them off for dinner.

Falcons only eat birds, but hawks can eat seagulls, rabbits and fish.

One-Pound Owl

Tiny one-pound owls eat a whole mouse in one meal. And I eat Three Musketeers. I guess that raptors find my food choices odd.

Not a raptor,

Patsie

Who Likes Faccia Luna in Alexandria, Virginia??

Saturday Night

WE DO!!!!! Virginia likes their salads, Parker likes chewing their straws, and Danny likes their pasta Bolognese.

Nice weather, outdoor seating, a Cosmo, and a relaxed Saturday night.

Your Imaginary Dining Friend,

Patsie

River Farms

This is one of the paintings that I plan to exhibit at River Farms, home of the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, VA, September 2012 through January 2013.

There will be 45 paintings all told.  That is a big goal for me! Sixteen vats of iced tea should give me the caffeine I need to make it there.:)| Plus the sugar rush of a case of Twizzlers.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

Work Makes Us Free

Built within the protective walls of a fort one hour outside of Prague is the hideous concentration camp of Terezin. It was the final stop on the way to Auschwitz for Jews, a few Christians, Gypsies, homosexuals, and political dissidents.

The Nazis waged a huge deception on the public, pretending that they were conducting a ghetto neighborhood within the high walls. The train cars went silently into the camp, and silently out, as the nearby villagers wondered what or who was coming and going and why. Terrible Terezin outside Prague was named for Maria Therese.

The Nazis were very skilled with propaganda, and created a false film for the Red Cross, which was so convincing that the Red Cross gave this camp, which murdered tens of thousands, glowing compliments.

Terezin, a Concentration Camp

Terezin Camp Block A