Monday, December 21, 2009

Thinking about art



Girl thinking
black marker on bond paper
10 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

Words crop up in the paintings of several
artists I admire. I love how Bob Burridge
places words on some of his paintings,
and Larry Rivers, used words in interesting
ways. In Florence we saw the work of
Fra Angelico, and some of this paintings
had words trailing across the sky, hundreds
of years before the invention of the airplane
made that an actual possibility, but he also
put the names of saints in their halos, and I
liked that. I've long been a fan of gold leaf,
and wanted to put halos on everyone, but
now I am thinking about putting words in
the halos. Not religious words, just
the words that struck my fancy at the time.

I did the drawing tonight from a photo of
a lovely model I've used for quite a few
paintings. I was just playing around
thinking about what I want to start to
paint. But I'd like to put a halo around
her head and write the word "thinking"
on it. That would be a secular halo,
like the one around the moon.

Have a thinking-it-through day
at

6 comments:

  1. eldon warrenDecember 22, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    hi Barbara, I know what you mean. It seems when I see words painted in a picture there is another dimension of sorts added. Even if it's lettering on a sign or a book cover. I know we're gonna see some new ideas and some great work as a result of your Florence trip. We'll be watching.
    Eldon

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  2. lauraDecember 22, 2009 at 11:57 AM

    She is lovely, and your line so fluid and expressive.
    I'm a fan of gold leaf too. Today I nearly bought (oh why did I put it back?) a silver-sequin-covered beret--it looked like a silver halo.

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  3. Barbara MuirDecember 22, 2009 at 8:48 PM

    Hi Eldon,

    It's true, but as Steven pointed out
    Fra Angelico would have been a calligrapher too. The great work will have to wait until after Christmas.

    Happy Christmas,

    Take care,

    Barbara

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  4. Barbara MuirDecember 22, 2009 at 8:50 PM

    Hi Laura,

    I would have liked to see that hat! A halo is a very good thing.
    I loved your poinsettias, and when I brought mine home tonight gave it a try, but not too successfully.

    You are such a great painter.

    Take care,

    Barbara

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  5. Liza HirstDecember 23, 2009 at 10:33 AM

    What a lovely drawing, Barbara!
    A real gem. Love it!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Barbara MuirDecember 25, 2009 at 10:20 PM

    Hi Liza,

    Thank you. You are the sweetest. Come to Canada please.

    xoxoxoxoxBarbara

    (It's Christmas night. Too much brandy on the figgy pudding? What do you think?)

    ReplyDelete

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