Tuesday, January 7, 2020

What can artists do? How do we help the children?

Big brother, little sister
acrylic on canvas
18 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(Painting this I loved the
expression on the little girl's
face, and all the small
details that are so characteristic
of what young boys like --
Super Mario T-shirts, camp
necklaces, big, clunky black
watches -- it made me miss
my sons as small boys.)
I watched a some clips of people coming out of
Oprah's 2020 Vision tour, and they talked about
purpose.  I think that my purpose is to create hope,
spread love, joy and when I'm in person with
friends, family, colleagues and students, to
help us all get to laughter.

My purpose is to help us get happy.  But sometimes
this is really hard.  It's hard to see the light with
Australia burning and the threat of a full scale
war in the middle east.  But we have to keep working
on it.  We have to vote for people who care more
about climate change than money for oil, who care
about saving the planet.  And we have to end all war
everywhere.

I mean as an 18 year old I marched for peace.  Let's
get some.

2 comments:

laura said...

Great, and timely, words of encouragement, Barbara.
Found out yesterday that Trump will be holding a rally 10 miles from my house later this month, which initially filled me with dread. Then I realized it's an opportunity: have been connecting with others and making signs ever since.

Love the painting. The little girl looks so eager and the boy is so sweet.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

Oh wow. Be careful please. I love your work. This isn't a good photo of
this painting. But now 10+ years on, I wonder how they are doing, and what
they think of the world.

Please keep posting your beautiful and inspiring work.

XOXOXOXOXOXO 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!