Drolleries

Some time a go I shared with you a print that my son and his wife gave me for Christmas. It is a print of Patricia Buckley Moss, a painter who lives part of the year in Waynesboro and part of the year in St. Petersburg, and other places, I believe. While visiting with David and his family this June, I visited her museum which is just outside of Waynesboro. If you were to walk into her museum, you would probably say to yourself, "Of course, I know her work." She has become known for her paintings of the "Plain People," the Amish, but she paints in many styles.

When I received this print at Christmas, I was interested in her cats. Cats appear in many of her paintings, and I read that they represent the artist looking at the people who are looking at her paintings. Her cats can be described as drolleries - fanciful designs of a playful character...historically used in the margins of medieval manuscripts, whimsical humor. Also French spelling, "droleries" from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.

"Cats in the history of art are ambivalent, usually female, animals who at different times have symbolized both good and evil. Ancient Egyptians associated cats with the protection of homes, mothers, and children. Painted and carved cats along with their mummified remains have been found in numerous tombs. During the Middle Ages, cats were taken assigns of the devil and his evil ways and were believed to be witches' animals. Luckily for the species, its reputation was redeemed when it was noticed that in towns or homes with cats, residents were less likely to suffer the consequences of the Black Death, a disease carried by flea-infested rats. Religious art of the time, with its many cat-like droleries, likely reflect the notion that the presence of cats-rat killers-was a good omen."...quoted from The Messenger, a publication of the museum.

The writer continues, "Naturally there's always the possibility that cats in Moss paintings simply mean that there were lots of cats around when Pat was painting, especially in a household with six growing children..."

It is suggested that the highly stylized animals represent the spirit of the artist herself. Perhaps it is her way of not intruding into her art, but still being there....to observe, to enjoy, and to be a part of the action that she created.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent there, and so would you. Her museum is located just south of I-64, exit 99. I shall return another day when I'm there. I also plan to visit the gallery in St. Pete where her work is displayed.

I'll share more of her art with you next time.