Friday, August 4, 2017

The Alchemist -- and Dreaming paintings

Untitled (work in progress)
Acrylic on canvas
12 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2017
(forgive the photograph taken
with my phone.)
The drive from Toronto to our school house in Nova Scotia
is 1,000 plus miles (or 1609 kilometres) (more like 1846 kilometres
on the route we take).  What helps us in the long, long hours on the
road are audio books, and we listened to The Alchemist written by
Paulo Coelho for part of the trip, read by the wonderful actor Jeremy Irons.
The book was both spiritual and romantic -- but Jeremy Irons' voice
gave it a delicious power.  The message delivered by the little
shepherd boy in the story was to be brave enough to live your
legend.  That wasn't about fame, or fortune, but about living
your best life.  A great message.  I started seeing paintings as we drove
through Canada's spectacular landscapes.

Then last night, after being saturated in the beauty of Nova Scotia
I dreamt this painting that I'm working on today.  I want to capture
the amazing light you see here.

Have a loving-books-and-paintings day

4 comments:

verna vogel said...

Barbara!!! Your painting is gorgeous!! You got it, you got the light, and the feeling of the landscape the way in gets into the bones and the dreams. I wish you would not do anything more with this painting, just leave it as it is.

But I guess you are thinking of it as an underpainting, and I guess by now it has changed... so one day I will commission an underpainting from you :)

Love love love
V

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Verna,

You are sweet, I have another underpainting on a canvas. You can buy that! (kidding) it is mostly blue.
I loved the painting at this point too, and now it's gone into the middle struggle, but it is just for
fun anyway, and I hope it emerges. Last spring I sold a few paintings that looked so fresh and happy,
which had gone through a bit of torment, so this will probably emerge triumphant. Fingers crossed.

XOXOXOXOXO Barbara

laura said...

Nothing better than audiobooks for a long drive.
And I love the colors here! White-peachy yellow-pinks! Luscious.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

Not done. I keep staring at the landscapes here in Nova Scotia trying to see the right
colours. But as soon as I see them they change. So I will finish it, and
hey -- I'll use my own colours.

Love, love, love your work,

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!