Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy whatever you're celebrating

 

The next door neighbour's sidewalk art
Chalk on sidewalk
Sydney Barskey © 2024
Photo:
Barbara Muir © 2024

Last weekend we had snow. Here’s what I love. The second the snow was gone, and it was a little bit warmer (as in 8 degrees Celsius), my neighbour’s eight year old daughter was out today creating beauty and inspiring me. 

Thank you to my neighbours for their lovely artwork!

Happy long weekend!

Have a loving your life day! 

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Happy Easter


Harold and the blue eggs
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
 Barbara Muir © 2013

At this point on Saturday night it looks like we'll be having a very quiet Easter.  Part
of our family is away, and the part of the family that's in town are coping with a very 
serious cold.  So I thought I'd reshape this part of a post from another year.  Steven and I are not religious at all, and really like the pagan aspects of Easter -- chocolate bunnies and eggs, and having a great meal. 
Easter baskets.

I thought I'd add this piece from a former blog.  It's a story about my pet rabbit in
university -- Harold.  She was a girl.

"(I put Harold, the bunny rabbit on my blog every year since I painted her (yes a she), and think
happily of the time a university boyfriend, not knowing how innocent I was, gave me a marijuana plant for a present. While I was out at class, Harold, my rabbit, ate the plant, plus a massive chunk of the sheets and blanket in my rental room!  The young married couple I was renting from were not impressed. Neither was I.  I had to pay for new sheets and a blanket. But the whole story makes me laugh every year when I think of Harold)."

Have an enjoying celebrating day.

Friday, March 29, 2024

A weekend of bunnies

 

Pip the Lionhead 
rabbit delivers eggs
8 x 8 inchs
Acrylic on canvas
Barbara Muir © 2015

This is not my favourite type of bunny -- maybe those are the wild rabbits that live in our neighbourhood, that we see on our walks.  I always hope that they will be safe.  As a girl in university I had a white rabbit named Harold, that I will feature tomorrow probably. But I met 
a clutch of Lionhead bunnies at a Chapters book store in Moncton, New Brunswick, one year
when we were on our way to our schoolhouse in Nova Scotia.

A young woman who absolutely loved that breed of bunny was displaying the bunnies with a children's book she'd illustrated about them. I read a great article in the Guardian about the origins of bunnies with Easter.  They were the symbol for the pagan goddess Ēastre, which is where the name Easter originated.  Of course she was a goddess of fertility, which explains why rabbits were one of her symbols.

We are not religious, so for us this weekend is about festivity, and maybe a bit of chocolate. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, whatever you are celebrating.

Have a loving your life day.



Thursday, March 28, 2024

Thinking about the greats

 Four Trees
Claude Monet
Oil on canvas
1891
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
New York City
(The paintings at the
Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart were similar. I remember
crying telling Steven about them, and
how thick the paint was, and how Monet
went back as many as 60 times to
get the mood and lighting right!)

I've been working on a large painting for most of the past week for a show next week.  For me sometimes painting is a back and forth thing.  This is one of those times.  But I came upon this image today, which reminded me of the time Steven and I were in Stuttgart, Germany because he had a work assignment there, and I went to visit the Staatsgalerie alone. It was a beautiful gallery, with an incredible collection.

I love the work of Monet, in fact we named our cat after him (a girl cat), and I am always blown away when I see his work.  But when I saw his poplar series (this is one of them) in Stuttgart I was deeply moved.  The description on the wall at the gallery said that Monet had returned to the sight as many as 60 times to get the light and colours exactly right. The paintings were very thick with paint, and I was so touched at his devotion. I just read now that the trees were going to be cut down, and Monet had to pay for the trees so he could finish his paintings. Amazing.

So back to my project.  Yes I can do it. Thank you Monet.

Have a loving your life day.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

More on our trip to the lake

Robin earns his stripes
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
(available)
Barbara Muir © 2019

Yesterday I showed you one image from our trip to the lake last Saturday.  Today I'll try and
paint a picture for you with perhaps fewer than 1,000 words. (A standard page of copy is
250 words.  Just to give you an idea.)

After visiting lake Ontario at one park, we drove into the city, and stopped at a downtown park on the lake.  The grass along the path heading to the lake did have snow here and there, but we were more excited by the hundreds of robins.  

Steven and I are bird freaks you could say.  Today Steven cut up the Christmas tree that a friend attached to one of our trellises beside the fence between us and our neighbour.  Ever since January Steven has been filling the tree with birdseed, and the birds have loved it. Such a treat to see.

