Friday, February 28, 2025

As always missing my father

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


Each year this is a hard day in some ways.  My father is always in my thoughts.
His birthday was today, and he has been gone too long. I don't remember anyone
in my family ever making a big deal of my father's birthday. Too bad because
my immediate family is very celebratory. 

My posts from the last couple of years on this day say it all:

"Happy Birthday to my father, who died way too young. I found an
old journal of mine talking about his love of photography, and how
he bought himself the best equipment.  I passed some of his gear
on to my older son, and to a neighbour who was studying photography
at Metro Toronto University. My father's photography is amazing and
does stand the test of time.

Girl pretending to smoke
 a chocolate cigarette
8 x 10 inches
Photo
W. W. Muir
(One of my all time favourite
photos by my father. He worked
almost exclusively in black and white.
His colour photos are good too.
Chocolate cigarettes are not
cigarettes -- just candy. And yes
you can still buy them.  They
call them candy sticks and they're
wrapped in white paper, and look
like cigarettes.)

And his art was also wonderful. I only have one painting, which is in our
front bedroom, and every time I look at it, I marvel at his talent, with
no instruction whatsoever. He read books about art, and that was that
was how he learned.  I wish he was here.  He was a complicated
man, a harsh disciplinarian in our younger years, and a staunch 
supporter of me and my art, and writing when I was starting out."

He would be delighted that I'm having a solo show this April.  I hear
him encouraging me every time I go and stare at his beautiful painting
of flowers. 

Have a loving your family 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!