I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission or purchase one of my paintings 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: The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Your positive comments mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you! Website: barbaramuir.com Instagram: @barbaramuir.art
Today I'm showing you a photo. Of all of the beautiful photos
I've taken in the last two days, this one resonates the most. Why?
Because the people love the lake so much, that instead of using one
of the available (though rare) tables for their picnic, they climbed
out onto the rocks, to get the full Lake Ontario experience.
And the waves were crashing against the rocks and sending
up beautiful spray. So sweet.
Have a loving your life day.
Today would make busy look like a holiday. We have been
on the go since before I even had coffee. That happens sometimes.
So much to get done. We planted one whole garden, and part of
another. We have 3 garden spaces in our backyard. I should say
Steven did the planting and I helped -- weeding while he did most
of it.
I still have so much to do, but love this image and post from 2019
titled This Lucky Girl. Last night on our night walk with the dog
there was a backyard party near the alleyway we walk in, and Steven
and I danced briefly across the street, unseen by the party people
with the dog in complete astonishment.
Here's the post from 2019
"This young woman, who modeled for me when
I was doing pastel drawings, has had a magical life.
Have a loving your life day.
Journal Sketch
marker on journal paper
6 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2023
As the power has shut off once for a few hours today, and may
go off again at any minute, I'm writing this now. This morning
working on my 3 journal pages and sketches, I was able to get
a rough sketch of a young woman I want to feature in a
painting.
What challenged me when I first tried to draw her was her glasses.
I drew a rough sketch of the painting I was planning on a square
canvas, and realized that I needed to get a rectangle canvas and
paint horizontally to fit her and her boyfriend in with their arms
stretched across a table. So the good news while the power is
on, is that the glasses were not a problem. And I may
proceed with that painting empowered by my improved
ability, when our power (electrical) here is secure.
Have an acknowledging your own power day.
Today was ferociously hot, but not as hot as all of the
southern United States, and southern Europe. I have
been in meetings, and busy today, so wanted to find
something meaningful from the past.
2020 was when this long, long pandemic began. We
had no vaccines, and new variants kept coming at us.
One of my friends, the wonderful artist Georgia
Fullerton, held a GASP session for artists on Zoom,
to try and inspire us to keep going. I will quote that
piece tonight, and show the poor quality video I made to go
along with the blog post.
The other day I got the promise of a commission, and
when I mentioned it to a friend, the promise of another
commission. The first one is to paint a flower garden,
and the second one is of a garden through a window.
All enticing, because I love flowers.
The first request may want something very realistic
in a Dutch Renaissance way -- that will be a challenge.
So I found this drawing I did years ago when I was
painting flowers every day, and I worked primarily
in coloured pencil. And my style was more realistic.
In recent years I like a much looser impressionistic
style.
So I will let you know where this goes.
Have a loving your life day.
At the restaurant
Black marker on Moleskine paper
6 x 9 inches
Barbara Muir © 2011
Our date night used to be Thursday, but now I'm
teaching on Thursday night, so our date night is
Tuesday. We head out to Ikea, wear masks in the
line, then eat 40 feet away from anyone else and
enjoy ourselves.
The staff know us, and are very sweet. It's not
quite like this drawing from the pre-pandemic
restaurant days, but it isn't bad.
Have a loving your life day.
People who read my blog often comment on how we
are always celebrating. Of course that's not true, but
Steven and I do notice a couple of important dates
each month that are just ours -- our Monthaversary
of our first date, and our Monthaversary of our wedding,
which happened 11 months after our first date.
Last year on this day I wrote to you that love is coming,
if it isn't in your life right now, and you want it. I could
never have imagined meeting someone who loved me
from minute one, before meeting Steven. And I wish that
love for you in your life.
Are we perfect? Not at all. We argue quite a bit, but do
we love each other -- yes. To the moon and back.
Have a loving your life day.
Steven -- the love of my life
with two of our constant
companions -- (Monet the
kitten is now a cat, and Fiona)
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2022
Yesterday was the anniversary of our first date --
which we celebrate monthly, but the annual one
is of course more significant. Still yesterday we
were exhausted from a busy week, and not at all
celebratory.
