Monday, March 2, 2009

Painting and drawing all the live long day

Okay maybe I do have ADHD, or maybe it's just the first real
day of reading week and the freedom feels so strange it's like
an illness, except fun? I am working on about four paintings
today. None done, but all progressing, slowly. Those of you
who create a superb painting every day, will not understand
my snail like pace. But I do like watching how snails create
their art with the little slime trail on the beach at Nova Scotia.
They are my molluscan Gastropoda brothers and sisters (very
hard to tell which you're dealing with).

In the afternoon I had a delightful chat on Skype with Flora
Doehler in Nova Scotia. As the sky behind her slipped from
a gorgeous deep twilight blue into dark blue, then black,
she tried to photograph me secretly with Capture (the
Mac program that lets you photograph what's on your screen),
while I photographed her with Capture secretly. We laughed
a lot, and I did feel that holiday happiness talking to her. Then
all of a sudden her face glazed over, and she was filing my
photos. Caught. We laughed.



Flora on Skype today
black marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

To commemorate that event and my first day off I've drawn
this sketch of her on the phone. I love it. She has an
absolutely lovely face -- something of Audrey Hepburn
about the deep eyelids and superb smile. I know I haven't
done her justice. But I still like the picture.

Have an aren't-friends-just-the-best! day.

5 comments:

julie davis said...

Barbara--

Love your sketches! They're so playful--I'd love to sketch some.....may take it up with the sink in confidence lately. Your comments always bring me back up, though; thank you, and I'm looking forward to the one-stroke flowers! VERY challenging, but gives a very pure result.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Julie,

I have no idea why your confidence is sinking, your work is stunning.

You certainly inspire me. I don't know how well I did on the one-stroke. I gave it a whirl.

Take care,

Barbara

Liza Hirst said...

Enjoy you're week off, Barbara!
Although I try to paint a picture every day, I DO understand and sometimes experience the process of developing a painting over a longer stretch of time. Believe it or not, I even have paintings that took months, up to a year! And apart from that, the dailies are usually very small!
Love your sketch! You caught the good mood you two were in!

Barbara Muir said...

Thanks Liza,

You are so encouraging. I liked the sketch myself. We were cracking up. Do you have Skype?

xoxoxoxoBarbara

Liza Hirst said...

Well, actually we do have Skype but unfortunately it doesn't work because of our slow internet connection here. That will hopefully change some 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!