Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Going big, and getting serious about food

Four canvasses getting ready to become one
really big painting.  My son Sam, who is 6 ft. 3 
agreed to lie down next to the canvasses in
the tiny space left in that part of my small studio
to give you an idea of just how big this new work will be.
Fun eh?

Tonight's image is the very, very first stage of going big.
I mean really big.  Over the next few weeks I will be
painting a painting on these four 36 x 48 inch canvasses,
that will fit together to make one 6 foot x 8 foot image
of a table top laden with food.  That is taking food really
seriously.

The inspiration for this massive, huge, gigantic, piece
of art, is a request from my gallery owner in Toronto for
paintings about food for my December 1 show at
Studio Vogue.  Yes it's a group show -- and I will be showing
this massive work, plus several smaller, but just as serious
explorations of my love of one of life's truly amazing
pleasures -- food baby.  Yes food.  Gotta have it, so do
you.  But seriously.  I love the possibilities for abstraction
coupled with detail in this subject, so watch this space
as I go ahead with it.

As Mike Dooley says "are you thinking big -- I mean
really big?"  "Good because that's exactly how much of
it you're going to get."  Well I am Mike thanks to you,
and have been dreaming of, thinking of, planning this
work for a few months.

 Squirrel making quick work of our pumpkins

The idea
The squirrels' revenge.  And this was just
the beginning of the squirrels' art project.
Nature keeps you humble.

On a lighter note.  We bought five small pumpkins
a week and a half ago to decorate our front porch.
But our local squirrels were still angry that they didn't
get any of my husband Steven's pumpkin pie on
Thanksgiving Day, and they destroyed our pumpkins.
They made our porch look like a garbage dump, or a wild
squirrel pumpkin party.

Have a thinking-big day.

8 comments:

Laurel Daniel said...

SOOOOOOO COOL, SOOOO FUN! I will be watching and waiting! XOOXOX

Melinda said...

Wow, wow, wow!!

I am so excited about your next painting(s). You'll have so much fun you'll want to roll around on them while wet.

You know, you could make up a scary story to tell the kids, cuz, right now, that squirrel is very spooky to me. We don't have 'em that big in the desert. I thought it was a chihuahua!

Have a great weekend in your studio. I'll be sending you art vibes of encouragement.

Liza Hirst said...

Oh wow, that is soooo exciting, Barbara! I can't wait to see the wonderful picture you will create on those canvasas. Hubert has been trying to get me to paint a big food still life for YEARS but somehow I never got round to it.
Have a lovely weekend,
Liza xxxx

Flora Doehler said...

Barbara, that is soooooo exciting to see those canvasses. I can't wait to see the progress you make. It will look delicious!
And thanks for the squirrel video. Sooooo cute, but so bad too!! ha ha.
I miss those black squirrels. We only have chipmunks here. (that people call squirrels)

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laurel,

No pressure eh? As the guy in the store when I was buying them said, because I was deliberating about the size. No pressure he said, but it was closing time. That makes me think of the Leonard Cohen song, but I hefted those big canvasses out of there with my son as fast as I could move.

Okay, I'll show you what I'm up to as I progress.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXBArbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Melinda,

It's funny how everything is relative, and even more so with scale.
The canvasses you can see are big, because Sam is incredibly tall, but in the case of the squirrel, the pumpkins are very, very small. Not much bigger than the bottom photo. Maybe five inches across. Or should I say they were, because all that is left of the five pumpkins is some teeny pieces of pumpkin like confetti all over our front steps.

Have a great weekend in your studio too.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoBarbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Liza,

I am pretty excited about this finally being possible. You have to paint what you desire to paint whenever you have the chance. In my case I painted a few food things, and my gallery owner loved them. So it's like baking a pie, people want more. Okay. Meanwhile portraits and other projects continue apace. Miss you.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoBarbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Flora,

You're making me miss the bad brown squirrel in Nova Scotia who fills our outhouse with pinecone chips. When I'm there I talk to her every day. But every squirrel in our neighbourhood, black, grey and multi, has eaten our pumpkins. They are all gone.

XO Barbara

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!