My friend Flora

Flora at the Bear River market

Watercolour and blue marker on Canson drawing paper

9 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2011

(I did this little sketch of Flora at the market

in Bear River when I was on the

phone yesterday grabbing the nearest

pen to hand.  But today I thought Flora

needed some colour, so added watercolour.

One of the great things about Flora,

is that she won't mind if it's not 

entirely accurate.  Painting is painting,

and she totally gets that.  In my little

painting she's standing in front of one of

her beautiful pictures of dancing Irises.)

The art blog world is creating a virtual network that
operates the way friendship circles probably have
happened since the beginning of time.  Since university
I've met some of my friends through my children's school,
some through my dog, and many through art.
Flora Doehler and I met because we belonged to the same
art club, and loved each other's work.  At shows I'd
go around looking at all the paintings and hers
leapt off the wall and spoke to me.  She loves bright
colours, is brave and experimental, tries all
different sizes, and now documents her processes
on her blog.

Flora with her wonderful painting Floral Fusion

Acrylic on canvas

I think it's 36 x 30 

Flora Doehler © 2011

(Flora's work and this gorgeous painting is

available at the Flight of Fancy Gallery in Bear River.)

 When I first visited her Toronto house I was blown away
by the way she and her husband, Larry Knox
used colour -- bright glorious colour in every room.
But in addition to the brilliance, Flora was super organized,
and in a house almost as tiny as mine had her art life under
control.  Her studio, like mine now, was in her living room and
dining room, but the room easily transformed back
into its original use through the clever use of drawers
and draped cloth hiding the supplies.

I have learned so much from Flora, and hers was the first
portrait I drew via Skype that I posted on my blog and
that set off a whirlwind of media interest.  Why did I draw
her that way?  About three years ago Flora left Toronto,
and moved to Bear River, Nova Scotia,
with Larry, who is a fabulous artist in metal and precious
stones. Losing the ability to drop in on Flora,
show together, paint together and learn what she was up to
was a big loss for me.  But she now lives and works in Nova
Scotia, one of my favorite Canadian provinces, and for the
past three years we've made a point of getting together when
we're there.  And when we can't "see" one another we visit
via Skype.

Either way the air buzzes with ideas whenever we meet,
and in Nova Scotia we can barely settle down to share a
meal with Steven and Larry. Her work always inspires and
delights me.  So three cheers for Flora.

Have a getting-together-with-art-friends day.