Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My art group picks it up

 Guinevere
Acrylic on canvas
14 x 20 inches
Barbara Muir © 2011
This year the art group I belong to, the Don Valley
Art Club, had the rug pulled out from under
them.  The environmental group that took over
The Brickworks, where the club of 170 members
had worked for years, decided to up the rent.  We
had a large studio, great washrooms, good
lighting and equipment.  But as is true with many
art clubs, a good percentage of club members are not
wealthy, and quadrupling the rent meant that the club
would have to multiply its fees by the same amount.

Most of our members could not support the extra
expense.  So after a lot of discussion and negotiations
we have moved our studios in with
another city art group.  The Forest Hill Art Group is
allowing us to use their space in the Forest Hill
Library.  I attended last night for a little while,
and did this painting of the model Guinevere.  She
was lovely.  So were the members of the Forest Hill
Group who were there.  A big thank you to Forest
Hill for welcoming our members.

Have a  keep-on-painting-together day.
at

8 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 7:47 PM

    Guinevere looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barbara MuirAugust 31, 2011 at 8:08 PM

    Thanks Sally,

    I hope you had a great weekend.

    XO Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liza HirstSeptember 1, 2011 at 2:39 AM

    Your painting is also lovely! I very much like the loose style here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barbara MuirSeptember 1, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    Hi Liza,

    Thanks so much. That makes me happy.
    Back to the easel. Your paintings are awesome.

    xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxBarbara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mary Sheehan WinnSeptember 1, 2011 at 4:12 PM

    This is so Modigliani.
    Sorry about your getting the boot. It happened to my group when our old shoe factory building was bought for condos in 2007. We were able to move on but it was traumatic.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Barbara MuirSeptember 1, 2011 at 9:04 PM

    Hi Mary,

    It is traumatic. One of our members put it beautifully when he said, this place isn't the club, we are. But we'd been promised a space in the Don Valley in Toronto in perpetuity, so it was a shock to everyone. No we were not the space, but the space was beautiful. And what matters is making art together. That is true.

    Sorry your club had to go through this.

    XO Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  7. BrandNewStudioSeptember 4, 2011 at 6:54 AM

    Fascinating work.
    It has been delightful
    to visit your gallery.
    Good Creations

    ReplyDelete
  8. Barbara MuirSeptember 4, 2011 at 10:36 PM

    Hi Brandnewstudio,

    Thanks so much. I'm so glad that you enjoyed my work.

    Take care,

    Barbara

    ReplyDelete

Your thoughts and positive comments make my day. Thank you for stopping by.