Saturday, February 10, 2024

Let's hear a cheer for the teachers who help us love our lives

Reading with Heart
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir 2010

It has been a busy time lately, and I am working on a couple
of pieces -- one big one.  Today, oddly for a Saturday, was 
about dental appointments, so I looked at a former
post to get inspired.  I know that teachers have had a powerful
positive impact in my life.  And I love teaching.  That isn't
happening this semester, but I hope that next term my once a
week Presentation Course in a community center will restart,
or that I'll teach another course like it. Here's an edited section
of my former post:

"Thank you to my teachers, and I send love out to all the
 inspiring teachers in my life.  When I started drawing in
school, I was like all the people who tell me I can't even
draw a stick figure.  Why do people think a stick figure is so
simple? But within months I was drawing very competent life
drawings.  

I reeled in shock as a 17 year old girl when the first
male life model came out  to pose for us at art college
-- a huge, naked, middle aged man with a cloth bag over his 
privates.

It took great teachers to bring young innocents who grew up
in the dull suburbs, like me, into the exciting, confusing,
wild, world of art, and they did it.

My teachers in university pulled me into the world of literature,
opening doors to what would be a life long love of reading
and writing.

And more recently the workshops I've taken in person and
online have taught me so much about art, that I am sometimes
so dazzled I don't even know where to begin.  But isn't that
a good thing?   My brother's current philosophy is to ask,
"Is it true?"  Constant learning sets us up in front of that
question every day, and for sure makes life just as exciting
as it was when I took my first art lessons."

One thing I love about reading blogs, Instagram posts, and
articles is how much you are all teaching me about every aspect
of art and life.  Thank you.

Have a loving your life day.

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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!