Friday, March 25, 2022

The old maxim — keep going !

Look to the sky
Acrylic ink on 
watercolour paper
5 x 7 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

I have needed this advice -- keep going! -- more than ever in the past two
years, as I know many of my friends with much harder circumstances have too.
In my artistic life I didn’t realize how much of the pleasure in making
art came from the group activities that go along with the job.

Those are coming back in part, but nothing on Zoom can replicate drawing
with a group of friends, and strangers who become friends, or being in
international exhibitions with friends from all over the world. And there
has been a big uptick in COVID-19 on our street alone in the past month,
so the cause of the problem isn’t gone. 

In Ontario the decision to eliminate masks and COVID passport mandates is
clearly political. There is a provincial election in June, and the premier’s voting
constituents would be antivaxxers and antimaskers. So voila! Masks went off for
those uneducated enough to believe they were no protection on March 21.
The number of COVID cases going into hospitals went up today. So we will still
be careful, but I wish those in power were more rational.

Meanwhile we keep going.  What rituals do you have in place that are helping 
you in this hard time.  My husband and I watch one TV show together every
night.  What a pleasure it is watching The Paris Agency on Netflix with
subtitles. The Kretz family are a treat, and we watch it in French with
English subtitles.  Every scene of in Paris makes us sigh -- we would so
love to visit again when it's safe.

Have a being careful and loving your life day. 

2 comments:

laura said...

I love the "blooms" in your painting! I have to try acrylic inks sometime.
My little plein air trio, which was really starting to click, has been inactive because of covid, but I am really going to try to get it going again later this spring.
I don't really have any rituals, I don't think, but I have opened myself up more to saying "yes" to things that come way--volunteer opportunities, art classes and shows, little visits and short trips, like two days of camping or an overnighter to NYC--and while it sometimes mean I leave other things undone or have to cram to finish my work, it's worth it.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

Thank you. One of the things I love about playing with acrylic inks
is the unpredictability. Love your work. So many things have been unsafe
because of COVID, and the threat of it is real on our street. An overnighter
to New York sounds amazing. Love that city. Yes sometimes things don't get
done when we're having fun. But hey! Fun is a miracle right now.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 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!