So today we got it right. We drove out to our favourite
park by the lake, passing a wonderful outdoor band, and
a dancer teaching moves to a very happy crowd. We
picked up delicious chocolate covered ice cream
bars, and ate them watching the dancers and
listening to the band. What a treat.
That felt perfect, because we love one another, and
talked all day about that first date, and the days, years
that followed.
Thank you to everyone who has made our life
together so happy.
Journal portrait sketch
Marker on notebook paper
6.5 x 8.5 inches
Barbara Muir © 2023
In the past month I've been trying to do three drawings
in my three daily pages of journals. Although the drawings
improve as I drink my morning coffee, I am not a
morning person, so they are far from perfect. But perfect
isn't the goal anyway, so they make me happy.
The drawing today is from a little photo in our kitchen of
me reading to my sons -- Christopher and Sam, when Sam was
a baby. I liked the serious look on my face. That is a
wonderful pleasure -- reading to children.
As usual it's a busy weekend.
Have a loving your life day.
Journal sketch based on
Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci?)
in Mythological Guise
tempera on panel
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main
Sandro Botticelli, c. 1480/1485
Barbara Muir © 2023
Super tired today. We had guests who arrived late last night, when
I got home from teaching my night class. They stayed over
because an electrical mistake near our guests apartment building,
resulted in an explosion and fire. And now power or AC
in the building.All fixed now.
Here is a journal drawing I did of a Botticelli painting of
Simonetta Vespucci.
More tomorrow. For now, tired and taking a break.
Have a loving your life day.
Water Image 3
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010
We were talking tonight in class about how to unify people
and make them feel part of the community when they come
from all over the world. In my art, I have tried to create small
communities to link people and places from different geographic
locations.
This painting Water Image 3 is part of a series,
joining the oceans, and people that loved specific ocean places
together by bands representing the beaches at the edge of the ocean.
This is one of my favourites, a young woman from India I met
through a class, and had come to work for a family here as a nanny.
She was studying Pre-health with the hope of one day becoming a nurse,
or a doctor. She moved several times, and I lost touch with her. I hope
she achieved her dreams. I'm forever grateful to her for posing for me.
The painting travelled to New York, and hangs in my studio at the moment.
Have a loving your life day
I have been drawing small portraits today, inspired by an
artist I'll talk about in a future blog. But this portrait from
2014 way before COVID in my part of the world, drew me in.
And as a small portrait, I think it has a delightful
amount of life and happiness.
I am reposting the piece I put up in 2019, in fond memory
of that relatively worry-free time.
"A few years ago -- (OMG 5!) -- we had
Fun times
(work in progress)
Marker on
Fabriano paper
5.5 x 8.5 inches
Barbara Muir © 2023
Today a strange little drawing. The woman is from a magazine
article, she was holding a dog, but this is a different random
dog photo, same magazine, small, and without explanation. The
baby was based on a photo of one of mine.
Everything is different than the sources, and I like the result.
When I'm in the mood to draw, it's a happy day.
It was a glorious day here today, we saw one of my brothers-in-law,
and had nice lunch together, then I walked with my friend, and
enjoyed it so much. Rain held parentheses around the walk, which
miraculously was in sunshine.
Have a loving your life day.
Last year on this day, I called thinking about this painting
Dream Time. Today one of our family dreams is coming
true with relatives coming for dinner, rapid tested all way
from California.
And a after that this is the next dream -- going to our
school house. Here's what I said about it last year on this
day.
"I get the recharging of fresh air, a slow pace, and exquisitely beautiful
scenery on our annual trip to our school house in Nova Scotia.
The entire journey is wonderful, and of course there are landmarks
all along the way. This is one of them -- the house on the hill that
means we're almost at Pugwash, and almost at our home in
Nova Scotia. I have painted this house so many times, and never
met the people who own it. Maybe some day.
Have a loving your life day."
