Valentine's Day -- Early Celebrations and Art

Robin's Message of Love

8 x 8 inches

Acrylic on canvas

Barbara Muir © 2017

(a very snowy day, and the robin shouldn't be

here, but he and his family felt it was

a vital message --love one another.)

Today was delightful and we had our family over
for a Valentine's brunch.  Steven made delicious
French toast, and bought bagels and deli sandwiches
in case some people didn't want French toast.  Of
course there were cards, hearts and chocolates, and
more than anything love that filled the air with
laughter and happiness.

Tonight I'm posting my current painting for
Valentine's Day.  I have cards already from other
years, but I love the tradition of creating a little
painting as part of the celebrations.  On this
the 12th Day of the month of love, I dedicate the
day to my family again.  They are a treat to be
with.  And I thank them.

Happy Valentine's Week to all of you.  I am a
total believer in the power of love.  Let's use that
power to celebrate together.

Have a loving-being-with-family day.

Hot topics -- warm day

Flowers for Friday

Acrylic on canvas

8 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir ©

This painting is a gift from the universe
to me.  I was trying to get another painting down from a
high shelf and this one dropped into my hands.
The title is perfect.

We needed extra cheer today, for reasons I won't go
into, on both the private and the world scale.
But in fact today what impressed me was the talk
I had with out herbalist/acupuncture fellow about
big Pharma -- something we are learning more and more
about in a series of documentaries we're watching.
And big Pharma is making it difficult for alternative
healers to get the medicines they've long relied on
to heal people like me.

I sat in my acupuncturist's waiting room talking about
some of the medicines he's given me over the years --
some of which brought me back from the brink of
death. When I got a supervirus years ago -- and my
doctor told my husband I was dying and there was
nothing she could do, my alternative medicine
healer saved my life.  And the new doctor I got at
that time agreed that he had.

View from the waiting room

black marker and acrylic marker

 on Moleskine paper

3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches

Barbara Muir © 2017

But I looked out the window I've looked out so many
times and started drawing as he talked.  And I did
not have my glasses.  So I've straightened the drawing
a bit.   I am grateful for alternative healers, for doctors
who understand the importance of alternatives, for the
 painting, and for all of the people marching
around the world, for women's rights, for equality,
for the environment.  We are holding hands across
the planet.

Have a greeting-the-world-with-hope day.

Not even close -- more and more fantastic!

 No Contest -- Nature Wins

Acrylic on Canvas

30 x 30 inches

Barbara Muir © 2016

(This is a corner in Amherst, Nova Scotia,

and the edge of a parking lot. I was

asked to do something urban with

my clouds.  And this is it.  It could

be a corner in a suburb anywhere in

Canada really. )

You know how you think your life is going to be?
Do you? You fall in love, learn how to do something
to make some money, do your job and have your kids,
and that's it.  All that is beyond wonderful, when it
works, and I have been really over the moon lucky,
because like the Facebook one liners say -- love IS
what matters.  I am well aware that life can be hard
as hell, and I've been there too, but I think it's important
to welcome the happy dance when it comes your way.

What they don't say is that life can just get more and
more amazing, and richer, and funnier, and more
delicious and delightful, and you can get more friends,
and if you leave the job that was there forever, but
started to wear thin, new stupendous opportunities
can fly in to dazzle you.  No I haven't been drinking --
just milk (seriously -- oh and tea at the Art Gallery
of Ontario -- but what an amazing week.)

I got my painting finished for the Scape show (landscapes)
at the Super Wonder Gallery -- with a love blast,
overwhelmingly, marvellous interruption in the process
in the final hours of our lovely granddaughter being
born -- perfect and gorgeous.

Alice with her Dad

How I ever went back to the easel is beyond me,
but I did. Whew.

 Me with In the City,

at the Scape show this weekend

on until February 4th between 2 and 8 p.m.

(This is the painting inspired by a 

Howard Wolinsky photo.)

Acrylic on canvas

36 x 48 inches

Barbara Muir © 2016

Two openings later, and yesterday an afternoon with
Alice Isabel Vincett Muir and her mom and dad, and
we are exhausted today, but filled with a giddy joy.
(Were you picking up on that?)  As there were other
visitors to the baby today we visited the Art Gallery
of Ontario, and saw the Turner show again.  We also saw a
super Stella, a Claes Oldenburg hamburger, Paul
Peel's beautiful work, a Monet,  and a Gaugin.

Tonight I'm planning my work for next month's show,
so that's all for now.  Whew.  I'll keep you posted.

Here's the show invite, in case you missed it.  It's a great show,
check it out if you're in town.

 

Have an enjoying-the-happiness-life-gives-you day.

