The Artistic Vision and Popular Strength of
P. BUCKLEY MOSS
"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable."
- George Bernard Shaw
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but
their inward significance."
- Aristotle
When Patricia Buckley was a little girl growing up in the Richmond Borough
of New York City, her Grandfather would fondly refer to her as 'Split the
Wind', because whenever there was a message to be taken from one point to
another, she would be the one to volunteer, running faster each time
because she knew he would be watching.
The phrase seems appropriate for an artist as prolific as P. Buckley Moss -
an artist that as a young child was told by one of her teachers that she
was "not proficient in anything."
Diagnosed with dyslexia, the process of perception was different for Pat
than it was for other children, which translated into an innate need to
draw and create. Subsequently, her mother enrolled Pat in the noted
Washington Irving School for Fine Arts, which is where Pat's artistic
abilities were both encouraged and nourished.
In 1951 Pat received a scholarship to New York's Cooper Union for the
Advancement of Science and Art and received her first major art award in
1967. The uniqueness of her style, the warmth generated by her subject
matter and her ability to communicate on many levels to people quickly won
her widespread recognition.
Her popularity in this country has earned her a reputation as 'The People's
Artist' with the many varied watercolors, etchings, and silk-screens that
she has created. This led to an exhibit in Japan in 1990 of 53 of her
paintings and etchings at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.
Today thousands of collectors throughout the world have recognized Pat's
significance and the distinctive look of her artwork. Indeed, in 1986 the
P. Buckley Moss Society was established by zealous collectors to assist the
artist in her many charitable endeavors. This Society now has some sixty
chapters and a membership of approximately 20,000.
On October 19-21st, a Regional Collectors Convention will be held at the
Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, whereby P. Buckley Moss will present her
newest painting, titled Loving Memories that features Saginaw's Holy Family
Church. Additionally, Moss will present a series of several new watercolors
of notable Michigan lighthouses. Convention tickets are only $6.00 for the
weekend and available at The Frame Shop & Gallery in Saginaw.
In addition to the exhibitions, lectures performances, demonstrations and
family oriented festivities will take place all weekend.
No other artist has done as much for our tri-city area as Pat.
Internationally known and collected, she has always harbored a special
place in her heart for this area.
When asked shy she keeps coming back she replies, "Because I always feel so
very loved when I am here. I feel a spiritual connection to my collectors."
Recently the Review conducted an interview P. Buckely Moss to discern her
own thoughts about the 'creative process'.
Review: Is there a certain defining moment when you knew that your life
would be devoted towards pursuing your artistic vision?
P.Buckley Moss: The defining moment came when I was accepted into The
Washington Irving School for Girls, a high school in Manhattan. The school
attached a high priority to art, and it was my art that won me a place at
the school. My mother had been a student at the school when she lived in
Little Italy after coming to this country from Sicily. The school kept
places for the daughters of Italian immigrants, and that is how she was
able to be a student at the school.
My mother benefited from the art education at the school and later had a
successful career as a designer of children's clothes. As a young girl, I
greatly admired my mother's design talents and would spend hours watching
her at her work.
When a teacher at my grade school told my mother that the only talent I had
was my art, my mother resolved to get me into her old school. This took
some persuading on my mother's part because we then lived on Staten Island,
which was not within the Washington Irving student area. A combination of
my mother showing my art portfolio to the school principal and an
arrangement whereby I lived with an aunt on Long Island during the week did
the trick, and I was accepted.
Arriving in a school where my one talent was well respected was a turning
point in my life, and from that moment on I knew that my career would be
founded in the visual arts.
Review: Your work possesses a very subdued and calming style to it, with
smooth contours and soft colors. How did you develop this very distinctive
style?
P. Buckley Moss: My distinctive style was not the result of a conscious
development. It evolved from the way I drew as a child. My paintings are
strong in design. This is a quality that has endeared them to the Japanese
people who have always considered design a key element in art.
Maybe my strength in design and in color combinations comes from the
influence of my dress designer mother.
Another reason that my paintings are different, I believe, is because I am
a learning different person. I used be called dyslexic, but "learning
different" is a description I prefer. Many learning different people have
an above average creative ability, and their creativity is often original
or different.
My art was different in style from the start, and as a young girl I found
out that people liked the way my paintings turned out. My paintings and
drawings was my one key to success. When at school I was shown how I
should be forming my paintings, but I rebelled and continued to do things
my way.
Vincent Van Gogh was learning different, and his style was so radical that
in his lifetime he was never able to sell a painting. Now his paintings are
among the most prized in the world. I am more fortunate and have the joy
of knowing that my paintings bring pleasure to many people.
I think my paintings are unique because they are my own interpretation of
the spirit or essence of the subject. My horses are not like anyone else's
horses. I do not set out to portray the horse in exact detail. That is
better done by a camera than a painter. I set out to show the spiritual as
well as the physical majesty, grace, and power of the horse and to show his
relationship to mankind. The same with buildings: I study the form of a
building, but I do not then create a painting showing all the detail. To
do so would smother the spirit of the building.
Review: Do you have a personal favorite work that you've created?
P. Buckley Moss: I truly do not have a favorite piece. My paintings are
like my children. I love them all. Well, when I have just finished a
particularly challenging painting and the way it has evolved delights me,
that painting will be very much in my mind and the memory of it will give
me special pleasure. It can be that way with one of my children or
grandchildren, but then the moment passes and all are equal again because
they are all a part of me, as are my paintings.
Review: What do you feel is the most challenging thing about being a
contemporary artist?
P. Buckley Moss: I am not sure that the challenges are any different today
than they have always been. The biggest challenge is to be heard and to
have your talents recognized. For every artist who makes a good living out
of his art, there are thousands of others who are struggling financially
and who have to find other sources of income. I am sure this has always
been the case. Vincent Van Gogh is an obvious example.
I have been fortunate. To an extent, my unique style has helped me. My
art is recognizably mine.
For me the challenge is to keep alive the adventure of art--to find new
challenges and to have the energy to tackle them. Like a writer, I keep my
eyes open for new subjects and for new nuances. I observe all the time.
Even after more than half a century of drawing and painting, I am still
spotting mannerisms in people and animals that I have yet to show in my
work. I find children an unending source of inspiration. Their trust and
their innocence are a joy that we can all benefit from remembering.
I am currently working on a large canvas on which the image relates to
September 11 of this year. It will be used to benefit the disaster relief
funds. I have to show the horror of the absolute destruction of lives and
buildings on the one hand and the incredible courage of the rescue workers
on the other and, over the whole, speak of the resurrection of the souls of
those who perished.
Review: How do you see your style evolving?
P. Buckley Moss: I hope my style will always continue to evolve. My
overall way of seeing life and all that makes it will never change, but
under the umbrella of my style there is always an evolution.
Art is a constant discovery, and the more you practice it the more your art
evolves. I may paint four versions of a subject, each an evolvement on the
one that came before it.
Tickets for the P. Buckley Moss Convention at the Bavarian Inn in
Frankenmuth October 19-21st are available at The Frame Shop. Convention
tickets are only $6.00 for the weekend, with a luncheon tour for $25.00
that includes a trolley ride to Celebration Square Carousel and the
Andersen Enrichment Center, catered by the Montague Inn. A dinner dance
with the artist at the Bavarian Inn is also available for only $25.00.
Call the Frame Shop at 989-792-0692 for more details.
The illustrations above are a new series from P. Buckley Moss entitled
"Lights of the Great Lakes." These illustrations will be for sale at
the Frankenmuth Convention at the Bavarian Inn on Oct 19-21.
