Honouring older work

At the art show

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 2011 

I was scrolling through my blog looking for posts about this
day (June 30) and found a post about a piece I was 
working on 11 years ago.  I love the painting, which is of
an artist and her daughter -- from a photo I took at a show
at the Don Valley Art Club.  

I love how the painting captures the love between
the mother and daughter, and how proud the daughter is of
her mother's work. These are special times that will come
back to us as art shows open up again, and we can share
our work with a live audience.  These moments mean the
world to artists, who spend most of their days working 
alone.

Have a loving your life day.

July 1 means the world to me

The Life Changer

Black marker on drawing paper

11 x 14 inches

Barbara Muir © 2014

This week is the week of Canada Day on July 1.  Fire crackers are
already going off in the neighbourhood. Unlike in past years
not as many people are putting up Happy Canada Day signs,
or the red and white Maple Leaf flag.  The invasion of Ottawa, our capital
this winter, changed our feelings about the flag.  It was used
as a symbol of the trucker convoy who positioned themselves

in front of the parliament buildings and stayed for weeks,
because they wanted "freedom" mostly it seemed from masks,
and the vaccines that have been saving our lives during this
pandemic. And apparently they are going back for Canada Day.

 
So we won't be hanging a flag like we have before this whole

fiasco happened.   The front of our house is already
white, with red shutters, (white and red are the colours of
the Canadian Flag), so we've got the theme going.

But for me Canada Day will always mean something infinitely
more important.  Because Canada Day was also the day I
went into the hospital with labour pains. And I had my baby boy,
Christopher, the next day.

This image is of a mother and child looking at one
another after the birth for the first time.  That mother
and child are me and Christopher.  Yes I wasn't always
blonde.  The drawing is far from perfect, but I think
it gets that shock, absolute love, and wonder on the
mother's face, and the shock of being in the world --
and "who are you? " on the baby's face.

And what a delight that baby, now a grown man, is in our
lives.

Happy Birthday Week Christopher.

 

Great art group tonight

Art group sketch --
Man in blue
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 20 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

Working with my art group is almost magical.  I think I had
about 45 minutes with them tonight, and 30 was this pose.
We were lucky to have a great model, and this image flew
onto my canvas.  That's the most fun -- how painting a 
person who is modelling live transmits the image almost
without thought.

Amazing.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

End of day

Late day light
Cherrywood
Acrylic ink on 
watercolour paper
6 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

Yesterday was such a joyous day.  And when we took the dog
for a short walk the sky was magnificent.  I am not a sunset
painter -- never say never.  But this sky captivated me, and
I wanted to give it a try.

Here it is. Acrylic ink is maybe not the best for clouds, still I 
had fun trying to get that beauty down, even with the wrong
medium. What I hadn't planned on was spending most of the
day with it.  Some days in an artist's life are like that, and 
everything is learning.  Now back to the canvas. Yay!

Have a loving your life day.

We need to talk about it

Happiest Day
Acrylic ink on 
watercolour paper
4 x 6 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022
(Our anniversary was
a very happy day.  But the
news that came out
about Roe v. Wade
being overturned that
day was devastating.)

This is the little painting I did for a Happy Anniversary card for Steven.
It’s been a complicated weekend emotionally. I am overjoyed to be
celebrating my happy marriage. We’ve had a beautiful time despite
the fact that I’m still recovering from whatever bug hit me last week.

And today is my friend Georgia’s birthday and I wish her the happiest day.

I can’t ignore and don’t want to what’s happening in our neighbouring country
south of the border. The women of the United States have been betrayed by
their own Supreme Court, which on Friday overturned Roe versus Wade and
the right to a safe, legal abortion.

This has happened in a country that will not eliminate assault weapons so that
people shopping for groceries, and little children in school will be safe from
being murdered. I am heartbroken, and will do whatever I can as a Canadian
to help my neighbouring country's women. 

If you have women friends, and you talk to them seriously about their lives,
I'd predict that the majority have either had an abortion or taken the morning
after pill. We have been so lucky to have that right. And in Canada we still do.
Every woman deserves the right to choose. 