Small changes and -- Happy revelations!

Tea in the gallery with Marcia

Acrylic on canvas

8 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

(In the original I tried to include

a suggestion of Marcia.  Looking

at it in December I realized the

figure part, and yellow background

weren't working.  I painted out the

figure and changed the background 

colour and like it much better.  Besides 

Marcia you deserve a proper portrait.

This year I promise I will do one!)

When January hits I try to give myself a
self-promoted challenge to do a painting a day.
The exercise is demanding and inspiring.  But
this year I'm working one a few larger pieces
and they are my full time concern.

As I said in my last post, before my show at Super
Wonder Gallery in December, 2015, I was blessed
with seeing some of my work with fresh eyes.
Some of my work needed major transformation,
but for other small works changes in colour in places,
and in the backgrounds did the trick.

I don't know what gets in the way of complete vision,
but I'm sure nerves, the distractions of everyday
life, and a whole series of negative thoughts
dive into a frightening mix.

Painting in the studio

Acrylic on canvas

8 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

(I think the inspiration for this

might have come from Edward B. Gordon

who gets so much drama onto a very

small board.  But to start out this

painting with all its bold intentions was

a bit weak. I am quite happy with where

it ended up.)

It's so great to surface and like seeing the sunlight after
 a cold, deep dive in the lake, on a summer's day.

Tonight I'm showing you a couple of examples
of paintings I revised.

Have a seeing-the-happy-light day.

So many wonderful artists! -- more from the Florence Biennale

It's a week and half since I landed back in Toronto
after a very good flight across the wide Atlantic,
and my thoughts are still revolving around the
wonderful artists I met at the Florence Biennale.

As an artist for the most part working in intense
colour, I was surprised at how attracted I was to
the work of artists working in black and white and
grey scale at the Florence Biennale.

Square 1

Oil on canvas

Alegria, 2015

(We were just about to take the shot

for the Happy People project and

we got called away!  Alegria pointed out

that her name means happiness!)  

This work Square 1, a triptych, consisting of 16
panels each, by Ecuador's Alegria is one of the black
and white works I admired. It explores her thoughts
about the way women have to hide to be safe. Her
paintings were inspired by her daughter's 16th birthday.
Alegria isworried about what her daughter will face out
in the world as an adult woman.

 Rafael Cardona-Acevedo

Untitled sculptures 

Various materials

2015

(Rafael was another artist we hoped to photograph

as part of the Happy People Project on the final day,

 but he didn't have any free time.  Here he

is with a guest, I'm not sure who.)

I'm sorry I don't have a better photo of Puerto Rico's
Rafael Cardona-Acevedo's witty sculptures.  Rafael's
buoyant good mood, cheery smile, and positive
attitude were a treat for all the artists exhibiting near
his work.  His wooden crests with hands playing
with Yoyos, is a wonderful work, and and his bike
as an elephant, is also brilliant.

Kaya Deckelbaum with En'light

Hand manipulated, coloured wire mesh

2015

(Kaya would also have been part of

the Happy People Project, but 

there was no time to photograph

her on the final day because there

were so many visitors.)

New York's Kaya Deckelbaum creates dramatic and
evocative sculptures of faces using wire mesh, which
she tints, and then lights so that the faces also create
shadow shapes on the wall behind them.  We did
not get to do the happy people exercise with her,
but she is very happy.  And she did win an award for
her work, En'light. Her sons and her husband helped
her out at the Biennale, and her family is understandably
proud of her work. Kaya won a prize in sculpture.

Alvaro Gómez with Querencias (close up)

Mixed media on canvas

2015

Alvaro Gómez hands in the air happy

Alvaro Gómez from Venezula displayed two large
panels, featuring beautiful, classical drawings in
coloured pencil on black canvas.  His images play
off some of the iconic paintings of the Renaissance
in an homage to Florence, the heart of that
art movement.  Those paintings and sculptures
continue to move viewers to voyage, as Alvaro did,
across the planet, just to see them.  Alvaro did the
Happy People move, and he also won a prize
in mixed media!

 Stefano Favaretto debates the Happy People idea 

in front of his beautiful photos on marble. 

Stefano goes for happy. 

Stefano Favaretto comes from northern Italy,
and I was surprised to learn that he worked
in Canada, I believe in Calgary as a family
therapist.  His lush photographs, printed on
marble, were a hit with everyone visiting
the Biennale.  His technique involves duplicating
the photo, like a Rorschach image, that reveals
a face, or character in the process.  He has
exhibited in Milan, Shanghai and New York City.
When the Biennale was over he was shipping
photos on slate to a show in Singapore.

