Sunday, January 11, 2026

Great Holiday dinner with family

 

True love means springtime in any weather
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
© Barbara Muir 

We had a happy holiday dinner and gifts with family today.  So 
wonderful.  We had so much fun, and a delicious dinner. It's
such a treat being with family -- a  very happy time!

Tomorrow it's full on back to work, and tonight I'm thinking about
what I want to do with my work in the next few months.  That's
is pretty exciting.

This is the last card in the pack of four cards I'll be selling at
the Off The Wall showon Wednesday night this week, at 
35 Hazelton Ave. between 4 and 7:30.  I have many paintings for
sale, and so do the other artists.  All the work in the show is priced
at this $200 or less.  Plus we will have treats, and coffee, and we'd
love to see you there. 

Have a loving your life day!

Saturday, January 10, 2026

Great opening -- loved seeing you there!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Bluebird
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2014

Loved seeing you and meeting you at the second last 
Off The Wall show opening from 2-5 p.m. today. It was super.
This is the third card in the 4 card set of Valentine's cards
I'll be selling again at the last opening -- this Wednesday
January 14 from 4 - 7:30 p.m. at 35 Hazelton Ave.,
Toronto. Please come out.  More delicious treats, coffee,
and great art!

It's movie night now, so I'll make this short. Wednesday's 
opening is exactly one month before Valentine's Day, so
you might want to get ready!

Have a loving your life day!

Friday, January 9, 2026

More to love

 

Time for love
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir ©
(Card #2 of 4 cards in
the packs I'm selling at
the Heliconian Hall 
tomorrow.)

As I said yesterday If you come to the delightful opening of the 
Off The Wall show tomorrow (Saturday) you will see great art
at amazingly  low prices.  And again why buy a print for that
wall in the spare bedroom, or over your desk when you can get
the real thing for less? Plus you can buy my sweet Valentine's
cards for four for $20.00.  (There are 4 different cards with
envelopes in each pack). So come out to the Heliconian Hall,
35 Hazelton Ave., Saturday from 2 - 5p.m. Love to see you there.
Coffee, cookies, treats. And it is free.

I feel sorry for people who say they don't like Valentine's Day.
Why?  To say the day is commercial? Make your own cards then,
or like my mother used to do make chocolate fudge for your children,
or people you love.  My husband andI will decorate the house for
the "month of love" - putting up banners of hearts, and other 
decorations we've made.

Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate.  Celebrate whatever love you have.  
Your cat, your friends, your family near and far.  Love really
is the answer.

And your kindness and love for me, that you show me all year 'round
helps me to think of the world as a space of possibility, and affection,
to feel like miracles can happen even in this incredibly scary time.

Have a loving your life day!

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Not too early to think about love

 

The Lovebird
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2018

If you come to the delightful opening of the Off The Wall show on Saturday
you will see great art at super low prices.  Why buy a print when you can get
the real thing for less? Plus you can buy my sweet Valentine's cards for four for
$20.00.  (There are 4 different cards with envelopes in each pack). So come out
to the Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave., Saturday from 2 - 5p.m. Love to
see you there.  Coffee, cookies, treats.

If you have people you love overseas, now would be the time to get your
kind messages together.  And if you're in town, it's fun to be ready. It's
just a month away.

A single friend of mine living alone in Collingwood told me today that
she would love to receive Valentine's Day cards from friends.  We
agree that Valentine's cards don't have to be about romance, we can
share love with anyone we care about.

Have a loving your life day!

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Come to the opening at the Heliconian Hall this Saturday from 2 - 5 p.m.


Happy Anniversary Tea 
watercolour and marker on
watercolour paper
 6 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © Revised 2025
(Available)

Saturday is the second the last opening of the Off The Wall
show at the Heliconian 
Club, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
from 2 - 5p.m.  
There are many extremely reasonable pieces
available. As always there will be treats and coffee. And it is 
free!

Last year I posted this, which seems as right today as
 it did a year ago.

"I liked this post about purpose.  The world is in a mess -- it seems
like it's worse than in 2020.  The wars are horrific, the climate change
is bordering on out of control.  Diseases are surging again.
My purpose remains the same.

" I think that my purpose is to create hope, spread love, joy and
when I'm in person with friends, family, colleagues and students, to
help us all get to laughter. 

My purpose is to help us get happy.  But sometimes
this feels impossible.  It's hard to see the light with Australia
(and Canada and other countries this past summer) burning,
 and a full scale senseless war in the middle east, and our closest
neighbour starting new wars almost every day.
But we have to keep working 
on joy.  We have to vote for people
who care more 
about climate change, than money for oil, who 
care about saving 
the planet, and protecting the earth's citizens.  
And we have to end all war everywhere.
As an 18 year old I first marched for peace.  Let's get some."

Have an enjoying your purpose day.

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Goodbye to should -- hello to happy!


Winter peonies
(for your pleasure)
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2026

Right now the world is a scary place. And unless you’re in a location
that’s being threatened, I think it’s defiant to be happy. We need to be
conscious of the misery being inflicted everywhere yes. We need to
send money if we can to support causes that deliver food, and we need
to demand that our governments say no to any and every war. But
if we have a place to live, food to eat, heat in winter, cooling in
summer, people who love us, and a community, we can be happy
 — one of the strongest forms of resistance. Making art is another
form of resistance.

Give in to colour, give in to your creative brain’s impulses, and ignore
 the noise. Oh and the shoulders —(should ers) those people who know
 what you “should” be doing and how, even if they’ve never done what
 you’re doing. Just say thank you. Great advice, and go back
to dreaming and creating! 

Yes HAPPY New Year! 

Have a loving your life day!

Monday, January 5, 2026

Does anyone know where we can get another one of these near Toronto?

 

The newest member of our family -- Monet
(a direct descendent -- :-)
She is a Tortiepoint Siamese kitten --
This is how she looked at almost
10 weeks old.  She is now 4 and
much bigger.
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2021


One of the new additions I'd like for the new year, is a new Siamese 
Tortiepoint female kitten. Monet hs grown into a 
beautiful cat, butwe lost her "sister" Fiona last June,
and our dog Sally is a sweetheart, but 13, blind and
deaf, and Monet needs someone to play with.

What about art? I started a complicated drawing of a local diner 
today, and ordered some Valentine's cards (my lovebird
series) to sell at the opening of the Off The Wall show
this Saturday from 2 - 5 p.m. at the Heliconian Hall,
35 Hazelton Ave. Toronto. 

If you're in Toronto, please come out.  All of the art in
the show is selling at $200 or less.  There will be cookies,
and coffee, and baked goods, and treats.  Come on down!
I'd love to see you.

Have a loving your life day!

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!