Monday, August 9, 2010

The Skinny


Shadow play in Forest Hill
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 20 inches
(not quite finished)
Barbara Muir © 2010

I'm thinking of the word skinny because I took
my car in to get the oil changed the other day. That
doesn't make any sense does it? But wait. I
had to wait for an hour -- actually 3 1/2 hours,
but I'm not one for freaking about time spent
waiting. So I walked over to the nearest mall
(Yorkdale) in Toronto, and walked around.
The mall was closed (it was 8 a.m. when I arrived),
but I looked at the display windows in every store.
So much fun to watch the cleaning up, dressing of
mannequins, window styling, and all the preparation
that goes into setting up for another day in one of
this city's top malls. I grabbed a coffee and greatly
enjoyed the peace and quiet and watching the mall
come to life.

The Skinny hit me as every clothing store in
the mall has Skinny jeans. I won't be getting
them, but I thought I'd talk about the skinny on
our vacation. Well...Nova Scotia was as beautiful
as ever, and we had a wonderful time until things
began unravelling at home. We had a completely
wonderful time, but my Siamese cat, the beautiful
and sweet Fiona, missed us too much, and developed
pancreatitis! So after spending about three days
glued to my husband's Blackberry and deep in worry,
we headed for home, and drove the 1600 k
(just shy of 1,000 miles) in two days. (My advice?
Don't do this!)

After extensive vet visits, and three days on an I.V.
while we were gone, Fiona, who is only three, rallied.
People say why all this fuss over a cat? My answer is
that if you don't have a cat you love, you can't know. We
have two cats and a dog. They've been great friends,
great animals, part of our family and the inspiration
for artwork.

Fiona sleeping on my bed

A shout out to my friends in the Maritimes. (More on
that coming), and to Sam, Josephine, Claudia, Cathy and
Sean who kept the home fires burning, kept the garden
watered, and saved our little kitty's life. It was a much
happier homecoming than it could have been without
them.

Now we're back and it's back to work. Art work that
is. I've missed you greatly, and I'm delighted to be
back in the blog world. I don't know if I'm going to
continue to blog daily. I will see how the mood hits
me. I may start to take weekends, or excessively
busy days off. I think I've learned a lot by not blogging.
But that too will have to wait for another day.

Have a hey-it's-still-summer-don't-make-me-buy-fall-clothes day.

15 comments:

cohen labelle said...

Barbara, this is beautiful. I love your use of pattern, reminds me a little of Vuillard – what can I say, I love you both!
xoxoxoxoxo Marcia

Barbara Muir said...

Why Thank you Marcia,

I am delighted that you think so. I immediately looked him up. Blown away I was by the patterned nature, brilliant colour and deliciously abstract quality in his work. I'll take a bow if I in any way resemble him.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxBarbara

Anonymous said...

Hi Barbara,

Your painting beautiful.

Love,
Josephine

eldon said...

Yes, beautiful, love that dappled light.

CHRIS MURRAY said...

Fionna looks like she's recovering nicely on her comfy bed. I admire your love for your animal-I would have traveled as far and as fast for my dog too. Being new to blogging, I feel compelled to try and post every day because I'm trying to improve my skills and it really does force me to put painting first. As much as I love your posts, I think you should do whatever you want. You've been doing this a long time and you are so successful as an artist, you should feel free to kick back whenever you like. We'll be here when you decide to post.

CHRIS MURRAY said...

I apologize for misspelling Fiona's name.

Gwen Bell said...

Seeing your beautiful painting brought a big smile to my face. I've really missed you! Love the big blue shadows in this.

Thank goodness Fiona is on the mend. Kitties can go downhill so very quickly. Sounds like a tough trip, but I know it was worth it to get back home and see her through this. She still looks so fragile in her photo.

PS ~ Love the new profile pic, gorgeous!

Linny D. Vine said...

WELCOME BACK, BARBARA!!!I love the bold yet playful way that you've created your shadows and a super composition, too! I'm so happy that Miss Fiona is on the heal! Good for you deciding to post any way you want...I know that I'll enjoythem whenever they appear.

ps Great photo in previous post and gorgeous profile photo of you as well.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Josephine,

Thanks so much. I'm so happy you like it.

Love Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Eldon,

I'm tempted to paint more of just the shadow, but not sure how to do it. Could I be thinking of going abstract? No! Well maybe just a bit.

Take care,

Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Chris,

What a sweet thing to say. Thanks for giving me permission to pace myself sometimes. I so appreciate that. Fiona is recovering. This is a photo from a few months ago, and I think all she was there was cold.

Take care,

Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Gwen,

Good to be back. Well maybe Fiona was sick in the photo, but I think I took it last winter and she was just cold. I couldn't find her today to take her photo, and she was sleeping on the laundry.

Thanks. My printer asked me to get a much better photo, and he's not completely content with this one either. But he thinks it's better, so that's good.

xoxoxoxoxBarbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Linny,

Thanks so much. I know I missed a lot by being away from the blogs. I was so excited to see your painting the other day. You have such an exciting vision of the planet. Especially the west coast landscape which I've seen and love.

XOBarbara

Susan Carlin said...

What a cool design /composition! Love this!

Nicki said...

Hi Barbara,

I am so happy to know your precious cat recovered. What a scare.

I love how you treated this mottled shadow. Funnily enough I have a large canvas at the studio of the forest floor and I have been trying to work out the shadows on the moss. It had been a source of frustration, so I turned it to the wall and hadn't looked at it for months. I just looked at it with fresh eyes and just might try to save it after all. You have inspired me!

Hugs,
Nicki

P.S. I don't know how you daily bloggers have managed to be so regular. Do what you need to do so that you feel sane in your busy life. Weekends off are a great solution, or blogging every other day or simply blogging whenever you feel like it... there doesn't have to be a rhyme or reason as long as it works for you.

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!