Thursday, June 5, 2014

Breakfast is the other answer and wonderful Belinda


 Detail of the underpainting 
of a coffee cup in Untitled (work in progress)
Acrylic on canvas
Barbara Muir © 2014
I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy so
long ago, that I forgot that the book suggested
that the answer to everything was 42.  The
other answer to my mind is breakfast.  So here is
the start of a painting of breakfast at the Skylight
Diner in New York City where we ate a
delicious breakfast on Mother's Day last
month.
Untitled (work in progress)
shown on the easel
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 2014


I am at the underpainting stage and altering
my drawing to see what works. 

Wonderful Belinda
Yesterday I received this beautiful, little
book on Degas -- Degas The Man and
His Art in the mail.  My name was put into
a draw to win the book by the awesome
American painter and printmaker, Belinda Del Pescoe.
 Lo and behold I won!  And how perfect!  The
little book came right to my door, a gift from
someone whose work I admire so much, and
all the way from California.  I had just finished
reading The Painted Girls, a novel by Cathy Marie
Buchanan, about the ballet girls who posed for
Degas, so it was especially timely.
The prize book posing with some
of my recent models.
Thank you Belinda.  You are amazing.

Have a welcoming-glorious-gifts day.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

o my goodness, did you not just LOVE 'The Painted Girls'?! I read that last year, and really enjoyed it. Congrats on being the book winner. Fun to see the process of your painting...love the coffee cup already.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Sally,

I did love'The Painted Girls.' It was hard and harsh going in places, but it was wonderful too to know so much more about the back story of the ballet girls, and the ballet sculpture. Thanks so much for your encouragement.

XOXOXOXOXO

Wendy Barrett said...

How lovely to win a book Barbara! I loved hearing about the uncanny timing of its arrival to fit in with the subject matter of your recent read.
I now feel inspired to get hold of a copy of 'The Painted Girls'
Great start on your WIP!

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Wendy,

Thanks so much. The Painted Girls is a tough read because those girls
in the lovely Degas paintings were
suffering, not because of Degas,
but because they were poor, and needed 'patrons' to be able to afford to have the lessons they needed. Quite a story. But a gripper. I think you'd enjoy it.

Yes it was an enormous treat to receive this lovely book filled with Degas paintings, his thoughts and photos of him and the times.

XOXOXOXO 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!