A New Blog Award

Speeding Landscape
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(An almost finished painting. I
may take out some of the underpainting orange.
This is a scene I snapped from the car on our
trip from Ottawa to Kingston a few weeks ago.)

Gwen Bell has given me the Bella Sinclair award,
and I am greatly honoured. I think these pay it
forward awards are a lovely part of blogging.
Please go and check out Gwen's work right away
if you don't know it. She's a wonderful painter,
confident and sure with great colour and design
in her work. She's also very funny, a quality the
world needs. This award is strictly for women,
so although there are many artists on the blog who
are men, who have been kind friends and had a
terrific influence on my work, I can't give them
this award.

The Bella Sinclair Award is given for "Friendship,
Sisterhood, Sharing and Caring." I think you are
supposed to give the award to six women artist
bloggers who make a difference in my artistic life.

They are in order of getting to know them:

1. Flora Doehler, a Nova Scotia artist,
who introduced me to the whole blog world,
is an astoundingly good artist, and has
two blogs running full tilt, with art, photos,
movies and writing. A transplant to the maritimes
from Toronto, Flora is a kind and wonderful
friend. We've had several shows together and
enjoy one another's work immensely.

2. Belinda del Pescoe was one of the first people
to comment on my blog. She is a fantastic
watercolour painter, printmaker, inventive
spirit and daily painter. I love the variety
of approaches she tries, and how she always
documents her process so we can learn.

3. Theresa Rankin, gave me the first
award I ever won The Brillante Weblog,
and the second A Passion for Painting
award. She is a superb artist in the classical style,
a wonderful writer, and a kind friend. She also
has one of the best laughs on the planet.

4. Liza Hirst, is a fabulous artist, who ranges
from almost classical portraiture, to wildly
experimental abstract art, and everything in
between. She can paint whatever she turns her
hand to, and has painted a wide variety of subjects.
She is a constant inspiration and a kind, good
and sweet friend.

4. Laurel Daniel is a superb Texas landscape
painter. I have never seen a painting by her
that wasn't exquisite, didn't take my breath away,
didn't make me stare and stare to analyze it.
She is also a very kind art blog friend, who
writes delightful comments, and I treasure
her friendship.

6. Susan Carlin, also Texan, raises the bar in
portraiture on a constant basis. She can whip out a
perfect and accurate oil painting portrait
in the time it takes me to set up my paints.
Her work ranges from very traditional to
high key colour exploration, and she is my friend.

7. Melinda Esparza, in one of the most exciting
landscape painters I know. Her work is
thoroughly unconventional in both style and
colour, and she has also done portrait work
that dazzles in its complexity and intellectual
content. She is a wonderful friend and a
constant support to me.

8. Laura Starrett is a watercolour artist, with
no idea how superb her work is. Her
delicious, loose watercolours are exactly what
watercolour should be. They are bright,
imaginative, lyrical. She also uses poetry
on her blog, which adds a poignant note to
many of her entries. I am delighted to be
getting to know her.

9. Julie Davis is also a Texas painter (that
is an arty state), who paints mostly landscape,
although I was first captured by a painting
she did of pansies! Julie gave me the Kreative
Blogger award, and I was delighted that she did.
She recently did a series of paintings on a Florida
vacation that blew me away every day she posted
them. She gave me an award, and I bless
her for it.

I have got to stop there because I'm supposed
to stop at six and I could keep going all day.
What an exciting group of women these
people are. I have met some through Skype
and the telephone, and I really hope I get
to meet everyone in person one day. In
fact I'd love to have them all to a big art
party. Let's think about that for next year!

(Please note that because I have two slide
shows I had to choose between a blog list
of artists I care about, and my awards as
gadgets -- so I chose the blog list -- if you
know a way around this problem please
contact me and I'll showcase my awards
again.)


Have an it's-an-honour-to-be-an-artist day.