Still Excited About
Life!
Text by Joanne M. Anderson Photos courtesy of P. Buckley Moss
i
Imagine my surprise when I asked Pat Buckley Moss recently what is her favorite thing to paint, and she reached for a pendant she was wearing on a long chain. It is … [drum roll] … a horse! When she was a girl, she’d ride her bike to the stables on Staten Island. “When a horse dumped a rider, I was asked to go catch the horse, and those were my only riding lessons,” she happily recalls. Another favorite painting subject is the crucifixion. Then there are the Amish people, towns and buildings, barns and rural scenes, landscapes, Virginia Tech subjects, birds, weddings, landmarks, covered bridges, universities and schools, people, New River Valley places, holidays, animals, Italian scenes … almost endless. “I’ve never painted a sloth,” she informs me, describing them in unflattering detail. 20
NRV MAGAZINE
Moss’s career has spanned decades and taken her around the globe. Her sense of adventure never wanes, and some of her experiences are not for the faint of heart. On a trip to Africa,
she woke up in a tent unable to move. “In that half-awake zone, I realized I could not move my arms. I wondered if I was paralyzed and became concerned how I would get home.” Slowly, she opened her eyes, and as things came into focus, she saw the problem. A giant baboon was lying on top of her, pinning her limbs. They locked eyes, and she
Jul y/Aug
2022
