Saturday, November 3, 2012

Seeing Big, Seeing small

Untitled work (work in progress)
lower half
Drawing and beginning of the underpainting 
(This section in black)
Acrylic and willow charcoal on gessoed canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2012
Hi everyone,

Here's a picture of the bottom half of the big, big
still life.  I will put a better picture on tomorrow,
because the right hand side is a bit bleached out
in this one.

Putting them together to photograph them on the
kitchen counter, I got so excited.  I have to admit
working on this painting makes me feel like a
kid on Christmas morning every time I look at it.
Just the sheer scale makes me want to sing and
dance.  Just ask my family.  Dancing way too much.
And still painting.

The life of an artist is inspired by the visual, and
emotional in all shapes and sizes.  Just finished
reading a very tough, but totally rewarding novel
 The Good Dream by Donna VanLiere. Parts
of it were excrutiatingly sad. The story us about
a boy living with an abusive man, who is noticed
by a very kind woman.



Artists are also moved by small things like the
sight of these pigeons eating.  Steven and I sat
in the car stunned by our vet bill, and this scene
lifted my mood.

Please give generously to the Red Cross Relief
fund for people trying to recover from the
devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

Have a good Sunday.

8 comments:

Flora Doehler said...

Barbara, I absolutely love this new work of yours. It's very inspiring from a theme and size point of view. Love the composition too.
Does the black stay? I'm totally intrigued.
I'm glad your pets are all feeling better, but oh. The vet bill sounds nasty.
And happy birthday to all of you!
I eagerly await the next step of these paintings.
xoxo Flora

Laurel Daniel said...

And dance you should!!!! Wish I was there to see it coming together in person... And to join in the foot stomping! Joy!

Xoxox Laurel

Melinda said...

Oh, this is going to be spectacular! It's looking so good. Can hardly wait to see how you finish it: what colors, what texture, what detail.

How interesting that you put up a video of the pigeons. I was just complaining about having too many hanging out on my neighbor's roof and then noticed that there were nine very fat quail having a big party in our side garden. Love the quail, we do.

So glad you're safe and that your animals are alright. I'm very sorry about the huge vet bill, though.

May you sell lots of paintings to make up for the expenses.

Hugs!

Nicki said...

This painting is getting me excited! If I wasn't so exhausted I would do a little jig along with you! :)

Looking forward to seeing more, especially when you get your gorgeous, joyous colour on that canvas.

Hugs,
Nicki

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Flora,

I think the latest image will answer your question about the black. Glad you like it, and I wish you could be here this week to eat some of the cake and drink a glass of champers with us.

XO Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Oh Laurel,

Wouldn't that be nice. One day soon we must do some foot stomping together.

XOXOXOXOXOXBarbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Melinda,

Thanks for the wishes of prosperity. I am a big fan of birds, and love pigeons as long as they're not on my garage roof stealing all the food in the bird feeder. But birds in general are a source of great pleasure to me.

Hugs to you,

Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Nicki,

More is coming. We could have a big dancing party here if we gathered all of our painting friends together eh? That would be fun. Thank you so much.

XO Barbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!