So hundreds of robins was a like coming upon a spring concert that magically began just as we arrived at the park. It was mighty cold that day too. And still the robins were enjoying themselves.

I'm still working on a large painting. So please enjoy this bird painting tonight.

Have a loving your life day.


 

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

A picture is worth a thousand words


Beautiful Saturday
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2024

You’ve heard that before, (a picture is worth a thousand words), and probably thought is it? And in some cases yes. Clearly. I could describe the view of the lake from one of our favourite parks to you using perfect descriptive words. Maybe I wouldn’t use 1000, but here’s the point. No matter how many words I use you cannot get the feeling of the park as well as you can from this photo.

For me part of being a visual artist is the ability to describe something in a way that words may not be capable of doing.  Not to deny the importance of words, and the beauty of wonderfully written books.  I was talking to a fellow today about his fiancée's work on a novel.  I am so impressed by authors who write the amazing books I love to read.  Their work is much more complicated, and deeper than what I will create. 

For tonight, please enjoy this beautiful view that we saw last Saturday at a park on the west end of Toronto.

Have a loving your life day.

Monday, March 25, 2024

A favourite painting goes to its new home

 

Moody Beauty
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © Revised 2023
 ♥ 
It's a happy day when a painting you love goes to someone you care about. 
This painting has got a new home with a beloved family member who has 
experienced the drive out to our Maritime school house that was the inspiration
for the work.

A few years ago we drove by the hill in Nova Scotia that inspired this painting.  I'd
also done a coloured sketch before I began. And I loved how the work turned out.

Meanwhile I am finishing new works, and I hope to have more to show you tomorrow.

Have a loving your life day.


Sunday, March 24, 2024

A wonderful wedding Monthaversary

 

Small is beautiful
Watercolour and marker on
Arches watercolour paper
6 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2012

We had a super day today for our Monthaversary of our wedding day.  Steven and I celebrate the Monthaversary of our first date, and the Monthaversary of our wedding day two days apart.  Today it was a magnificent day.  We went for a glorious walk with our dog in the morning sunlight, which was bouncing off snow -- something we've seen once since winter began.

Then we picked up our usual wraps for lunch and saw friends at the place where we buy them. Then in the late afternoon, and evening we had fun with some of our family members. Lots of music, games and laughter.  The best.

Wishing you a happy week.

Have a loving your life day.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Theoretically a day off

 

Fiona 
Acrylic on mounted birch panel
5 x 7 inches
Barbara Muir © 2014

When I say theoretically a day off what do I mean?  I guess I mean there really isn't a day off for artists.  Even on the day off day I was filling in strange forms for memberships I want to continue.  And then there's my eyes -- they are always working.  If I were going to paint today (I may draw, but don't anticipate painting), I would love to capture the astounding beauty of this sunny, snow covered day.  We were driving along a wooded street, and the fallen branches over the snow were creating purple blue shadows, and somewhat abstract designs.  I was enchanted. 

See what I mean?  Plus I will definitely spend time following what you are doing and enjoy every minute of that pursuit, which could be called research. Why my cat Fiona?
She loves being a studio assistant, and loves when we take the rare day off, and she can cuddle with us while we watch a movie.

I hope you had a lovely Saturday.

Have a loving your life day. 

Friday, March 22, 2024

We are lucky, and bad news aside -- this is a Happy Monthaversary

 



Now that was good!
Black marker on notebook paper
6 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2014

There is bad news in the world -- horrible. Bad news in the family -- it will get better, so by rights this should not have been a Happy Monthaversary.  But it has been.  Thank you to my kind friend who walked with me on one of the snowiest days this winter (only now it's actually spring.) Thank you to an incredible piece of music I was turned on to by my novel The Idiot --Khachaturian's Sabre Dance played by the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra is phenomenal.

Thank you to my friends in the neighbourhood, and around the world online, on Instagram, and Facebook. The drawing is of a hotel room service breakfast -- always a complete pleasure for me and Steven. 

Now to make dinner, and more of this Happy Monthaversary of our first date.

Have a loving your life day.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

In the Month of Change -- flashback to a favourite blog piece

Marko
Acrylic and charcoal on 
watercolour paper
16 x 23 1/2 inches
Barbara Muir ©

I'm painting full time today. Very inspired by both my model, and the painting by John Singer Sargent that I'm referencing/honouring. It has been a pure pleasure working on this piece. I also have revised a painting from 11 years ago, and it will be going in the A Portrait By Any Other Name show at the Heliconian Club opening April 6. 

