Thursday, June 1, 2023

Throw back Thursday -- and amazing event in my first year of blogging

Portrait of the Artist
acrylic on canvas
24 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 

I'm working on a bunch of things, so I was looking through my
past posts on this date, and found this treat from 2008 on this
day. So I've decided to post the original story, which was happy
and delightful.

"One of the most exciting evenings of my life as an artist happened
 the night I won 
Best Portrait, for this odd little painting submitted to
 the Don Valley Art Club 
spring show. That year the judge was a man
who travelled extensively for 
Windsor Newton. In choosing my painting
he said that he had just been to a show of portraits at the Tate in London, and
that my work was equal to anything there.

Wow! There were oohs and aahs from the crowd, and a friend of ours rushed away
from the room and purchased the painting on the spot. The evening was not only
wonderful, surprising and a hit on every score. But the funny thing was that because
it was a self portrait, it never occurred to me that someone would buy it. I had
painted it more or less as an artist's joke for my family, because my true artist's
costume, is a pair of paint covered jeans and an old sweater. But this was funny.

The moral of the story? Have fun painting, because the art world is full of surprises.

Have an exciting and surprising day."

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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!