Have a making a difference day.

A Happy Saturday

Waves for you
Acrylic ink on 
watercolour paper
6 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

 It was a hot one here in Toronto today. Steven and I continued our anniversary
 weekend celebrations. We went to the market to see the farmer who sells wonderful
 lettuce, quiche, eggs and delicious pastries for Steven.

Because it was hot we went for a walk in the mall (masked). We haven’t even been
to a mall more than a couple of times in the past year. It was a shock and also fun to
see all the artistic decorations in the stores used to try and sell us stuff. COVID has
made being a consumer seem frivolous. 

And I painted this happy acrylic ink painting based on a memory from Nova Scotia.
I love the sight of waves, and of course I love clouds. So this little painting has it all.

Wishing you a very happy Sunday.

Happy Anniversary Steven

Me and Steven on our
wedding day
(I had dark hair--yes)

More recently in Paris
Photo
Steven van Schaik ©

This will be short and sweet because it's our wedding anniversary.
We've had a wonderful day - sleeping in, reading, puttering around
the house.  We had a take out lunch, then a walk at one of
our favourite parks by the lake. 

Our flower store gave me peonies (one of my favourite flowers),

and Steven bought us a take out dinner from one of our favourite
restaurants. We toasted our very happy marriage, and our great life
together.

 Perfect.

 Have a loving your life day.

Surprise Inspiration

Poppies in the garden
photos
Barbara Muir © 2022
(Rule of three -- there had to be three
poppies here for you. But they're 
growing in twos! So the third one is here,
but it was blowing in the wind, so it is
a bit blurry.)

Yesterday I told you that I've been a bit under the weather. True today too,
but I’m on the mend. I looked out the window today and saw that a bunch
of gorgeous field poppies have grown huge and bloomed — overnight! 

I have been working on a drawing, but it’s not at all ready for  press. If you
don't live where there's winter, it may be hard to imagine the delight of
seeing these beauties. Supreme. 

Have a loving your life day. 

Let the art do the work

Happy Garden Flowers
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

I have been feeling under the weather all day today.  I did a COVID
rapid test (we have dozens) and it was negative.  But I have not
been energetic enough to create anything new. Thank goodness
for the blog.

Scrolling through my blog, looking for the topic "under the 
weather,"I found this delightful painting.  The weather in that
post was actual weather -- thunder storms and high wind, and
rain encountered driving to an early morning class I was teaching
about an hour north of Toronto. That is different.

This painting is here to wish you a happy rest of the week.  I hope I will
feel back to normal tomorrow.

Have a loving your life day.

Drawing on a hot day

The Docent
marker on Bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022
(This was meant to be a
sketch, but I could see
myself doing more 
work on it.)

This wasn't a day for going for a walk.  It was very hot. Instead I
continued the photo sorting and deleting I started yesterday, making
space on my older computer, which is much better and simpler for
email than my new one, but doesn't have enough memory.

So I wanted to draw. I've had a photo of a wonderful docent
I met at the MoMA a few years ago.  It's a hard job.  Most of
the time the docent is just standing watching people go by. But
if you have a question, they know so much about the art they
look at every day. That was true of this man, who posed for me
when I asked. 

I may work on it a little more. I was feeling very tired, and drawing him,
and thinking about the amazing art in the MoMA in New York
cheered me up immensely.

Have a loving your life day. 

Happy Father's Day week!

Portrait of my father 
black marker on bond paper
7 x 9 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010

I didn't post this drawing yesterday, although I think it's the best
one of my father.  And looking through my posts from recent
years I found this letter to my father.  It holds true.  As I was 
saying to a friend yesterday who lost her father a year ago, the
love lasts, and it does.  Love is a profound emotion. And I
am a firm believer in love.

"Dear Dad,

I miss you every day. You would be happy to know that after
Christopher, we were blessed to have another son, Sam.
They have grown up to be wonderful young men.  You would have
loved them so much.

Your influence on me has been major, as my main loves, like
yours were,  are art and writing.  I feel that I owe you so much.
I too love being near water, and in the countryside, and
as it did for you, that has inspired my work, and
been a pleasure for my family.

