Beautiful Don Valley Art Club show at Todmorden Mills

 

Summer of '69
Acrylic on canvas
Jennifer Hinrichs ©

Today we went to see the fabulous Don Valley Art Club 2026 Spring Awards
Show.  I went to see the painting above by my good friend and amazing a

artist, Jennifer Hinrichs.  And she not only won the AmyYi Chen Portrait
Award, she sold the painting!  So wonderful.

The show was absolutely fantastic -- so many artists, such great work. And the
people sitting the show were so warm and kind and informative.  My 
husband and I loved it.  I wish I took more photos, but I was so busy
enjoying the work.  I think it was the last day today.  If not make sure
to check it out. 

Have a loving your life day!

One story

Monique
Photo (selfie with Maya)
Maya Mulametovic © 2026

Today there is one story.  Yes I worked on my art -- picked up a reference
photo from my printer, took a work to be framed, and bought paint for
my current work.

But the only real story is our new kitten Monique.  Oh boy,  During the
day this tiny being sleeps -- but watch out at night.  We've had to rearrange
all the sleeping arrangements of the animals to try and keep this tiny
rocketgirl safe,

Funny.  And exhausting.

Today family came by, played with Monique and made art.

Enjoy your pets.  I know we do, 

Have a loving your life day!

Looking back to the first May 2008 -- like today it was all about cats

 

The cats take it easy 
(Fiona lying down, Monet
sitting.)
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2024
(This was a photo
of Fiona who died
at 18 last June,

and Monet who was missing

her.  We hope Monet and
Monique -- both female
Siamese can enjoy
one another. That was the
idea.)

Sorry I had computer issues last niight.  This is yesterday's post.
Back in 2008, my first year blogging, Steven was away on May
28 for work, and the house seemed quiet without him, but
the cats (we had two at the time) decided to snuggle together
on our bed, something they didn't do normally.

We could do with some of that peaceful behaviour today, as
yesterday we got a new Siamese kitten, 12 weeks old who we've decided
to name Monique.  Our four year old, also female Siamese cat is Monet.
So yes -- the names are similar.

We got the kitten because we didn't want Monet to be lonely if our dog
Sally, now blind and deaf (13) got ill.  Monet is acting like this is the
worst betrayal ever. A cat who has never hissed and is never upset is
hissing and yelling a lot. Our hope is that in time she will discover that
Monique is a friend.

As it was in 2008 the garden is lush with blue forget me nots.
Such an amazing sight. 

The other similarity is that I have a super good novel, and 
I'm working on a painting not ready for viewing. I hope if you

have pets that everyone is getting along. 

Have a good travelling day.

Delighted to be in the art world

 

Tree by the lake
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir ©

I'm going to a meeting tonight at the Heliconian Hall for the
artists in the World in a City exhibition.  The show comes
down tonight, and we wanted to get together with the artists
who joined us for the show invited by Heliconian members.
I invited my friend Georgia Fullerton, who has two 
beautiful paintings in the exhibition.

I found the painting above scrolling through my blog,
and I think I may have painted over it.  It's a beautiful
day here in Toronto, and it seems right for the mood
today.

One exciting part of being an artist is being ready to
change something so it works better.  I think when I
finished this I thought it wasn't good enough.  But when
I look at it now I see that two more  trees
could have made it better. Then I'd just written that and 
went through all of my paintings and found it. So that's
what I'm working on.

I love watching Mitchell Johnson videos on Instagram
for that reason as I've told you before. He changes work
all the time -- sometimes when it is hanging in a show!

One good thing about having a blog is that even if older
work is changed, or gone -- the images live on.

Have a loving your life day!

More Paris dreams

The gorgeous restaurant

in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris 

Photo:

Barbara Muir ©

Here's what I talked about a year ago, and strangely enough I am
thinking exactly the same thing today one year later.

"Sometimes the life of an artist is about cleaning up the studio,
sorting things out.

It's been a great day, lovely weather, and of course we're dreaming
of Paris, and this amazing restaurant in the middle of one of the most
spectacular museums in the world, the Musée D'Orsay.

Hope you had a wonderful day."

Have a loving your life day! 

Memory Monday

 

My model and Steven pose

with the portrait 

Alice on a good day

Acrylic on canvas

16 x 20 inches

Barbara Muir © 2024

Super busy today and this came up in my blog from Doors Open last year.
The same model and a dear friend modelled for me this year, and it's 
fascinating to see the difference.  More to come on that wonderful
afternoon, but for now -- here's the newer version of one of the day's 
paintings.  Much less time with two models.

Alice
Doors Open Sketch at The Heliconian Hall today
Acrylic on canvas
18 x 20 inches

Barbara Muir © 2026

Have a loving your life day!

Great day at the Heliconian Doors Open with my models Alice and Maya

Alice
Doors Open Sketch at The Heliconian Hall today
Acrylic on canvas
18 x 20 inches

Barbara Muir © 2026

I had a super time painting my two models -- 10 minutes for one, then 10 minutes

for the other one after another for two hours today.  Not an ideal plan for a very
slow painter (my art group will disagree with that, but this was different -- I know
these models), still it was cool.  We had a lot of fun. And my family came out to
see us, and the event. I took some breaks so it was probably 40 minutes per
painting. We were in the back room behind an exciting event with musicians,
dancers and of course the beautiful art show called World in a City, on until May 27. 

I hope to work a bit more on the other painting sketch done in this quick, quick
fashion. And then I'll show it to you.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Have a loving your life day!