Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Reality is overrated

I'll be swamped for the next few days with marking
but I wanted to show you something.  You've seen
this before, and it's definitely a work in progress.
I now know what I wanted to capture.  But painting
the real image of my hallway looked wrong.  In
fact my hallway is all wrong.  It's an old building
with angles all out of whack.

 
 Nap time
(work in progress)
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010
I had to step back for about six months, then I saw
what the painting needed-- a makeup artist to do for
my hall, what good makeup does for the face.  But
in this case I meant it literally.  I had to make it up.
The hall does not have good bones, what it does get
from time to time, especially at nap time on a Saturday
and Sunday afternoon is good light.  Beautiful
inexplicable, transcendent light.  So that's what
I'm going for now and the rest will be a slow
process of correction.  I am starting to see the
idea coming away from the reality.  And that's
a good thing.

4 comments:

Gwen Bell said...

Love the abstract lines...looks great as it is! Love that little bit of b/w harlequin pattern.

Anonymous said...

it's great when you feel the idea coming away from reality...i like that expression it's a good one! looks like a great subject.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Gwen,

Thanks so much. There is the leap between imagination and creation. The painting needs to go a bit farther...b/w harlequin is in a couple of rooms in our house. Why? Because Vermeer had real tile in that pattern in some of his paintings. Funny eh? But true, when we renovated my mind was fixated on Vermeer.

Now it appears that if Vermeer had patterned floors like these, they were probably not marble, but faux marble painted by Vermeer himself, who it seems couldn't have afforded marble. Mine are simple linoleum.

xoxoxoxoxoBarbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Sally,

I'm glad you know what I mean. Always a challenge separating what should be kept from what should change. Thanks so much.

XOBarbara

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!