The deadline for submitting photos for the show is tonight at midnight, so I am going as fast as I can.  I came upon this post and I really like it.  I'm so sorry Marko left the Don Valley Art Club, and said he was stopping painting. Here's the blog:

"On Tuesday nights when I've been able to for almost 20 years
years I've drawn with an art group from the Don Valley Art
Club.  Many of the people I started with are not
there anymore.  But some are.  And over the years
watching people draw and paint in a short evening with
a model, we've formed strong bonds.  Plus we help one
another be creative.  We don't have to discuss art to learn from
one another.  We just have to observe what other artists
are doing with the very same subject.

The night of this drawing, which is a few years back, our
model didn't show up.  And one of the best artists in the
group -- Marko -- posed for us.  Knowing how amazing his
work was (he drew like he'd been schooled in the
Renaissance) I was a bit intimidated to draw him. 

Sometime after this evening, Marko decided he wasn't going
to do art anymore.  I was devastated.  He was a natural
born incredible artist.  So now I'm glad I have this
drawing.  I consider him to be a friend, though I don't
get to see him anymore.  He was always kind to me, and
I feel I learned a lot from watching him draw.

Have a learning from your friends day."

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Happy International Day of Happiness

 

Happiness
Mixed Media
Georgia Fullerton © 2019

The painting above is in our front hall, and reminds me every day that I have so many reasons to be happy.  On this International Day of Happiness, let me share some of my reasons.  It is a hard time in the world, and so many people are going through horrific war, hunger, terror beyond imagining.  To my mind that makes it all the more important to recognize and be grateful for any happiness that we have. 

10 reasons I am happy.

1. I am happy because I have a loving husband.

2. I am happy because I have a loving family.

3.  I am happy because I have kind, funny friends around
the world, and I spoke to my friend in the Netherlands today.

4.  I am happy because I'm an artist, and I love making art, and I've spent the whole day painting.

5. It's the second day of spring, and Steven and I went to the lake. It snowed today, and it was super cold, but beautiful and sunny  at the lake and there were dozens of robins in the park.

6. I'm happy because on my walk by the lake with Steven, the sky
 was a gorgeous blue and the clouds were amazing..

7. I'm happy because Steven and I have super ready made dishes for our
 supper, and it's my night to make dinner (we alternate nights).

8. I'm happy because driving through the city streets today there's a whole different feeling, even though there was a scattering of snow.  It's spring, and people are walking with a happy, if very cold, attitude. I even saw one fellow running in shorts at 2 below zero. 

9. I'm happy that I've learned how to be happy, and am
 still learning, and think I will learn more and more for the
 rest of my life. And I'm grateful for all that you've
 taught me on the subject.

10.  I'm happy that we have a wonderful TV show that we're going to watch together tonight.

Have a loving your life day. Happy International Day of Happiness.
The happiest country in the world -- Finland.  Canada dropped to 15th happiest
country in the world this year. And I love living here. 


Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Winter on the first day of spring

 


Winter tea at the art gallery
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2014
SOLD 

I saw the wonderful woman who bought this painting the other day in our local
supermarket.  It brought back such great memories of shows I used to have with
a dear friend who moved away, and of having tea in the Art Gallery of Ontario, 
something we haven't done since COVID began.

Our day started super early today with medical appointments, and after that I've
been working on a large portrait all day. So it wasn't until the late afternoon that
I looked out the window to see that it was one of the first snowy days this winter.
I then learned that it was actually the first day of spring. Yay!

We just helped a fellow who had to get to Pickering and was planning to walk from
our street to Yorkdale, which would  be quite a hike. We dropped him off
at the subway, and wished him a good trip home, all the way to Pickering -- which is a long, long way away.

Have a loving your life day. 


Monday, March 18, 2024

The delightful influence of other artists' art

 

Dreaming of Florence
Charcoal on bond paper
18 x 24 inches
© Barbara Muir  

Today I'm posting a drawing I love of one of my models Shakoya confidently wearing a halo.
I was inspired by the art of so many artists in Florence, Italy when I first showed my work at the Florence Biennale.  And I loved the halos.  I'm not religious, to me they just indicate that the person is special and loved. 