Love you,

Barbara"

Have a loving your life day.

Happy Father's Day to my sweetheart

You can't keep a good man down

Acrylic ink and acrylic on canvas

36 x 48 inches

Barbara Muir © 2020

The painting (drawing) today is of my husband Steven, who has
given me such a wonderful life. Our two sons are grown up now,
one is getting married, and one is married with two beautiful
children. Our family is loving, funny, creative -- so fun.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers today -- we mothers appreciate
you so much. Together we have the best times.

Have a loving your life day.

To my father and yours

My Dad (from his own self portrait)

Charcoal on Canson Mixed Media paper

13 x 14 inches

Barbara Muir © 2017

(My father loved black and white photography --

he had books by all of the greats in

that field.  He took beautiful colour

photos too, but that was not his passion.  
The photo I based my drawing on told

me so much about my father.  His love

of playing with light and his knowledge

about light is so evident.  Plus this

is my father in casual dress!  Yes

he would not leave his house, even

to go to the store for many years if

he wasn't dressed properly. Plus his sense

of humour came through in the merest 

suggestion of a smile.)

For tonight's blog I'm going to quote myself, and a blog I did
for my father's birthday.

"I love everything my father taught me.  I most definitely walk in his

footsteps.  He was a very strict father for small children -- but as

we grew up, he enjoyed us more and more.  I'm going to explain
how I feel about him by quoting what I wrote some years ago.

"It's appropriate on this last day of the Month
of Love to think about the meaning of love on
a deep level.  And here's what I know.  Not only
is my father visible in my face, and in my way
of talking, my love of humour, and the fact that
I have been both a journalist, and an artist, like him. 
But the main connection I have with my Dad is in my
heart.

The powerful message he would like me to convey
is that love lasts.  It never goes away.  And
my Dad's love for me, and mine for him is a
wonderful thing, and always will be for me.
Isn't that comforting to know?  I think so."

Have a loving life day.

Small changes and posting to Instagram

One of the best

(Michael Gibson)

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 2022

I made a few changes to my portrait of Michael Gibson yesterday,
and posted the painting on Instagram. I wrote Michael to tell him
that if he didn't like the portrait I'd do another one when COVID was
gone, or on Zoom. And he said that he liked the portrait and was
honoured.

I was so happy.  I think I started the portrait last July.  I have been
very anxious, and there has been so little social life, teaching online,
and the constant backdrop of worrying about COVID. So until recently
when my art group went back in person (masked) with the model on
Tuesday nights, and I joined a virtual show in California (see earlier
posts about the Food For Thought show), I was not my normal self as
an artist. 

Michael liking my portrait made my day, my week, maybe my year.
I was and am so happy.

Have a loving your life day.

Drawing peonies

Peonies #2

marker on Fabriano paper

8 1/4 x 12 inches 

Barbara Muir © 2022

This was a great day I put my painting of Michael Gibson on
Instagram. I made a few changes first, and I'll show it to you tomorrow.
I had no idea how Michael would feel, and he liked it, and said he
felt honoured. That painting took me almost a year to finish --
partially because it was from a photo I took from a video Michael
showed on Instagram, partially because the pandemic has made me
nervous, and mostly because I so admire Michael's work.

I decided to work on another line drawing of peonies.  I should be
adding the shadows, and may. But it took so long just to get a 
drawing because these are such complex flowers.  So beautiful -- and
so intricate. Drawing live though is such a treat. And the flowers
are near the end. So I am drawing them, and once again I thank
my neighbours to the maximum for these gorgeous beauties.

Have a loving your life day.

Draw the line

Peonies
marker on Fabriano paper
8 1/4 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

Here's what happened.  I ordered 3 Fabriano lined notebooks
5.5 x 8.5 inches from the U.S. My art store here doesn't sell
them anymore, and they are the best notebooks to write on.

I looked on Amazon -- they didn't have them so I ordered
them from a store in the U.S.  And they were expensive, but
I wanted them, and needed them -- so I did it.

