In the midst of strange -- something lovely

After the Dance
acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
Barbara Muir © 2008
SOLD ♥

Hi everyone,

More from the "dance" paintings file.  This one sold at a
show, and then I was asked if I could make a copy.
I explained that no painting would ever look like another.
And according to my blog, that painting happened.

Today we braved the grocery store to pick up enough food so
that we don't have to go out again for awhile.  Most, not all,
 people were observing social distancing, and entrance to the store
 was restricted.  If people came close to me I'm sure I hurried away,
or smiled, and tried to move unobtrusively.  Because we have to
really get that this is serious, and give one  another so much space.

I was almost finished shopping when a fellow started coming closer,
and I said "I'm sorry I'm social distancing."  It turned out
it was my student from another college, and maybe a decade
ago -- Ty.  (at least I think that's how it's spelled because I
didn't ask him.)  He told me that he had really appreciated me
as a teacher, and I think he said that I got him writing.  And there
was something else I did that he appreciated, but it was noisy
in the store at that point and I didn't hear it.  I told him to
look up my blog, and as we were leaving I saw him, and he
held up his phone opened to my blog.  So nice.

What a sweet thing to hear when I'm in the midst of
my one night a week course trying to teach via any method,
but in person (which for me is the whole point.) Thank you Ty.
You were a gift from the universe.  If I wanted to
question what I contribute to the world, there would
be an answer.  Sometimes my teaching makes a
difference.  Yay!  And I'm glad that sometimes my art
does too.

Have a taking it easy day.

The hypnosis answer - Deeper and deeper into a deep hypnotic sleep

New Day

Acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

(The painting I was finishing

when the Oprah Winfrey Show

producers called, and asked

me if I'd like to draw Oprah via Skype.

My answer? YES! I certainly would1)

I love that this painting is called New Day. I thought about this today
because we are on the edge of a new world.  Every doctor, and
expert is saying that this virus will change how we do everything.

And along with the delightful memories of what this painting
brought me, I thought about the best way I know of calming down.

I learned how to do hypnosis at my sister's request when my young
nephew used to have asthma attacks on the morning when he was
supposed to fly to see his father, who lived in another city.  Once
I knew what to do, my sister would cab me over to her house
just at my nephew's bed time the night before the flight, and I'd
help him go to sleep.

My sister gave me the book and video by the psychiatrist
who started the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis,
Milton Erickson.  I may have told this story before, but when
my husband and I first watched the video of Erickson
teaching hypnosis, like everyone else in the room where he
was teaching it on the video, we went under.  Erickson was
extremely gifted at hypnosis, but we can all do it, and its cousin,
Creative Visualization.

I did learn it, and have sometimes taught Creative Visualization.
So if you are super scared about the current news you can do this.
Close your eyes.  Imagine being at the top of a beautiful hill
in your ideal landscape, and tell yourself that you
are going deeper, and deeper into a deep, relaxing sleep.
Talk in the second person.  Call yourself you.  Count
from 1 to 10, and say you are moving down the hill in
this beautiful landscape, deeper, and deeper into complete
relaxation with each number.

At the bottom of the hill see a gorgeous huge jar with a lid.
Take all of your worries, and put them in the jar.  Close the
lid -- walk over to a blanket on the ground under a beautiful tree
and lie down.  Off in the distance you can hear the ocean waves.
And you can write the rest of the script for yourself.

When you are ready count backward from 10 to 1, and wish
yourself either a wonderful sleep, or a wonderful day.

As the children in my neighbourhood have written on
the sidewalk, "we will get through this."

Wishing you a deep, relaxing sleep, and that you wake up 
feeling happy and healthy and ready for a New Day.

A series about being on the edge -- of a new life

Before the Dance in the White Dress

Part of the Dance series

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 

(Thank you to my sweet niece Chloé who posed for this one)

I have a painting on the easel and a canvas just primed,
but it will be a few days maybe before I have something
new to show you.  My Dance series including "Before the
dance", "After the dance" and "At the dance" paintings
was dedicated in part to my students, who I could see were
at the beginning (many of them) of the dance of adult
life.  And I wanted to wish them well.

Plus for a portrait artist, what could be more beautiful than
people dressed in party finery?  This painting of my niece
stays high on my list of work I produced in that series.
My niece was so beautiful, funny and intelligent.  She
had everything going for her, and yet it will be her birthday
on Tuesday, and she is no longer alive.  She died suddenly
in October of 2017.

Adult life as it turns out, is not that easy for some people --
it was not for her.  I find the painting and even the idea
of the series especially poignant tonight.  We -- the whole
world, are like young women and men on the edge of
life.  Our future, our very existence at the moment, is
a complete unknown.

We have got to take care of each other, help in whatever
way we can -- by staying healthy, by following whatever
few small pieces of advice we get from health authorities,
by recognizing how lucky we are for every day of our good
health.

Unlike the dance metaphor about good things to come (which
was my hope), the virus hitting the planet now predicts the
very opposite.  People talk about boredom.  But boredom
is a small price to pay to help not just ourselves, but
as many people as possible avoid this tragedy.

