Wednesday, September 17, 2008

An early portrait

Forgive me the title on my last entry. It should
read "wild" not "wid" -- corrected now (whew!).
I barely had time to write my blog last night, and
obviously didn't proof it.

I got home from art class at 10:30 p.m., and scurried to get
ready for school. In between commercials on Jon Stewart
I ran (cla, clump, cla clump) (I can't really run yet) up two
flights of stairs to photograph my painting, write the blog,
and publish it.

And today I had the nerve to talk about precision with my
students, while my huge typo sat out in cyberspace.
That's ironic, and funny.



watercolour self-portrait
at nineteen
11" x 14"


I'm showing you a self portrait I did when I was at
art school and 19 years old. I like it because it shows promise,
and also something I see so often in the young people I
teach. I was a very pretty girl then, but didn't know it --
so I painted myself in an eerie, elongated, red eyed, raw way.

When students tell me they're ugly, I tell them that
the tragic part of that assumption is that when they are
(much) older they will start to feel great, and know that
they're good looking, no matter how they look.
Even if the rest of the world doesn't see it, they'll
probably feel just wonderful. And they'll look back
at photos from their college days and wonder what it
was they thought was so terrible back when.

Have a loving-the-kid-in-you day.

2 comments:

Theresa Rankin said...

I could not agree more...I too was very pretty when I was young...but didn't know it...still don't! Ha! I must dig out all that college stuff some day...good reminder how far we have come. For me I took an extremely long break and did not start painting again until about 7 years ago. I cannot express to people how much more I like myself (even at 60) then I did then. Age should have no hold on our spirit!!! It is very evident from your self portrait, yes you were and ARE very pretty, that you had what it takes. Keep up the magnificent painting and inspiring writing! I look forward to what Barbara paints and says every day!!

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Theresa,

You must get up really early! I look forward to your work and your writing every day too. I stopped painting for a while after art school and university. It only took one mean teacher at university to crush my belief in myself. I started (slowly)again when my youngest was a baby.

But it's just in the past 8 years that my confidence and my work have
taken off. People like you keep that gorgeous light as feather,
happy feeling going.

Thanks,

Barbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!