Reality Vs Art

This oil painting, Cache Pot with Pansies, is available for sale at A Show of Hands Today. Now. And Tomorrow.

Above you see the set up from which I painted. Sometimes we artists tweak reality and make it more vibrant.

GO check it out! It is a very happy camper, as paintings go.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

What I Sold Yesterday

The Green Apples, Oil, 8" x 10"

Dear Imaginary Friends,

The above painting, which I created in January 2012, sold yesterday to a lovely person, whom I am positive will give it to an excellent home. It is a graduation gift for her relative. What a great thing to do: Give the gift of art for celebrations. How unique a gift, right?

Nobody else in the Milky Way owns this painting.

Art is unique; it is original, unless one is referring to prints.

Perhaps this will encourage one more person in the world to appreciate the Fine Arts. Our country's heritage and cultural identity are preserved by the arts. Think about the Hudson Valley painters, and Aaron Copeland's music. Or George Gershwin. All uniquely American artists. What a loss if they had never been encouraged to create. And then there is Andy Warhol. And Marilyn Monroe. All artists.

That's my story, and I am sticking to it.

Your imaginary friend,

Patsie

The Blue Compote, 12" x 12"

Hot off my easel, this month

Painting colored glass is so much fun!

The Brain: Will It Explode If It Tries to Multi-Task?

Dear Imaginary Friends,

I can picture schoolchildren all over the world saying that they cannot learn anymore tonight to their mamas, because their brains might explode.

A more effective way, though, to make our brains start to malfunction is trying to muliti-task.

In truth, all of us moms think we can multi-task. The real science, though, proposes that the brain can alternate functions, but can never truly do two things at once. Moreover, when the brain is switching back and forth between two functions, one function dominates by necessity.

For instance, if you are driving down the street while talking on your cell, you will by necessity need to give more attention to your driving. Woe to those drivers who do not.

Here is a fascinating fun fact: When  driving, it is more distracting to hear half of a conversation, as one's brain is engaged with imagining what the person on the other end of the line is saying. Having the conversation oneself or listening to a two-way conversation is much less distracting.

Curiosity indeed kills the cat. If the cat is a bad driver. With a cell phone. And a texting plan.

Your petitie ami,

Patsie

PS No, I did not make this up. I learned it at a brain function lecture, while I was trying hard not to text or check my phone messages.

Communicating in the Twenty-first Century

The average teenager these days sends 3300 texts per month. That means 110 per day, for those of you who prefer to not to your own math.

The letter and the phone call may indeed be dead.

What would Emily Dickinson say? Probably something like, "Pish posh."

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

The Brain

Dear Imaginary Friends,

I recently attended a talk on brain development. I was intrigued!

The motor coordination part of the brain is developed by 15. The intellectual part of the brain is developed by 25. But the judgment part of the brain has not been fully developed until age 32! Wow.

That explains a lot.

Then again, some people never seem to get there. 

Another interesting nugget: Surgeons who operate with robotic devices, such as when performing laparoscopies,  do their best, most precise, work when having just played 20 minutes of Super Monkey Balls! I am not making this up. For one thing, it seems like the video game manufacturer could have come up with a better title. Maybe Super Surgeon Video Game?

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

My Sweet Baboo

Parker and I attend Will and Emily's Wedding

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding!
Hope you don't mind that I ate your cupcake. You snooze, you lose!

Yummy, In Lieu of a Wedding Cake

Back When Parker and I Were Both Younger