Movie night and journal memories

 Journal sketch based on

Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci?)

in Mythological Guise

tempera on panel

Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main

Sandro Botticelli,  c. 1480/1485

Barbara Muir © 2023

It's movie night.  I was at a very happy opening for the Let's Play
show at the Heliconian Hall today.  I met so many great people,
and had super conversations.

Thinking about Europe and a friend who's visiting from Paris
tomorrow, I saw this journal entry and thought -- perfect!

I'm still working on a complicated painting.  So have a great day
tomorrow.

Have a loving your life day!

International Cat Day

Fiona

Acrylic on mounted birch panel

5 x 7 inches

Barbara Muir © 2014

Today is International Cat Day, and without knowing that I put this painting up on

the mantle in our TV room today, so we could see our cat Fiona every night when
we settle on the couch to watch our favourite show.  Fiona died in June at 17 1/2 years

old and we miss her terribly.  

In fact our next door neighbour, who has a dog, was talking about thinking
about getting a cat today.  And I get it.  We love cats.

We now have one beautiful cat and a sweet dog.  I don't have a painting of
our young cat -- Monet -- but she is a beauty.

So the painting is of Fiona, and here's to cats -- one of the most delightful animals
on the planet. Smart, affectionate, tidy, funny, playful, loving.  The best.
We love our dog -- make no mistake.  Plus our dog Sally loves our cat, and she loves
Sally.  If you have a cat, or cats Happy International Cat Day.

Have a loving your life day.

The arrival of the bees and wasps means summer is speeding along

 

The Maple syrup fans on the back porch

Photo
Barbara Muir ©

A sign that summer is almost over is the invasion of the syrup fans on our

back porch.  We love sitting out on the porch, but we've hit the season when
we have to think of a way to keep the bees and wasps away.  This gimmick

makes then happy and uninterested in us.  All it takes is a plate -- put on a 

surface away from where you want to sit, and some maple syrup.  

Suddenly the creatures are busy and you can have your coffee.

Have a loving your life day!

Love keeps returning

 

View of the river

Photo

Barbara Muir © 2022

I met a woman today at the second opening of the Let's Play show, who had recently 

lost her partner.  I felt so badly for her.  It made me think of this post, because we

visited this boat launch on my parents' old street last weekend. Love doesn't go away.

I enjoyed a lot of meetings with people at the opening. Some serious and some joyful.
It was great.  Here's what I said before:

"My parents would be shocked I think to know that whenever Steven and I
visit Ottawa, we now go out to a place where we can buy chicken wraps,
and then drive to the end of my parents' street to the boat launch to look at
the water.  After my mother died, a multi-millionaire bought her cottage-like
house, tore it down and built a pretentious, squarish mansion.  It couldn't be more
different than what my parents enjoyed.

But as I've said before, my parents taught me to love water. Every summer
from the time that I was two they drove our whole family to a cottage that
was a 2 1/2 hour drive from Ottawa. We swam every day, canoed, and loved
the views on the lake. When we moved to Toronto, my uncle sold the 
cottage we'd rented, and that pleasure was over, so it was extra special
when my parents moved back to Ottawa and they were right on the Ottawa river.

That place also held special memories for me. Wonderful visits with amazing
scenery."

Have a loving your life day!

Come out to Let's Play (cookies! and art lol)

Flowers for the table 
Acrylic on canvas

12 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2025

Have a loving your life day!

 

A wonderful time in Ottawa

Ordering Dinner
Marker on drawing paper

5.5 x 8.5 inches
Barbara Muir © 

We just got home from a sweet long weekend in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. 
We had a wonderful time -- hanging out in the hotel watching a new
show on the giant TV screen, driving through the countryside to see
family.  Looking at awesome views from my sister-in-law and brother's
place. 

August is shaping up to be wildly busy.  So it was just what we needed
to get a break. Lovely, funny kind people. The air was rough from
the fires, and is not good here in Toronto either.  So we didn't have outdoor
time. But it was still great.

Have a loving your life day!

Still celebrating the anniversary of our first date

 The two of us in Quebec City

watercolour and marker on

watercolour paper

9 x 10 inches

Barbara Muir ©

(This is a watercolour sketch I tried to do

as a surprise for Steven quite a while back.)

