Happy Easter

Water series Image Two
Stage Five
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010
(I started work on the beach, and have to
think a bit about where I'm going now. Do
I keep the same thin strip, or change from
lighter sand, to darker sand and hold
onto the connecting horizontal bands?
Questions for tomorrow.)

Today was a day of high contrasts. Steven and I began

the day early for a Sunday, planning how to help

the Easter Bunny fill the baskets and hide the
chocolate eggs for our grown children. We are
a pretty good team by now, and we filled, and
wrapped the baskets in short order. I'd found some
huge bunnies which we set out at each place. This is
all part of our expected ritual. Then we blindfold the
children. (This started with my sister for some reason
years ago. The reason has been lost but the tradition
is intense with our kids.) We lead Sam blindfolded
down from his bedroom to the basement where
Christopher and Megan were then herded all three
up the stairs blindfolded. In the kitchen we twirled
them each around three times, counting, one, two,
three then they could take the blindfolds off and look
for eggs. Christopher said that the blindfolds now
remind him of Gitmo. The morning had begun.

The crazy looking Easter table before breakfast
and the Easter egg hunt. Zoey the dog would
really like both the eggs and the toy bunnies.

Our traditional holiday breakfast is champagne and orange
juice with iced coffee cake. But no one wanted that
drink today. This morning everyone ate coffee cake and
strudel, boiled eggs and toast, and they all drank coffee,
even Sam. Meanwhile the hunt had begun. Sporadically,
and eagerly they hunted for chocolate eggs in bursts,
with me and Steven offering silly hints. It was a lot of
fun as always.

Then we drove Sam to the bus stop, and Steven and I visited
Kensington Market and part of China town. We were tempted
by many restaurants, but went for a bit of a walk and
headed home for reheated turkey (still delicious).

Kieran Brent works on a painting
outside his Kensington Market area house.

In Kensington Market, in front of a run down house on a side
street, I saw an artist working on a great canvas. I asked if
I could take his picture, and he agreed. So let me introduce
you to Kieran Brent. He was working with a large brush,
and I like what he's done with the image so far. Kensington
Market has been a haven for artists since I went to OCAD
(a few years ago). It was great to see an artist confidently
working away in his front yard.