Today a box arrived at the door.  And it was heavy.  Those
notebooks don't weigh a thing, so I didn't get it. Well -- it wasn't
those notebooks -- it was three 12 inch, x 8 1/4 inch Fabriano
drawing books, blank, with beautiful paper. Really?

Yes.  It was the universe saying I figure -- "you get drawing 
girl."  Combine that with a neighbour up the street giving me
new peonies, and asking me to pick the ones I liked --
and this is the result.

I had to draw.  The message was clear.  I could keep
working on this -- there's no shading, but it is time for bed,
and if I do I'll show it to you. 

Have a getting the message day.

Fabulous model at my art group

Woman in red

art group sketch

14 x 16 inches

Barbara Muir © 2022

Thank you Elena for being an amazing model. You were
wonderful.  Once again I didn't have much time, but 
Elena held the first pose for half an hour, and I missed
part of it, so I think all together I had at the most|
40 minutes for this.

It was a good strong pose.  She wore a bright red
sweater, and sat like the best art models. We were
lucky because the model that was supposed to come
tonight, forgot.

I just love painting live, and hope to do more portraits
in the future when it's safe to have people into my tiny
studio/

Have a loving your life day. 

The luxury of peonies, and the kindest of neighbours

Peonies on the kitchen table
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2022

I worked all day today on a piece that is not ready for me
to show you. So this is one of those times I told you
about when I'll show you a photo instead. 

I am a huge fan of peonies -- one of the most beautiful
flowers ever.  And not one but two sweet neighbours on
our street gave me peonies over the weekend. There
is a whole other vase I didn't show in the photo. I think
they are miraculous looking.  And I am soooo lucky
to be neighbours to super kind people. I thought it would
be a good idea to share them with you.

Have an enjoying your neighbours day.

Drawing on my iPad

Time to tidy
iPad drawing
drawn with my finger
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

It was in many ways a spectacular day.  We finally planted most 
of our front garden, so it looks pretty, and like people live here.
(Lol.) And we enjoyed the views on our back porch and front
porch, shopped for plants, talked about the garden, and argued
about what should go where. Then agreed and got it done.

The threat of rain hung over the day, but it only came down in
very faint drops that disappeared as soon as they arrived, and
we drove to the lake. We stared at the waves, the boats, the
ducks the geese, and the people out enjoying this city on
a Sunday.  

And the clouds were mind blowing again. I was so moved that
I didn't even take a picture! How weird. 

This drawing is on my iPad, and I've worked on it off and on
for awhile. It is of an incredibly messy dresser top. Maybe 
mine. It isn't like that now, but I appreciate the crazy detail.
What I like about still life, even when it's drawn with a finger
on an iPad, is the intimacy, the way things look at a certain
moment. 

Have an enjoying the details in your life day.

Time with my art group

Art group sketch

Acrylic on canvas

16 x 20 inches

Barbara Muir © 2022 

My time with my art group is short because my husband 
Steven drops my off, and then picks me up in an hour.  I like
the discipline of that short timeline. And as there are
a couple of breaks for the model during too, it is
even shorter.  So I am delighted when something comes
together at my art group.

This quick study was a bit rough because I was late to
the group on Tuesday, and didn't get quite the amount of time I
needed. So I did a little more work on it at home, and I'm happy
with it. The model was fabulous, and her outfit was beautiful
and complicated to paint. 

For me the point of a quick sketch isn't a perfect work
of art, it's just to loosen up, and to get to work with other
artists. 

Have a loving your life day.

A treat of a day

Ocean thoughts

(sketch)

Acrylic on watercolour paper

6 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2022

Happy weekend everybody.  Today was spectacularly beautiful,
and I was so lucky to be working painting, and to get to the lake
at the end of the day where everything was so lush and green, 
and it felt like nature was filled with joy. (Artists eh? Everything
visually beautiful gets us going.)