Have a taking care of yourself and the people you love day.

To the farmers -- thank you!

From the market 

Acrylic on canvas

16 x 20 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

(available)

(The flowers were from

another wonderful vendor at the

Brickworks Farmer's Market

closed now because of the virus.)

You may not know that I am not a cook.  I used to cook
when my husband and I first met.  I made bread, and
cooked dinner, and looked up recipes, and really
enjoyed that activity.  I don't know when it stopped,
but it did.  My husband is now (and actually always
was) a far superior cook, and even though we alternate
nights to be in charge of dinner, as we have for our whole
married life, I frequently serve reheated leftovers from his
fabulous meal the night before.

Enter the farmers from the farmer's market.
In a former life our favourite farmers -- a husband and
wife team (now helped out by their son too) were chefs
in Europe.  They make a bunch of delicious baked goods,
and sell organic vegetables and eggs, and when the weather
is cool enough they make a delicious quiche.

I have counted on them for two meals a week out of
that quiche for years.  A few years ago I stopped eating
flour and sugar.  So when I serve the quiche I take the
crust off my piece and give it to my husband. This
makes both of us happy.  No I am not allergic to
gluten, I'm just someone who could easily eat 15 cookies
at a time!

Now with this virus upending normal life, the larger
farmer's market is closed.  Today in pouring rain, under
a tented table in a driveway, the farmers sold their pre-ordered
goods with strict social distancing, and naturally I bought
a quiche.  I felt so proud of them.  They were doing everything
right, and carrying on.  Like we all have to do.

I am grateful to them every week, but more so than ever now.

Have an acknowledging the brave people keeping us going day.

Simple pleasures -- and stay safe

Roses make me happy

watercolour, acrylic ink, and black marker

on Canson drawing paper

11 x 14 inches

Barbara Muir © 2020

A short walk today in the beautiful light felt good.
Sitting on the back porch in the gorgeous day
felt good.

I worked on this drawing from a few years ago, and
started using watercolour and also acrylic ink.  It's
drawing paper, not watercolour paper, so it was not
perfect.  But hey!  It felt good to paint a little.

I may do more on it tomorrow.  I loved the big expansive
roses, but I'm working from my brain, so.  Models
are good, even for still life.

Thank you for being out there and doing art, and
inspiring all of us who are pretty much house
bound.

Have a loving your life day.

Sweet signs of kindness in my neighbourhood

A Magic Day in the Neighbourhood

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24

Barbara Muir © 2016
SOLD ♥
(The playground here is currently closed --
as are all playgrounds across the GTA --
but it will come back into use again, 
and we'll all be so happy.)

Hi Everyone,

I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to go for walks during
the past couple of weeks.  And today my husband took me out
to a park by the lake (which is still open -- even though most
parks are closed) for my walk (got to try and get a walk in
as often as possible.).

On my route around our own neighbourhood lately, with almost no one
out on the streets, I have run into such lovely things.

Someone put orange posters on the lampposts on streets near
me.  These had bright suggestions to make someone walking
by feel happy -- like, "Count the lampposts between here and
your home", or "Make up a dance and do it four times."

Then yesterday one house in the neighbourhood was giving
out coloured chalk for sidewalk messages.  The children up
my street have decorated the sidewalk with hearts and
messages like, "We're going to be okay!" and "We'll get
through this."

I am so touched by the videos people are sharing of art
exhibitions, concerts, dance parties online, with everyone
uploading videos of themselves dancing to the music while
their staying at home. We will get through this, and thank
you to everyone who is helping us make it through.  Stay
safe, and stay healthy.

Have a being creative and staying healthy day.

Q & D -- supposedly although everything is hyper clean

At home

acrylic ink on notebook paper

6 x 8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2020

Hi everyone,

How are you doing? I hope you are doing well.  I seem to be
way busier than I was a couple of weeks ago before this hit.
How can that be true?  Well shifting my one evening a week
course over to online, telephone and video has been time
consuming, but I think we've got it.

So I hope you are remaining happy.  It was a beautiful day
today -- too beautiful I guess because everyone got out
in the streets for a little while, being careful, social distancing,
but there must have been way too many people in the parks in Toronto,
and for now they are closed.  Not fun.

I've been speaking to people all over the world in the past few days
and our stories are very similar.  So get a good book, grab a
cup of tea, and settle in.  Stay safe, and stay sane and happy.

Quick and dirty?  This little sketch for you tonight.  Not all
that quick, and not dirty at all.  Come on.  So many surfaces,
so much rubbing alcohol.  So much obsessive hand washing.
And all to the good.  I did this with an acrylic pen that I
revived by soaking it in water.  It works erratically, and
unpredictably -- so when I want a fine line, it goes heavy,
once in awhile it lets go with too much ink, and then suddenly
I can't get a line at all with it.  This seems perfect for right now.
All of life is either too much -- or shortage, going well,
or completely stopped.  Stay healthy please.

Have a happy day.