Miranda Brouwers and I are hoping to continue
the Happy People project and expand its borders.
If you feel like belonging to this cheerful group,
email me a photo of you with your hands in the air,
and a big smile either at an art show displaying your
work, or in your studio. 

I hope you know I love you!

Catherine Scott

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 36 inches

Barbara Muir © 2009

Dear friends,
Spending time with your family and people
you love, matters every bit as much as
spending time drawing and painting.  Yes
there are lonely souls who work at art,
and art that is anything but happy.  But
to my mind, our lives with people who
love us, or cats and dogs, or people we
work with, are what give us the juice to
create.  And that matters.

Apparently purpose according to every
sage happiness writer I've read, is what gives our
life on this planet meaning.  My purpose here is
partly to be a loving wife, and mother,
and friend, and artist and teacher, and
person in the supermarket, and wherever
I go.

Two posts I've seen and read today moved me --
one to tears, and one to near tears.
Read this blog post by the renowned writer,
Rona Maynard.  And watch this video by
Lilou Mace, who graciously let me paint
her for my November show.

It has been a rough week in the world.
I grew up in a generation that believed
love is the answer, but I really didn't
understand what that idea meant until
I had my own family, and understood
that loving takes work, a continuous
back and forth of great times, poor times,
with rewards of joy and laughter in store
that are unimaginable until we experience
them.

So I did not paint today because I wanted
to spend time with family and friends,
 but I will post one of my favorite paintings
of all time. This was painted as a gift to a woman
dying of cancer from her dear friends
who knew she wanted a vivid record of
herself left behind.

Portrait painters get commissions to record
every stage in life.  I felt both honoured and
overwhelmed with this assignment, but
Catherine, the subject loved it so much,
and felt her friends' profound love when it was
unveiled on her birthday. That day I really
understood my purpose on the planet.

Have a knowing-I-love-you day!

Opening in honour of my mother

At the opening of Interplay at
Studio Vogue last night.
Me with the Times Tables Series
from top to bottom
Tea Alone,
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30
Barbara Muir © 2013,
Let's Get This Party Started
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30
Barbara Muir © 2013,
The Writer's Life
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30
Barbara Muir © 2013

My wonderful mother is dying in a hospital in Ottawa.
My heart is breaking beyond anything I could have
imagined, but one of the best lessons my mother has
taught me is to be strong in the face of life's sorrows.
And I am.

She was and is one of the bravest people I have
ever known.  Living alone, almost blind, and with
a lung ailment that made her cough for hours at a time,
she still found pleasure in life, especially in her friends
and family. She lived alone by choice.
Even four days ago she was making up
songs about her condition, but I'm afraid that was
the last of the songs I'll hear from her.

During the past few months, and especially in this
past sad month, there have been many
moments of happiness, and some of the most
inspiring have been in the lovely development
of the series I call the Times Table Series, on
view now at Studio Vogue.  The family that let
me into their lives, and took hundreds of photos
for me to use as reference, are funny, and kind
and loving.  And every time I'd make a new request
I'd receive another flurry of photos trying to
give me what I needed.

To honour them, and to honour my mother I
wanted to be at my opening.  I told my friends
in the community that they would cheer me up
if they came, and they did.  It was wonderful.
The ultimate message that filters through out
of all of this, is that love is what matters -- give it,
share it, enjoy it.  And that's what I hope this series
expresses.

Have a loving-your-family-and-friends day.

A delight in strangers

Cutie the bunny goes shopping

Black marker on Fabriano note paper

6 1/4 x 8 1/2

Barbara Muir © 2013

Artists see the whole world as their subjects.
Right or wrong it's true.  So naturally I was
intrigued when I happened upon this lady in one
of my favorite furniture stores walking beside her
husband and a cart with their purchases.  She was
calmly carrying a live rabbit (their pet) in a plastic
box you'd normally use for storing office supplies.
I had my phone with me, asked if I could take her
picture. She happily agreed.

Today I am pretty busy, but I always need to make
time for some art, and I decided to do this sketch.
I might do it again in a series I'll call the kindness
of strangers, paintings of people who've agreed
to pose for photographs for art over the years.  But
I've just come up with that idea, so it may be
a while.  You know from my Easter painting that
I once owned a rabbit named Harold, and that
I love New York -- so oddly enough this woman
and I had an instant bonding experience.

Have a delighting-in-strangers day.

Finishing baby, and a great daughter and father show

Baby at the party (work in progress)

Acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 2013

Today I worked to put  the final touches on my baby
 painting.  But I'm not entirely finished.  I might think
more about the background and could do more detailing
perhaps in her dress, still she is done for the moment.