I'm working on a painting that is deeply influenced by the art of John Singer Sargent.  We'll see how it works out. The model is sitting in the same pose as Sargent's model, and in a similar background. Her close echo the clothes Sargent's model was wearing and yet
the painting is so different (not just because I could never paint like Sargent), mainly because the model is so now, so contemporary.

Just thinking about how another artist worked more than 100 years ago is fascinating.  The current model is not wearing a halo.  But she deserves one for being so kind and patient with me and my ideas.

Have a loving your life day.


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Steven and I dancing with glow sticks in
our kitchen St. Patrick's Day party

I love this photo from years ago of me and Steven dancing in the kitchen with glow sticks we bought for the St. Patrick's Day festivities we have whenever possible with our family.

Today we'll have a dinner with our daughter-in-law Emily, and our son Sam.  That will be fun. I love how this photo is like abstract art.  So cool. Steven and I just decorated, and the kitchen looks very festive.

I hope if you celebrated St. Patrick's Day you had a great time. Here's a quote from a former blog.

"No I am not Irish, but way back some of my ancestors
fled France for Ireland, and then Ireland for Canada.
So in fact I'm more French than Irish.

One year when my children were small we -- a very
celebratory family -- bought them green toys and hula
hoops, and green candy and had green ginger ale, and
green champagne for the adults, and a tradition was
born. " So Happy St. Patrick' Day.

Have a loving your life day.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Looking forward, looking back



From my Florence Notebook
Journal Sketch
Black marker on bond paper
6 x 9 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

Today I've been having a wonderful time working on a painting for an upcoming show I'm grateful to my friend Georgia Fullerton's daughter, India, for posing for me. The painting is not ready to be show.  So I was looking through notebooks to find something I could share, and found this pretty sketch from my notebook I bought in Florence the first time I showed in the Florence Biennale in 2009.

It was a lovely discovery, and I wrote about our time there in some detail. After dinner tonight I was reading to Steven about the wonderful dinners we had -- some in the Trattoria Giovanni, and other restaurants in that beautiful city.

Wishing you a happy weekend.

Have a loving your life day. 

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Bringing back the cheer



Cottage Flowers
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches 
Barbara Muir © 2017

I'm pretty sure these flowers are from Sunrise Greenhouses in Pugwash, Nova Scotia.  I know that the vase was from a lovely lady who lived down the road from our school house in Nova Scotia, and that my dear friend Paula frequently puts flowers out to greet us when we arrive after our 2,000 kilometre drive, which always makes me feel happy.

It has been a super busy day.  I am tired and it's Friday night.  I started a big painting today that I'm quite excited about, so more to come on that. Right now it's TV
time, and our cats are wailing for their night time snack.  When I get downstairs the dog will be whining, and she will sit and wait until I say take it for her tiny snack.
I can't wait to show you what I'm working on.  But meanwhile enjoy these flowers as much as I did, and still do seeing the painting.

Have a loving your life day.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Happy Pi Day


 Stand Back for the Pie
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2013

On this date I usually feature this painting, because not being a 
math freak, Pi reminds me of pie, and Steven makes the best
cherry pie I've ever tasted.  Because December and January
and February were rough, I ate way too much of every sweet, so I may 
forego having pie today.  Tempting though.  We had a little
conversation about the math behind Pi at lunch today.

In 2022 this painting won first place, and I won a $500 
in a contest with the San Fernando Valley Arts and Cultural
Center in California in a virtual exhibition. And that was 
fantastic.

In a former blog I shared this information on Pi
Day:

Last night Jimmy Fallon did funny routines about his audience reciting a
all the numbers of Pi. And they were still at it 20 years from now --
it's a long number.

"According to the Huffington Post Pi Day is named after the
Greek symbol π which is the ratio of the circumference of
a circle to its diameter. The first three digits in Pi are 3
 (this is the third month) and 14 (the fourteenth day)
= 3.14 or Pi.  What better day to eat pie if you get the urge.
 And any way you slice it you will not be alone in your
pie indulgence.

I live with a mathematics fiend, (Steven) who has been
known to sleep with a Calculus text beside his bed at the
ready should he feel like reviewing it with his morning coffee.
He also makes a mean cherry pie -- the point of the
painting. The pie."

Have a deliciously-happy-Pi-day. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Off to the second opening of All That Jazz at the Heliconian


At the Heliconian Opening today
Me with my work
Colours of Joy
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2024 
(Note: At the suggestion of
my husband, the photographer,
this photo has been edited to focus
on my painting behind me.)