I worked on a few paintings today, but I'm showing you a simple
sketch, because I love both the colours, and the straight up
happiness with life captured here.  The blue of the ocean is a colour
that made me so happy, I was probably annoyingly upbeat all day.
The news can bring me down. Still I feel fortunate that just looking
at the lake, feeding the geese and ducks, seagulls and red-winged
blackbirds, and the sunset makes me content. 

Have an enjoying the world day.

Thank you to everyone in this wide community!

The Barbara Muir Happy Art Award

Barbara Muir ©

(and yes this painting is

in the Food For Thought

show right now. Virtually.)

I had a great day painting, trying things out and thinking 
about the artists' work I was seeing on on my blog list, and
on Instagram, and Facebook posts. This was work by friends,
artists and writers from around the world.  

My painting of a scene is still in the mostly thinking stage,
but I have lots of ideas about what to do next and working
on it, and that and another little painting -- also not finished
-- made me feel happy.

Then looking through my blog posts tonight I noticed
this post about the Happy Art Award.  At the moment I know
too many wonderful artists and writers, to even think about
sending out individual awards, but if you are reading this,
and doing something creative, you get the award. You all
do.

Here's part of the post:

"Suddenly I remembered this -- The Happy Art Award.  Actually
The Barbara Muir Happy Art Award -- a kind of Oscar
for artists designed by me.  But why me you ask?  And why
not?  I reply.  I thought it up one day in response to the many
blog awards going around at the time, and sent it out to all
the artists on my blog list.

Forgive me now, but if you're reading this, you have won the
award, and one day when I am very rich there will be a
monetary prize attached.  But for now to all my artist friends,
collector friends, art appreciator friends, art inspiring friends,
galleries, and art show curators, writers -- to everyone in short who
helps me get this job of art done -- you win my lovely
award.  Your art, friendship, support makes me happy and
that's why you win!"

I think in a world that is making so many of us feel tense and worried
there has never been a more important time to help one another feel
happy if at all possible. 

Have a loving art day!

United Nations World Oceans day

Me with Cloud Magic

Acrylic on canvas

4 x 6 ft.,

Barbara Muir © 2018

 If you know my work, you know I am crazy about the ocean, 
and try to spend some time near the Atlantic ocean in Nova
Scotia every year.  The Maritimes have been a major focus
of my work for quite awhile, because I love that part of
our country so much.

So I hope you care about the oceans and marine life as much
as I do.  I'm showing you one of my favourite ocean paintings
tonight to celebrate and honour the beautiful part that
oceans play in my life.

Have a loving where you are day.

The beauty of drawing

The breakfast phone call
8 1/2 x 11 inches
marker on bond paper
Barbara Muir © 2009

Tonight I wanted to talk about drawing, and how powerful
the drawing experience is for me.  I have drawn in hospital
waiting rooms, in restaurants, on trains, planes, and in my
home whenever the mood hits, or when what I'm looking at is 
compelling.

This is a drawing of my son, and thirteen years later it
tugs at my heartstrings. How lovely it was to have children
hanging about in the kitchen. Plus I love the detail.

Have a loving what you do day.

More nature

In the pink
photo
Barbara Muir © 2022

 I spent part of the day painting plein porch (I was on our
back porch). The drawing was fine, but I tried using watercolour
crayons, and that did not work. Plus the beautiful green backdrop
of solid trees looks magnificent in real life, but a painting would
require sky to explain it. 

The main thing is keeping going. Art is a constant of course.
So tonight another photo -- beautiful blooming branches from a street near
our favourite park.

Have a loving your life day.

Being an artist -- break the rules!

Clouds inspire awe
Photograph
Barbara Muir 2022

I am at the end of a combination work and holiday for two weeks.

My husband Steven was on holiday, and although I kept working, there
was still a holiday air about the past two weeks, and we went to
Ottawa, and visited my brother and his wife. That was lovely. 

Plus we went to the AGO, (Art Gallery of Ontario), which counts
as work for me. There was a so much going on -- so many exciting
exhibitions. So tonight I'm going to share a post from a few years ago
about a visit to the MoMA in New York City, and a great talk with

a docent there. 