We were still busy celebrating today with family.  I was looking for
an image that would suit the occasion, and this came up.  I know
you've seen it many times, but it still does the job.  I like the post
that went with it, which seems right tonight:

"Steven and I have two monthaversaries.  How crazy eh?

Twice a month we wish one another 'Happy Monthaversary!' 

One is the Monthaversary of our wedding day.  The

other is for the day we began dating. We started dating

at the end of July, and were married the following June.

We were definitely a case of love-at-first-sight, and I'm so

glad we were.  The fact that we're still together, and I'd say

happier than ever is a miracle.

The kindness and understanding of friends, great advice

from my sister, the therapist, and then a few years of

therapy with a really great therapist during harder times

helped us learn how to be happy, and in love.  Apparently

we make the decision to fall in love on the cellular level. I am

grateful to my cells for that decision.  And I'm grateful to the

wide community in our lives for helping us to grow up

together.

And above all I'm grateful to my sweetheart for loving me

no matter what.  I am so glad we share an overwhelming

love of funny, a delight in our family, and the antics of

our animals.  It's also lucky that we share a love of nature, and

are touched by small things like the flowers blooming

valiantly in our garden despite the high heat of recent

weeks. So Happy belated Monthaversary to you Steven, and
I hope that my other blogger friends have people in their lives who

mean as much to them as you mean to me.

If you don't have someone who loves you this much now,

I am wishing that that person walks through the door in

the next few weeks.  Be ready."

Have a loving your life day.   

Movie night and celebrating that first date

Me and Steven on the beach we love in Nova Scotia.

We are not there now.  Not sure when we're going, but can't wait!

It's movie night, and we just came home from having a wonderful dinner
with family.  Steven and I are celebrating our anniversary of our first date 

a little after the fact. A lot of the discussion tonight was about art, and I love what I said about it in this former post:

"10 Reasons art makes you happy!
1. You get to really see.  It is apparently true that artists see more and see differently than other people.  We are blessed with really seeing
what is out there.

2.  You get to make what no one has seen until you make it.  Even
artists who like to refer to the real world, and try to reproduce it
just as it is, are always making something new.  What a treat!

3. You are entranced by the world.  Colour is magical, simply 

drawing in a notebook is a passion -- you live a blessed life.

4. You are always learning.  No one sane says to a four year old
that that superb painting she just created isn't art. And that is true
of every age. Art is for life.

5. You become part of a world filled with new ideas, excitement, experimentation and brave expression. You make friends and spend
time with other artists who care as much about colour and light
as you do.

6.  You make people happy with your work. When I paint portraits,
I frequently paint either people who want a portrait to record a momentin their lives, or the people who the people love. When the painting is finished, collectors usually react by spontaneously hugging me
with joy -- an awesome feeling.

7.  You make yourself happy with what you make.  It's a wonderful feeling to sit in your studio and see the work you've created.  Each
painting brings back a memory and challenges you -- making you wonder what you will try next.

8. You get to travel to superb places in the worldwhere you will either take photos for future paintings, paint or draw on the spot to record the
moment, or exhibit your work and jet off to the opening!  So much fun!

9.  You get to sell your work to people who really appreciate what you do.  You are living the dream -- doing what you love to do and getting paid for it!

10.  You go to bed each night excited about the next day, and the work you are currently doing.  You cannot get your work out of your mind.  In your sleep you dream about new paintings and how you'll handle them.

Author's note: These are the happy aspects
of art.  I know that the opposite experiences
happen too, but this list is about happy.  ;-)"

Have a loving your life day.

August first has been a crazy day -- and all is well!

 

Golden Light
Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2025

You know those days when everything that should go right, goes wrong.  Today
was one of those days and it wasn't.  Extremely frustrating.  Traffic at a 
standstill, and we had somewhere to go.  Waits on the road, for up to 3/4
of an hour.  But hey!  What was good?  Working with a wonderful friend, a
delicious dinner with my sweetheart made by a Thai chef who knows us and
was glad to see us.

And this painting makes me happy. It sums up in a way the incredible beauty
I saw today. 

Have a loving your life day!