Tonight was not nearly as busy as the first opening of All That Jazz a wonderful exhibition at the Heliconian Club on until the end of March.  I have a painting in a corner of the show, and quite high up.  As you can see in the photo -- the piece of brown in the upper right corner of the painting is part of a decorative support for the roof of the former church that houses the Heliconian Art Club.  So the challenge was how to get a painting with my work in the show.  I had help today from my husband Steven van Schaik, and club member and amazing artist Nola McConnan, who is currently showing in New York City.  

Between the two of them we finally got me at a height that was not too dangerous and you can see my work.  For my friend Miranda in the Netherlands, and my friends in the Florence Biennale I am in the Happy People Pose. And behind me the bright painting of Colours of Joy

I hope you'll get out to see the show this month. I'm still having trouble with Google, so I tried to post a photo of the show and it wouldn't allow me to. If I can put it in tomorrow I will.

Have a loving your life day.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Jumping forward in time


First stop Paris
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 2012
(available)
(When I painted this painting I was
thinking about encouraging the model
to go to Paris.  I hadn't exhibited
in Paris yet -- my first time
showing in the Carousel du Louvre was in
2015. But in a way the work was telling
the world that -- hey! I love Paris,
and since I painted this piece, I've visited Paris
a number of times! And I loved it every
time. This seems right for today --
because travel disrupts time in
the best way possible. It looks 
like it's a 5 hour time difference
at the moment between Toronto and Paris. 
And when you go there
it's worth every minute of that difference.)

 I picked up a reference piece from my printer today, and he told me in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't get it done on time.  I said I would. We'll see.  We both laughed because we have a really good friendship. Our clocks jumped ahead by one hour on Sunday morning at 2 o'clock. It's funny how we all love it when we gain an extra hour in the fall, but don't like losing one in the spring. I'm putting this favourite painting on tonight, because I miss Paris.  And I notice, that I can adjust to the 5 hour time difference pretty well when I'm there.

Here are my thoughts from a former blog slightly edited:

"At 2 in the morning on Sundy we moved into Daylight Saving Time.
Luckily for us we started moving into the new time 
on Saturday -- setting all of our clocks, and machines that
would allow it ahead by an hour. So it was less traumatic
Monday, than it is some years when the time changes.

My mother, who had a Masters in Bacteriology did not
like losing that hour anymore than anyone else.  So her
strategy was to change all of her clocks three days before
it happened. We couldn't go that far, but it helped that the
microwave and the car radio were functioning in the
new time for 24 hours before the switch. And yes
we still have clocks that are not digital.

I think of March as the Month of Change, and I found
this thought in an earlier blog that I thought I'd share:

"If you think you can't change remember how long
it took you to fall in love with your first born,
your niece, or nephew, your kitten, or dog, or
your beloved. In my case my affection was
overpowering and instant in every example
above. And you know that each time your
heart made that giant leap toward affection,
your entire world changed. So yes you can
change, and you already have while you were
reading this. So have a soothing drink of milk,
or tea, or hot chocolate, or wine if you need it,
and take yourself back to the canvas, or your
writing, or to bed for a little nap before you
start again. It's all going to work out just fine.

The time to paint is upon us. (And the time to 
travel.)

Have a what-do-you-know-I've-changed day."

Monday, March 11, 2024

Best Practices

The cards  --
(some of the cards
I've written every night
for 774 days --
which Steven has saved.)

Tonight I am going back to a former blog post which seems even more significant today. I am still writing these cards, and Steven still wants me to continue.  So I do.  Why?  That is love my friend. 

"Kindness hit me as a principal requirement in my life when I
experienced such high levels of kindness at the 2009, and 2015 
Florence Biennales. I've been lucky to be treated kindly for most of my
life, but people at the Biennale, as one of my friends described
it, raised the bar. They did everything they could to help
each other, and life long connections happened.  We all still care
about the people we met there.

So I wondered -- what are your kindness practices? One of mine
is to write a note for my husband every night to leave in our middle
bedroom where my husband puts out his clothes for the morning. 
Because I've been a night teacher for almost a decade, I am in the
habit of going to bed much later than my husband, and he gets
up much earlier than I do.

This practice started in January 2022, when both of our cats
-- the 14 year old Tortie point Siamese, Fiona, and the three 
month old Tortie point Siamese kitten, Monet, stopped eating. 
The kitten had gastroenteritis, and the older cat had a gum
infection.

