Friday, October 9, 2009

Your Maritime painter



Sun on the schoolhouse
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

What a nice surprise I had when I arrived home
tonight, and it seemed somehow fitting. Last
week one of my classes read Garrison Keillor's
essay How to Write a Personal Letter. Keillor
describes the letter as, "such a sweet gift."
There in my email mailbox was a letter from my
friend Flora that made me so happy -- a "sweet
gift" indeed.

Apparently the CBC Maritime Noon show lists me
on their Twitter site as a Maritime artist from Pugwash.
Yippee. In honour of that designation I'm posting a
folk art type painting of my little schoolhouse in
Pugwash, and thinking about it tonight. The
orange slash at the bottom is the highway, (more of a
pink colour in reality -- but gets its colour from
the local red sand) which is that close to the schoolhouse
Schoolhouses were built very close to the road). The brown
thing sticking up on the left is a surveyor's benchmark. Some of
the tall pines in the background (I might make them
a bit darker) have been felled by storms. But tonight
my heart is there, and I couldn't be prouder than to
be acknowledged as the Maritime painter who
painted this.

Have an acknowledging-your-love-of-the-sea day.

6 comments:

Gwen Bell said...

Congratulation, Ms Maritime Painter! A well deserved kudo!

Love this little house. What a cheery place for learning! You live in such a picturesque location. After seeing this charming building I understand why you are enthusiastic about teaching there. Looks like it is filled with love and happy, happy children.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Gwen,

I don't live in the Maritimes, except for one month a year. This is our summer place, and it does make me happy, but I teach at a big community college outside of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. The schoolhouse is filled with love, but our children are grown up, and it hasn't served as a proper school since 1960 when they built a big county school.

Sorry for the confusion. Glad you like the painting.

xoxoxoxoxBarbara

Anonymous said...

I love the painting....the blue shadow from the school house window is lovely!!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Barbara!
xoxoxoFlora

Nicki said...

I love this little schoolhouse painting Barbara. And it is neat for you to have a keepsake of it through your talent. Congrats on the acknowledgment you received.

Best wishes to you for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Nicki

Liza Hirst said...

Congratualtions from me, too! I can well imagine how happy this makes you as you love your summer retreat so much! Sweet little painting - full of sun!

jdelve said...

Hi Barbara,
I love the wonderful art, comedy & writings you are posting this week, as usual. The cats were absolutely splendid with china & silver candlestick & Steve giggling.
To add about the positive thinking: tonight I heard a panhandler calmly approach me and say "You can spare 50 cents, can't you".
Part of being thankful is appreciating every wisp of joy we encounter. I'm truly grateful today.Creativity starts in the Heavens!!!!Joy to you this week!
Jo-Ann

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!