Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happiest of New Years -- 2015!


Self portrait at the year's turning
Black marker on Moleskine paper
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2015

Dear Friends, Family, Artists, Art Bloggers, Collectors,
Gallery Owners, Happy, Happy New Year.  We have spent
the day in a slow, happy contemplation of the new -- such a
good feeling!  It does feel like a gift, and will be if we have
visions with meaning and can stay in the present.

Last night we had a wonderful party with friends in the
city at our house.  They brought masses of food and wine,
and today we nibbled our way through January 1.  I started
a little drawing yesterday and I think it's finished now.
It's a self portrait and I may do more, having noted
that both David Lobenberg and François Bard, do self
portraits, and Lynn Donoghue, a Canadian artist whose
work I greatly admire, did when she was alive.

I look serious in the drawing, (my husband says
deer in the headlights! ;-) but did it from a photo
on my iPad taken when I was actually ecstatically happy --
which seems a good way to start the year -- in a mood
of quiet ebullience.

Thank you to everyone who made me laugh, helped
me, showed me great art, bought my art, loved me,
befriended me, comforted me, taught me and learned
 from me in 2014. And thank you to everyone I helped,
got to laugh, took to great art, bought art, loved,
befriended, comforted, learned from and taught.
 Thank you to my son for recommending
the large Moleskine notebook.  A great treat to
draw on. Let's go forward with alacrity into this new
bundle of months.  Happy New Year!

Have a loving-this-glorious-beginning day!

6 comments:

Janet Vanderhoof said...

Hope you have a wonderful and creative year! One of my goals this year is to practice portraits in any form. You have such a talent for capturing the essence of the person. I believe doing self portraits are very difficult. This is a great job!

cohen labelle said...

Happy New Year Barbara and Steven! What a beautiful portrait to greet and welcome the New Year with!!!

Love,
Marcia and David

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Janet,

Thank you so much. You are a wonderful artist, so go for it! I think it's easier when you know the person -- I don't claim to know this person really well, but I do know her better than most people.

Happy, Happy New Year to you. May I learn what you know about art this year. You do rock!

XOXOXOXOXOXO Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Marcia,

Thank you so much. I'm inspired by your work, and a recent portrait that seemed to be of someone I know well. Happy New Year to you and David.

Love,

Barbara

Wendy Barrett said...

A wonderful self-portrait Barbara - a great way to start the new creative year! May 2015 be full of joy, abundance and great health for you and your family!

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Wendy,

Thank you so much. I wish you the same. I wish you great joy, prosperity and superb health too.

Say hello to summer for me. I miss her.

XOXOXOXOXO 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!