I started writing the notes to let Steven know whether or not
they'd eaten their night snack, and then as they got better, I'd
write about what happened in the day, and thank him for all
of the nice things he'd done for me.  And guess what happened?
He didn't want me to stop -- so I haven't. And he has saved every
one of these notes that I write on cards that feature my art.

What are some of the things you do to add more kindness to your life?

Have a loving your life day." 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

A woman I admire

At the market
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 36 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

Searching through posts for women I've painted who I admire I came upon this painting that I love of our friend Jan Marriott, who sells vintage fabrics.  She no longer sells them
at the market, but she sells them online. I always love it when people use my paintings as
their profile shot, and Jan does. 

So many of the portraits in my Dance series paintings were only possible because the
beautiful vintage dresses came from Jan.  So I am eternally grateful to her.  And plus
she is a sweetheart -- incredibly knowledgeable about everything to do with vintage fashion
and fabric.

So thank you to you Jan. Google won't let me put the link in here, but you can
follow Jan on Instagram under the name Jan_Marriott.

Have a loving your life day.
 


Saturday, March 9, 2024

Sheros for International Women's Day weekend

 It was International Women's Day yesterday, and I thought I'd talk about women who are my heroes. I'm still having trouble with Google, so please forgive the spacing issues in my blog.  I thought I'd look back on a blog from a few years ago about women heroes of mine.  Some things have changed, but some if what I said then holds true.  Tomorrow our clocks spring forward an hour, so it's time to go and watch a movie with my sweet husband, so we can get to bed in time to have an enjoyable  day tomorrow.

Here's some of my former blog: 

No Question about it in life one of my top sheroes is Oprah
Oprah Winfrey Skype Sketch
from the show Where In The Skype Are You
willow charcoal on Canson Mi-Teintes paper
11 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
And in art one of my sheroes is 
Mary Cassatt (painted from a black and white photo --
photographer unknown --colours imagined!)
Acrylic on birch panel
5 x 7 inches
Barbara Muir © 2015

I have so many women heroes. The two above matter so much to me. 
I could add so many more. In my life I'd have to include my mother, my
sister, my niece, my sister-in-law, my daughters-in-law, and all of my 
friends.

I have painted many women, and many of them are my sheroes.
Who are the great women who matter in your life? 

Have an acknowledging your sheroes day. 


Friday, March 8, 2024

International Women's Day



My friend the artist, Nicki Ault
took this photo of me with two of
the paintings from my Ocean series
that I brought to show the other artists at
the Ayr exhibition in 2011 -- one of the 
best artistic celebrations of International
Women's Day that I've been part of.

It is International Women’s Day, and I'm grateful to all of the 
wonderful women in my life — starting with my mother. and my
sister, and extending to all the women in my family, all of my friends,
and all of the amazing women I’ve met in my working life in art and
in teaching. This year seems especially hard for celebrating with the horrific wars, severe climate change and other world issues.  But that makes the beauty artists bring even more vital.

Today I'm going to repost a piece I wrote in 2020 about super art 
show in Ayr, Ontario celebrating International Women's Day in 2011,
where I met artists who are delightful friends.

Let’s change the world!

Here it is -- 

"Me with the painting I entered in
the 100 Years of International Women's Day show
at the Ayr Gallery in 2011. My painting is about
happiness -- an underlying theme
in all of my work.  
Ready for Joy
24 x 24 inches
Acrylic on canvas
Barbara Muir © 2011

Today is a big day for women around the world.  So many things
are changing for us all the time, but most of us will agree
that we have a long way to go to go.  For me this day will always 
remind me of a wonderful 100 Years of International Women's 
Day show in Ayr, Ontario where I met some women artists, and 
shared space with women artists who were, and who became friends. 
These women along with women friends and artists around the 
world have changed my life.


Georgia Fullerton with her painting                   Left to right: Marcia LabelleTammy HextKim  
 at the Ayr Gallery show(upper image)                           RempelNicki Ault, and me
Preservation                                                             International Women's Day 2011
24 x 24 inches
Georgia Fullerton © 2011

So I declare this an International Day of Gratitude for all
of the women in my communities here in Toronto, in
the blog and Instagram and Facebook world, and in the 
wide artistic community, and friendship community around
the world.  You have constantly inspired me, supported me,
and made me feel valued. You make me happy.  Thank you.

Have a thanking the women in your life day."