Morning bouquet
Marker on Fabriano
drawing paper
8 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022
It's been a busy weekend. I found this sketch of market
flowers from last year, and have two beautiful bouquets
in my kitchen right now from the farmer we buy goodies
from every weekend. One of the people who helps him
with customers is Stephanie, who proudly presented me
with a huge bouquet yesterday. It turned unto two luscious
displays in my house.
I hope I do get a chance to draw this year's versions. So
magnificent, and varied.
Have a loving your life day.
Steven and I, as I've told you in years before, are late,
not great gardeners. By the time the end of the season
rolls around in October or maybe November, we will
have a lovely full garden, planted in snatches, when the
mood hits, and the right flowers appear in a garden
center.
We have some perennial flowers, and I am grateful for
them -- a 5 foot wide stand of fall blooming anemones,
Irises, some pink lilies blooming now. Poppies showing
up here and there, and some very weak looking Cosmos,
which will jump up given the chance. (The Cosmos reseeded
themselves!)
But the flowers we couldn't find anywhere this year were
Nasturtiums, which are one of my favourites. Seriously
we've been to 5 or 6 garden centres looking for these
beautiful plants -- nothing.
But today on a drive out east we stopped at a small flower
shop -- and there they were.
Thank you Cathy at the store, and her siamese companion
cat, Marley for making us very happy. May the planting begin.
Have a loving your life day.
Morning sketch
Marker on notebook paper
6.5 x 8.5 inches
Barbara Muir © 2023
I'm grateful that I'm making myself draw in my journal first
thing in the morning. My rule is simple -- 3 pages in the
journal combining writing and 3 drawings. I don't always
get all three pages done, but when I do, I feel like an
artist, even if the day -- like today was spent mainly trying
to sort and tidy my studio, and try to organize my house.
Small steps.
The artist Simon Davis, whose work I love, featured portraits
today of the dancer, choreographer, Ching-Ying Chien. I
looked her up on Instagram, and did this fast sketch on coffee #2
of her. (As you know things improve with coffee #3).
She is a magnificent dancer, and I'd love to see her perform if
she ever comes to Canada.
Have a loving your life day.
Morning journal sketch
of Linus Torvalds
from a Peter Adams
photo
I teach today, so I didn’t have much time for art. But in the
morning I try to write/draw three pages in my journal. This
morning, drinking my second coffee – so somewhat awake,
I drew this man whose photo I found online under the word Faces.
It turns out the photo is by Peter Adams, and the subject is a
man called Linus Torvalds Who invented the Linux operating
system.
Starting the day off, drawing as I drink, my first coffee helps
me feel like I am an artist, even if there is no time in the day
for more serious work.
Thank you for all your support and for your continuous
inspiration.
Have a loving your life day.
I am a bit tired today, and have what feels like a million
chores to do. But just as I was feeling somewhat
overwhelmed, I noticed a letter in the mail slot from
a dear artist friend in Texas, Susan Carlin.
I planned to put a drawing on as my post today, and a
drawing of Susan came up. We drew one another via
Skype in 2009. 'Perfect,' I thought, and then
read my post about it in 2019, and decided to put that
on today's blog too.
"Leaving your parents' sheltered and safe home to
go out on your own at 17 can have its downsides.
It is lonely - even if you live with a friend, and
scary, even if its in a safe area of town, and a lot
of work. But what I was lucky enough to realize
early on -- if you read my earlier story about a family
in my neighbourhood who were kind to me as a seven
year old -- is that the world is full of mentors.
Today I worked on the painting I showed you yesterday.
I also worked on a landscape painting and had so much
fun changing it. Both are not finished.
Plus I listened to a podcast interview on Alyson Stanfield's website
with Amy Clay on Artist Residencies. That was a treat. So was
talking to my artist friend, Flora Doehler, who did a vibrant
drawing of the view out her window during our conversation.
So it was a busy day with thunderstorms expected, but we worked
in our walk before the storm.
The painting I'm showing you is available. It brings back so many
memories of the gorgeous flowers we buy from Ken Lander
in Pugwash, Nova Scotia and Sunrise Greenhouses. If you're
interested in the painting email me at barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
Have a loving your life day.
