Animals — the artist’s friends

Sally the dog

Acrylic on canvas

5 x 7 inches 

Barbara Muir © 2014

Artists are just like everyone else.  We work, we display our
work, and sell it to earn a living.  But unlike most other workers,
we work alone.  That's great when what you want is quiet time,
or time to think about, and plan your next project.  Still it
can be lonely as heck in the long hours it takes to get a
painting or drawing right.

That's where the beasts come in.  Pets.  They are the answer
to the solitude of the slow, deliberate, have to do it,
artist.  Take my pets.  Sally the dog needs to be let out
regularly. That gets me out of the studio, and at the very
least to the back door to look at the yard and the day.  I
don't walk her often, because she pulls, and especially
now -- in icy weather, I wait until I can walk holding onto
Steven and see Sally chase her ball, and toboggan on her
back down the snowy hills in our local park. Just had such a
walk this evening, and it was so much fun!

Good cat with a good book

iPad drawing

8 x 10 inches

Barbara Muir © 2012

Timbah is my morning cat.  He understands that when I'm
reading and drinking my coffee before the day starts in earnest,
he is my companion, snuggled beside me on the bed. Sometimes
when I'm eating at the kitchen table I feel a sudden warmth beside me
and he's on my chair purring.

Fiona 

Acrylic on mounted birch panel

5 x 7 inches

Barbara Muir © 2014

Fiona is my familiar.  She's Siamese and requires both affection
and entertainment.  If I need a nap partway through a project,
to think things over, she will sleep on my sweater, her face at
my neck, and her purr puts me out in a few minutes.  She's also
musical, and wants some time on the piano, so I open it up, play
a few notes, and she takes over, putting on a cat concert.  Very funny
and entertaining -- the perfect antidote to artist's block.

Don't have a pet?  Go for a walk and see all the wildlife around.
Or get a pet, but realize that's a lifetime commitment, so it's
a big decision.

Have a thanking your pets day.