Sunday, July 17, 2011

The beautiful apples, and the happy lake view

At Lake Muskoka 9
(work in process)
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches (3 x 4 feet)
Barbara Muir © 2011

I am a complete sucker for my own fruit trees.
Foolish really because they are too big (much)
for my tiny city lot.  Tonight we  tried to take
more apples out of the tree, and to plant some
replacements for the flowers the apples have
hit.  So Steven plugged in the lights he put in at
Christmas, and wow that was a gorgeous
effect with the full summer leaves and fruit.
 Night lights in the apple tree

Tonight I'm showing you the full version of my
painting At Lake Muskoka.  There may still be
minor changes, so I'm keeping the Work in
Process status, but it is a close as close can
be to finished, and just looking at it here makes
me feel filled with joy.

By the way I heard  Julian Schnabel talking the
other day about why he paints.  And he says he
does it for the joy of the act.  I think that helps
me justify my Pollyanna attitude to life.  Well
this painting has been a joy from start to finish,
and a lot of cookies were consumed .
So both of us were happy with the process I do
believe.  The sitter and me.  And that is a wonderful
way to work.

Have an enjoying-the-heat-of-summer day.
P.S.  I have to force myself to calm down at the
end of a portrait.  And as I'm closing in on this
one it qualifies.  So I made applesauce last night
and finished at two in the morning!  That's right.
Late night applesauce.  But that's another painting
some day.
at

6 comments:

  1. Róisín O'FarrellJuly 18, 2011 at 12:52 AM

    Love the lights in the trees Barbara. And you can see from the portrait that the sitter was happy and relaxed.
    Beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 18, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    that is quite the effect of the lights in the tree! Thank you for showing us the whole painting,its a warm and happy one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diane HoeptnerJuly 18, 2011 at 2:56 PM

    Lovely happy colors in Lake View portrait, it looks very joyful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barbara MuirJuly 21, 2011 at 9:03 AM

    Hi Róisín,

    Thanks so much. Yes he was. He's a lovely man -- very kind and co-operative.

    Talk to you soon,

    XOBarbara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Barbara MuirJuly 21, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    Hi Sally,

    Steven put the lights in last winter. One string has burnt out, but I love how it looked anyway. Fruit trees are almost magical to me. The squirrels and birds think so too, and I am a big fan of home made applesauce.

    XO Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  6. Barbara MuirJuly 21, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    Hi Diane,

    There is so much in the portrait. I'm glad you like it.

    XO Barbara

    ReplyDelete

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