Have a loving your road day.
I'm showing you this painting today, although the flowers we've
bought aren't the same. It's just one of my best paintings of
market flowers. There's a big jug on the kitchen table filled with
beautiful flowers from the market that I need to arrange, and
perhaps paint.
Plus we bought some flowers for our garden which has some
perennials coming up, but there are large gaps that we want
to fill. So what could be more perfect on a summer's day
than adding to our garden with the sound of Salsa music
from Salsa on St. Clair in the background?
Have a loving your life day.
View from our apartment terrace when
I stayed in Florence the first time
I exhibited at the Florence Biennale.
There was a church right against
our building, and that's the Duomo
in the distance.
photo
Barbara Muir © 2009
I just read a delicious post to Steven about a wonderful dinner we had
on our first visit to Florence in 2009 for the Florence Biennale. The
fabulous experiences we had there are vivid in my memory. I considered
going to the Biennale again this year, but a fragile job situation meant
that I couldn't easily afford the hefty fees -- for exhibiting, transporting
work of any size, air fair for us, and staying in the city during the
Biennale.
Do I think the expenses of exhibiting and travelling are worth it?
Yes. If I could. I would. The photo today is of the view from the
terrace at the apartment we rented for the first Biennale.
Have a loving your life day.
A fruit market we passed
walking to the church of
Santa Maria Novella
where many Medicis are
buried in Florence, Italy.
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2009
The first time I showed in Italy at the Florence Biennale, was
one of the most exciting times in my art career. True I was
showing three portraits, and people didn't seem to
understand why, but it didn't matter. It was the most fun.
And the city was so beautiful, so moving, so rich in art,
fabulous food, wonderful people.
I'm putting on this photo of a fruit market near the
church of Santa Maria Novella. Florence was an
endless visual treat.
Have a loving your life day.
Tonight I taught my first in-class class since March 2020. What
a difference. It was the best. I had so much fun, and somehow
we packed a lot of information, and exercises into a two-hour
period. I wore a mask most of the time, and no one minded.
Thanks to Mark and Hajia, for their help and support, and to all of
the students who were wonderful.
Have a loving your life day.
Our cat Timbah died two years ago on this day. A lot
has happened since then, and we still miss him. After
he died at 16 we think, our older siamese cat, Fiona, was
broken hearted. We couldn't bear the idea of losing two
of our pets, so we got a new kitten to give our older cat
company.
Monet is now just over a year and a half old, and she is
still a major annoying factor in Fiona's life. But even
her constant irritating habits have somehow been a
positive, and have helped Fiona get over missing Timbah.
If there is a heaven (I'm no believer) then our sweet cat
Timbah is there. Meanwhile as I write this Monet has taken
over the dog Sally's bed, and is having a bath while Sally
sighs beside her mattress on the floor. Animals eh?
Have a loving your life day.
I bought some sunflowers the other day. They were
gorgeous while they lasted, and I had fun creating this
image. I have a bit more work to do on it.
Apparently van Gogh painted 11 sunflower paintings.
And I admire him for that. Although they look like a
a simple flower, they are anything but that to paint or
draw.
Have a loving your life day.
It's Canada Day weekend in Canada, and we are having a long
holiday weekend. I found this image and post about painting
loose, and I really like it. I tend to paint more loosely when
I work from a model, and that was certainly true with this
painting sketch. So here is the post from 2019:
Look at this
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2011
Have a loving your life day.
Since the invasion of Ottawa in January, 2022, Canada Day
has changed. Before the right wing, anti-vaccination (for
COVID) truckers invaded Ottawa, Canada Day used to be
a very obvious celebrate-the-country holiday. Our street
would be hung with the Maple Leaf flags on almost every house.
Since that insurrection, almost no one in Toronto hangs a Canadian
flag because the flag is connected with the people who parked
their trucks in front of the parliament buildings for two
months in the winter of spring 2022.
Still we are all proud of many things about our country.
Here's what I said last year -- it still applies.
What I like about Canada: