PMC Training Update

Dear Friends, Relatives, Colleagues, Classmates, etc,

First, thank you very much for all of you who have donated to support this very worthy cause. With almost $15 million is pledges so far, the PMC is on its way to its goal of $38 million this year. Every donation, large or small, counts towards that goal.

I thought I would update you on how our team's preparation for the big weekend is coming along. Team Noble Effort (Mike Noble, Kyle Noble, Hillary Noble, Lydia Gibson, Tom Quirk and myself) is spread out around the area and across the country. So a lot of our training is done by ourselves or with some other biker friends. Mike, Tom and I had a good ride recently and Hillary and I have also been out together a number of times and plan a few more rides before the event. I have been doing my riding on the Cape. I usually start along the Cape Cod Canal and then venture out towards Falmouth and Woods Hole. This way I can get a ride of anywhere from 30 to 70 miles depending on my mood and the weather. (Why is the wind always against me in both directions along the canal?). I have put in a lot of miles but have no idea how that will translate on the big weekend. I've been assured that the group spirit and the encouragement of spectators and cancer survivors who line the streets will carry me through.

OK, that's enough about me. Some of you already know that our Team Leader and inspiration will not be able to participate this year. On a recent training ride (with me along the windy canal), he took a nasty header into an embankment and when the dust settled he had broken his collar bone, 5 ribs and had a punctured lung. This happenned almost 2 weeks ago and now, after spending a couple nights in the MGH, he is resting UNcomfortably in Sandwich.  He is such a strong supporter of the hospital, the doctors and this fund raiser that he is quite frustrated by this untimely turn of events. (Actually, when is a good time to break your collar bone?)  Knowing Mike, I'm sure he will be at every rest stop cheering us on.

If you feel that you can help Dana Farber, the PMC, Team Noble and, of course, me meet our goals, we would really appreciate your help.

We are directing our fundraising efforts to Dr. Brian Wolpin's research team in the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana Farber.  Dr. Wolpin is working with researchers around the country in conducting innovative research on the causes, detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer. This is the kind of effort that we need to conquer all forms of cancer. Here is a snippet of a recent email between Mike and Dr Wolpin.

Hi Mike:

Thank you for the e-mail. I would be happy to talk with you about our progress since our last meeting, including on three major fronts: profiling blood samples to find early diagnostic markers for pancreatic cancer, DNA sequencing to find new areas of the genome that predispose to development of pancreatic cancer, and DNA sequencing of pancreatic tumors to identify the drivers of cancer growth. It really has been an exciting year, as all three of these major projects have born results.  I would also be happy to think about how we can provide you with some documentation to share.

We certainly appreciate your continued support and are working hard every day to push the field forward.

Best,

Brian

Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Harvard Medical School

450 Brookline Avenue

Boston, MA 02215, USA

There are 3 ways you can donate to this cause. Those of you who have already donated have used all 3 ways. They are all simple.

By credit card at the pmc site. Go to www.pmc.org   and click on Donate. Enter my full name (Tony Donovan ), select me and then click on Continue to donate.

Or, by sending a check to PMC. Make out your check to PMC and send it to this address. Remember to include my name and ID on the envelope.

Tony Donovan 77952-2

Pan-Mass Challenge

PO Bos 415590

Boston, MA 02241-5590

Or, by sending me a check, made out to me, which I will endorse over to the PMC and forward for you.

Tony Donovan

23 Rose Court Way

E. Walpole, MA 02032

We sincerely thank you for your help. We know there are lots of causes asking for you charity dollars, so if you decide to make a donation now, we appreciate anything you can give to help in this fight. It means a lot to us but it will mean even more to the future victims of cancer. Feel free to forward this email to anyone who might want to support this cause.

Thank you!

Tony

Pan Mass Challenge - Fund Raiser

Dear Friends, Relatives, Collegues, Classmates, etc,

I am posting this on my blog and on Facebook to ask for your support for this year's Pan Mass Challenge. This year, I will be riding in the PMC for the first time. For those of you who have already donated, thank you very much. 

The PMC is a 2 day, 180 mile bike ride from Wellesley to Provincetown to raise money for Dana Farber cancer research. It will be held on Aug 3rd and 4th. While today there are many athletic fundraising events, the PMC channels 100% of every rider-raised dollar directly to the Jimmy Fund. It's the most successful fundraising event for charity in the nation, and also among the leanest.

There are many worthy causes competing for your charity dollars these days, but we'd appreciate your support in this one. Cancer and all its forms is a dreaded disease that touches virtually every family at one time or another. Three years ago my friend, Mike Noble, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has been battling this disease in a variety of ways.  He continues his own personal daily struggle as well as mentoring other cancer patients whose struggles are just beginning. And last year, his team, Team Noble Effort, raised over $35000 for cancer research. This year I have joined his team, Noble Effort, in the PMC Challenge.

We are directing our fundraising efforts to Dr. Brian Wolpin's research team in the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana Farber.  Dr. Wolpin is working with researchers around the country in conducting innovative research on the causes, detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer. This is the kind of effort that we need to conquer all forms of cancer.

There are 3 ways you can donate to this cause.

By credit card at the pmc site. Go to www.pmc.org  and click on Donate. Enter my full name (Tony Donovan ), select me and then Continue to donate.

Or, by sending a check to PMC. Make out your check to PMC and send it to this address. Remember to include my name and ID on the envelope.

Tony Donovan 77952-2

Pan-Mass Challenge

PO Bos 415590

Boston, MA 02241-5590

Or, by send me a check, made out to me, which I will endorse over to the PMC and forward for you.

Tony Donovan

23 Rose Court Way

E. Walpole, MA 02032

We sincerely thank you for your help. If you decide to make a donation now, we appreciate anything you can give to help in this fight. It means a lot to us but it will mean even more to the future victims of cancer.

Thank you!

Tony

Hydrangeas

A friend of ours recently asked if I could do a painting of her garden. She is very active in the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society and has a beautiful garden filled with multiple varieties of hydrangea. After checking out several locations in the garden, we decided that the entry way into the garden would be a nice subject.

Here is my re-creation of the entry way.

We were both pleased with the results. Since then I've noticed many similar arbors or gates with different backgrounds so I think I'll tackle a few more.

Cape Cod Art Association

I was pleased to have been "juried in" to the Cape Cod Art Association recently. I had to submit a portfolio of 5 paintings for acceptance into the association. One of the criteria they look for is consistency, so, at Kim Weineck's suggestion, I submitted 2 marsh scenes, 2 of my trucks and a new painting of the San Xavier del Bac Mission in Tucson.

I guess I met their lofty criteria as I received my letter of acceptance. Now I can participate in all their shows as well as try to sell some of my work in their gallery.

Here's a photo of one of the marshes. A scene from Scortin Creek in Sandwich.

Here is a poor image of my Mission painting.

I look forward to participating in the shows at the CCAA as well as some of their other activities. 

New Equipment

Since coming out to Sedona, I have done more "plein air" painting. I really enjoy painting on location. I wanted to buy one of the French Pochade boxes that has everything self-contained but they always seemed too expensive. But, a friend gave me a tripod, so I decided to splurge and buy a French Resistance box. It is similar to the Pochade but a bit smaller and lighter. It has a small pallette area, holes for your brushes, a compartment in the lid for paints, etc and can hold up to an 18x24 canvas or panel.

I decided to splurge when (brag alert) one of my paintings at the Sedona Art Center sold and I got word that I have a buyer for my painting in the Norfolk Cultural Center show. So, I have found money to pay my credit card bill.

Here's a photo of the box on site near the Honanki Indian ruin. It is sitting on a tripod (it came with a quick release). You may be able to see that the brushes can stand up when inserted into the holes and you can hang your paper towels from the box. I have clamped a slightly larger palette to the box to give a little more room for the paint and to make cleaning it a bit easier. This palette is stored in the lid (with some minor modifications that I will work on when I get home). So, far I really like this set up. I bought a few more of those Art Cocoons so now everything I need is in my knapsack making it very easy to carry what I need to a location.