So here's my post:

"I was in the MoMA yesterday, and talked to more than one of the docents
who guard and explain the exhibitions.  One fellow who I met last time
I was at the MoMA remembered me, and that I'd told him to ditch
the word "hobby."  He paints for 8 hours every day!  He won a contest
at the Art Institute in New York City, that gave him free tuition.  But
because he isn't in exhibitions, he considers himself a hobbyist.

Talking to people who work in the art field, whether working in
museums, or in art supply stores, I hear this apologetic tone over
and over again, from people who are making art.  Art schools tell
their students that they aren't really artists until?  Until what?
I say the minute a child puts a crayon, or paint brush or pencil
to paper, that child is an artist.  That's what it is.  Doing it.

And as we talked the docent and I realized how crazy it was
to be told artists must do this or that, surrounded as we were
with every kind of modern art experiment -- now valued as
the best in the world.  These artists broke with convention and
everyone calls what they did -- art!

Have a making your art day. 

The Food For Thought Reception

Breakfast in the hotel

(the star of the show)

Upper right section

Acrylic on canvas

36 x 48 inches

Barbara Muir © 2012

Tonight was the Zoom reception for the Food For Thought virtual
show put on by the San Fernando Valley Arts And Cultural Center
in California. I wanted to feature one of the paintings in the
show for the Zoom, so I sat in front of the work shown above, which
is one quarter of the 4 piece work called Breakfast In The Hotel.

It was wonderful to meet the show juror, Terry Romero Paul, and
the show curator, Carolyn Uhri, who I'd met on the telephone, and to see
Ken Ronney, from SFVACC, who helped me when I was submitting
my work. And it was a treat to hear the artists talk about their work. 

I am grateful to the San Fernando Valley Arts And Cultural Center for
including my work in this great show, and to Terry Romero Paul
for picking my work Stand Back For The Pie for First Place in the show. 

Have an enjoying your life day.

More on a food theme

Studio lemons in a glass bowl 

Acrylic on cradled birch panel

12 x 12 inches

Barbara Muir © 2017

SOLD ♥  

As the virtual Food For Thought reception is tomorrow night between
5 and 7 Pacific Time, I thought I'd stay on the food theme.  As I write
this I'm sitting at our kitchen table, where my husband Steven and I
eat dinner by candlelight almost every night that we're home.  I'm sure
I mentioned before that my son Christopher told me that a bowl of 
fruit was a great way to decorate the table, even if you have no flowers.

So this painting is not in the current show. It is of the centrepiece on our
much used pine two board table. So beloved. We can see one another over
the lemons, and we keep them fresh and cheerful. I love painting things
that have meaning to me. These lemons have been a cheery sight on cold
winter nights, during hard times, and celebratory at the best of times. The
Food For Thought exhibition which opened on June 1, is about what I
would call the best of times.  If you are interested in attending the Zoom reception
 contact me and I'll send you the link.

Have an enjoying your joyous moments day.

Thank you to my art group

Sally (an art group sketch)
Acrylic on canvas
12 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

I am so happy my Tuesday night art group has started up
again. It's wonderful to paint and draw from a model. This past
Tuesday the model was Sally, and she was very good. I was late
arriving, and Steven was coming to pick my up at 8:35. So I
with breaks I had a total of 25 minutes to get this painting
sketch done.

I'm very happy with it.  I just get in that group and feel my
art energy working. It is almost magic. Okay it is magic. And
I am very grateful.

Have a loving what you do day.  And if you haven't checked
out the virtual show Food For Thought that I mentioned that
I'm in last night, here's the link. 

The Food For Thought VIrtual Show begins today

 

Show poster for the California
San Fernando Valley Arts and 
Cultural Center's Virtual Exhibition.
Please hit the link below to see
the delightful group show. I can't
wait to hear what you think.

Hi everyone.  Here's the link for the San Fernando Valley Arts
And Cultural Center's Food For Life Virtual Exhibition.
I am proud to have five of my paintings in the exhibition, and
to have won First Place for my painting -- Stand Back For The Pie.

It is all very exciting.  So please check it out. To see more about
my work in the exhibition see last night's post. 

Have a loving the art you see day.