Wednesday, April 3, 2019

In praise of art teachers everywhere


Pansies in a cream jug
Acrylic ink and black
marker on Canson paper
5.5 x 8.5
Barbara Muir © 2019

One of my favourite art teachers painted watercolours
of very depressing cityscapes.  I say that to underscore
the value of appreciating beauty.  Because every spring
when the pansies arrived in flower stores, he produced
flower paintings of pansies. That gave the rest of us total
justification to do so. If a painter of grim realism could
paint flowers, everyone could.

Pansies in spring are really a gift of hope.  I love them,
and tonight when I had time for a sketch that's what I
worked on.  Thank you to my dear friend Flora Doehler for
introducing me to acrylic inks, which are phenomenal
to work with.  And I can't imagine any other paint
getting the rich purple of the pansies in this little cream
jug.

Have an appreciating your art teachers day.

2 comments:

laura said...

I have been thinking of getting some acrylic inks to try ...
Sweet picture--love the red-violet!
Almost bought some of these yesterday ... but it's still a little too soon for planting here!

Barbara Muir said...

Thank you so much. My friend claims that Liquitex are the best, and I'd agree.
They work fine on their own, work like watercolour with water, and can blend
with acrylic colour to give it a boost.

XOXOXOXOXO 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!