This was a great spot. There was an old cattle chute, used to load cattle onto a truck, and a watering hole. During the day, the sun passes almost directly overhead so that at any given time all the shadows will be changing. Got to work fast.

SAC Member Show

Friday night was the Sedona Art Center Member show. We became members a couple of years ago, but this was the first time I submitted anything for the juried show. All 3 of my paintings were accepted.
The opening night was part of the 1st Friday Gallery Tour in Sedona so there was quite a crowd. This photo of the Art Center doesn't reflect the crowd as everyone was inside.

There was an eclectic display of sculpture, glass work, stone work as well as traditional 2 dimensional art. There were awards in each category, but, alas, I was not among the fortunate recipients. Maybe next time. I was pleased to have been juried in. Although there were signs to NOT photograph the artwork, I figured I could sneak a shot of one of my own works. This bronc rider from a photo taken at the Tucson Rodeo is, coincidentally, placed next to my friend Michael Johnson's painting of the Grand Canyon.

I took this picture, below, at about 5:45 from the back steps of the Sedona Art Center. Not bad, eh?

The "Best in Show" was awarded to an "emerging artist" for her bronze sculpture of two hands painting a Navajo pot. Once it set in that I wasn't going to win the "Best of Show" we went out to dinner with Bill and Sarah.

Sedona Art Center Member Show - Acceptance

I was pleased to hear today that 3 of my paintings have been accepted into the Sedona Art Center's Annual Member Show. I was Juried in as an Emerging Artist and will be part of the show that lasts for the month of March. There will be a First Friday Reception on 3/2 if any of you happen to be in the neighborhood.

As we are in Sedona, I submitted a few of my southwest paintings. My friends at home in the NVA have seen them but they may be new to other people.

Of course, I had to enter one of my favorite subjects, an old truck from the King's Mine in Jerome.

Other favorite subjects to paint are jeeps and the red rocks. This one has two subjects for the price of one. I came across this guy struggling over the slick rock on the Broken Arrow trail.

Finally, I painted this bronc rider from a photo I took at the Tucson Rodeo.

I am really elated to have my work appreciated enought to be juried into the show. When I saw the check marks after the word Accepted for each submission, I was thrilled.

Plein Air Painter's Blog mention

Michael Chesley Johnson gave my Rubicon a shoutout in his blog today. You can check it out by clicking here. We all had a fun time and even had a few art critics stop by as part of their Pink Jeep tour. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Dry Creek Road

I joined Michael Johnson's class for a day of painting along the west branch of Oak Creek on Dry Creek Rd. We were joined by 2 of his students, Jan from British Columbia and Bill from Cincinatti. Dry Creek lived up to its name as there was barely a trickle of water. So, instead of painting the water over the red rocks, we set up on an overlook and painted the beautiful back ground scenery. I tried to concentrate on one Juniper that stood out.

The others took advantage of the vista to paint views of the distant red rocks with some of the greenery in the foreground. This was a good spot as there were many subjects to choose from. I have a feeling we will be going back there again.

Upcoming Shows

I was pleased to hear that one of my paintings was juried into the Norfolk Cultural Council Spring art exhibit. It is one of my favorite subjects. It is called "Side Kicks". These are two of my buddies from the old mine/junk yard outside Jerome, AZ. The exhibit will run for the month of March at the Norfolk library in Norfolk center.

A number of my Neponset Valley Artists (NVA) friends were also accepted. We should have a good showing. Congrats to Kim, Frank, Ann, Haydi, Dianne, Nancy and Cindy.

I'll also have a couple of my adirondacks on display at the new Walpole Library when it opens in the near future. They are nice 6x8's in gold plein air frames. They'd look good on someone's wall as a pair. Hint, hint. Here's a photo of one of them.

Finally, I'll have a couple of my works on display as part of the Foxboro Art Association Spring Member Show. This show will be at the Gallery at Patriot Place on weekends (fri-sun) during the month of March. For a change, I've entered one of my pastels of a steer staring me down. I don't have a photo of the pastel, but I've uploaded an oil version to give you an idea of the subject matter. Check it out.