Thinking about this little girl and her parents
connects to a show my friend I've shown with
many times, Gill Cameron is having starting this
weekend with her father Ken Cameron. Called
A Full Circle this show is an emotional tribute
for Gill to her father's influence on her art.  Gill
 is a wonderful landscape artist in watercolour,
and her father depicted his beloved Canadian
 landscape in oil.

 Blue Rivers
 Watercolour

31x11 inches

Gill Cameron © 2013

The idea of a show combining their work grew
for Gill this year, after her mother's death last
fall.  It struck Gill one day that her new landscapes
were all about the love she felt for her parents, and
how strange it was to have them gone.  She decided
to honour her father and her love for both her parents
by having a show together with her Dad. And the result
is a magnificent show of strong landscape paintings
that are quintessentially Canadian.

1 Cameron

Oil on canvas

33x38 inches

Ken Cameron ©

Getting back to my baby -- I'm sure that this
little girl, who by now is probably walking and
talking has the same deep connection to her
parents.  And that's why it matters to paint
babies. The love they start to feel at that
early age can influence them all of their
lives.

Full Circle opens at Artscape Wychwood Barns
601 Christie Street Friday night May 3 from
6 - 9 p.m., and runs from May 3 - May 9.
Check it out. 

Have a-loving-your-children-and-parents day.

Is it?

Tree by the water

Watercolour on Canson watercolour paper

9 x 12 inches

Barbara Muir © 2012

(In grey scale the tree looks haunting, so

I must do it again in colour so that you can

get a different feeling.)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  (The
origin of the phrase is hotly debated). So I
thought I'd try to write a thousand words on the
subject.  I was watching a wonderful video of
Louie Schwartzberg put on by TED TV, and he said
we take in most of our information visually.  But aren't
written words visual?

Years ago when I was at university, one of my
professor's wives with a deep interest in the printed
word resurrected a century and a half old hand operated press.
You had to really think a word was worth printing to
go through the process of setting type, choosing each
letter and setting it in place, then inking the segment you
were printing, lining up the paper and cranking the
handle to make the page print.  Each letter was carved in wood
and topped with linoleum or metal.  Making a print of a poem
took intensive patience, labour and messy clean up --
but everyone would easily agree that there was no comparison
between those printed pages, and print produced by an electronic
 printer.  Part of it was the bite into the paper page that each letter
 made, so that it each letter impressed itself on the page.

Too many words make a dog dog tired
Right now the dog is snoring on the floor.  She's had
one walk today and wants another.  If she wasn't sleeping she'd
be yelling at me -- "all right, all right -- a picture is worth a
thousand words.  A thousand words is way too many mom
for today's audience.  What they want is more pictures and
 fewer words.  They're going to have to get Alex the auto
voice person on the computer to read your many words for them.
 The whole idea makes me want to sleep again."

As you know making pictures from Skype video telephoning
has been a major focus in my work in the past few years.
Is it better to phone, or to see the person you're talking to.
My friends and family have found that it depends on
the day.  It's very intimate to phone and not see the
caller, but heart warming to be able to see someone you
miss laugh, and gesture.  One day this whole question may
be moot.  When it comes to talking to my family I know
the visual call is the one I prefer.

 If you visit a word person's home, there is every chance
that words will feature as decorations on the walls, furniture,
maybe even their fashion, more than pure visual images -- or pictures.

Marcia's take
But a thousand words for one picture?  I phoned my friend
Marcia, a fabulous artist, and she said "absolutely.  A picture
 is worth a thousand words.  I love pictures."  She definitely
 loves picture books, a fact I noticed when we visited her and
husband David in Hamilton on Family Day. We looked at one
glorious picture book after another discussing art all the while.
When I told her I was going to talk about this topic, she said to end
it half way to one thousand words.  The picture tonight
is a grey scale of a gorgeous tree we saw in a park on the edge
of Lake Ontario on our way to Hamilton for dinner with Marcia
and David.  In the late day sun it was a stunner, and I'm hoping that
 my paintings of the tree (that's right I might do more than one) give
 you an idea of how magnificent it was.

Me with my son Sam on the shore of Lake Ontario on Family Day.

Behind us is the glorious tree.

But I have to quit now -- and I'm not quite at 1,000 words. In fact
I'm only half way.  So I'll continue tomorrow with more pictures
from that lovely journey -- which ended with a super dinner with
my wonderful artist friend.  I hope you're having a happy day, and
that one of these old maxims is teasing your brain.
By the way I got the link to Louie Schwartzberg  from Carol Wiebe,
a wonderful artist whose work you can see here.

And what about you?  What captivates me on your blog?  Your pictures
and your words.  I love the paintings, the photos, the videos and what
you have to say.  Thanks for all of it.

Have a-loving-pictures-and-words day.