Love on the High Line (detail)
(work in progress)
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2011
Painters working on large projects are not
necessarily good companions. Obsession is
certainly part of what powers the bigger stuff.
You go to sleep and wake up consumed with what
is next? Wonderful and terrible things happen in
the world, and they are secondary. The main
thing is the work.
I like to think of myself as a kind friend, a caring
person, but I admit -- I can inhabit another world
at times, and that's the world of painting. I am
lucky, but those around me might want to wave
their hands in front of my face to check that
I am present. Thank goodness for walks with
the dog and Steven in the brilliant autumn, for
excellent novels to pull my brain away. For
friends and their calls, visits, stories, interest.
Here's what I've been working on -- still needing
changes here and there -- but clear enough that
you can see what's happening. It is 4 feet by
three feet. I have loved every minute of painting
it and began thinking about it the moment
I saw this photo of my friends sitting on
the High Line in New York City. It has the
conviviality, and little cosmic high you feel
visiting New York, as though just by being there
you're part of something bigger -- and you are --
you're in one of the most vibrant cities in the
world, and feel a bit like you've just had the
best champagne. You are happy, giddy, goofy
and plum pleased with yourself for getting there.
All of that is in my painting, loosely interpreted
from the Facebook shot I was given permission
to work with.
Have a loving-what-you're-working-on day.
