Sunday Party Day -- and Belated Pie for Pi Day

Stand Back for the Pie

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 

Today we had our lovely little family party to celebrate St. Patrick's
Day a couple of days late. We had brunch to suit both work
schedules and our youngest member's nap time.  Steven made
French toast, and we enjoyed party sandwiches from a local deli,
bagels, cream cheese, coffee, cherry pie and ice cream.

It was a sweet time, and I saw this painting that seemed to
capture that feeling yesterday at Yang's Flowers on Avenue Rd.
 It is still for sale if you'd like it, write me here.  But the point
is that it seemed the perfect painting to celebrate both spring,
a party feeling and the delicious bakery pie we served.

Have an enjoying family parties day. 

A great first day at Artwalk

What a wonderful first day we had. My thanks go out to the
people who walked and came out by TTC ( bus, streetcar and
subway)to see my work. I really appreciated your presence,
and the great conversations we had. Paintings are selling, and the
whole atmosphere is jovial and festive despite the rain.

Here's a jolly watercolour I painted a few
years ago.

The house looks great and we served some wine, coffee,
cookies, and salmon and cream cheese on Steven's home
made bread. Yum. I am somewhat tired now just from
the set up, but as soon as I get a nap I'll be raring to go.

Have a loving-the-life-you-live day.

For the love of cherries

Our little cherry tree planted in a space
between the garage and the neighbour's
fence, which is too small for the poor
thing, has been the source of great joy
and more than one painting.

Here I played with branches with
not yet ripe green cherries, in a
crystal jug against a cherry red ground.
It's more detailed than I thought it was
going to be. Outside right now the
cherries are exactly like this on the tree.
Thunder ripples through the sky, and
the cat is asking me to shut down
my computer.

In a few weeks we will have so many
cherries that both Steven and our neighbour
Gill will make as many pies as our
families can eat, and then ---poof it's
all over and the birds and squirrels
who can stand sour cherries harvest the rest.



Have a crystal clear day tomorrow.

Enjoying everyday plenty

For the past couple of years I've
been combining still life and
portrait paintings, sometimes
linking them. The first of these
paintings is shown here. It
depicts our kitchen table in full
summer dress confusion. True
the pansies had to be propped
on a book. But the book was
there because my son was
in a baking phase, making
Reagan Daley's scrumptious
chocolate cake from scratch.
I just changed the colour.

The sugar bowl is the antique
kind I've collected for years,
bigger than the coffee cups.


We grow nasturtiums and
pansies every year, and we
always have fruit in the footed
glass bowls.

When students are trying to figure out what to write
about I tell them the old rule of starting with what's
right in front of you. Sometimes when it's time to
paint I have no idea where to begin. Then I lean
on my own advice and paint the bounty I live in
every day. In all my work I'm trying to capture
the joy I feel matters in life -- I wish joy could
be the core of life for everyone.

I'm including a photo of one of the bouquets
cheering up the kitchen today.

Have a thankful day.