Wow that was so much fun!!!

Oprah Winfrey
Skype Sketch
willow charcoal on Canson Mi-Teintes paper
11 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

People who don't know me cannot possibly know how much
I like Oprah. I probably started watching her show when it
first started running in 1986. Since her magazine began
publishing I've bought every issue, and enjoyed the range
of articles in the publication. Oprah is certainly one of the
most amazing women in the world, and a major hero for
me. So it was a huge thrill to be on her show. Watching
myself today I could tell that I was nervous, because I wanted to
be spontaneous like the people in Harrods who were cheering
with delight. But of course I was also conscious of the fact that
I had a job to do, create a portrait in the time span of
the show, and get that drawing right while watching Oprah.

Believe me from the time her team called a few weeks ago,
until I actually drew Oprah live on the show, I must have stared
at her face in my collection of magazines every free second,
studying her features -- which as you must already know -- are
incredibly beautiful.

What was it like drawing Oprah via Skype? Like an incredible
dream come true. For someone who loves people and faces
the way I do, to get to draw her lovely face, and meet such
an exceptional person was the ultimate treat -- just the best.

My drawing tonight is the sketch I did of Oprah.
I will never forget the intensity of creating it. What
an experience!

Have a memorable day.

Watch me on Oprah on Thursday

Hi everyone. Here's my big news. Tomorrow (probably
today when you're reading this) I'm going
to be drawing Oprah via Skype on her show. So
watch the show, and tell me what you think. I
will post the drawing Thursday night after the show
has aired.

Exciting? Over the top crazy, you can't imagine
how exciting. So...please watch if you're home when the
Oprah's on.

Finished High School
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(Sam's friend stopped by after
her last exam. I like the way she's
about to pick up her tea. The painting
still needs some work.)

Today I'm working on a little painting of my son's friend,
who was sitting in my kitchen yesterday, overjoyed
that her exams are over, and she's finished high school.

The past few months has been a whirlwind of new
ideas, and new ways of working. I believe that a lot
of the positive things that have happened to me, and
wonderful opportunities in my life have come through
friendships and connections I've made through the
simple practice of writing my daily blog, and visiting
your sites. I could not be more grateful to everyone
who has commented, on my blog, encouraged and helped me.
This is a magnificent moment in my life, and
I'm convinced that you are part of the reason why
some of my most heartfelt dreams are coming true.

Thank you my dear friends.

Have a we're-going-to-see-our-dreams-come-true day.

Nap Time

Nap Time
acrylic on canvas
7 x 9 inches
still wet
Barbara Muir © 2009
(Still working on this, there's
a lot of work left)

Tonight I'm working on a painting I started a while
ago. It's a little interior called nap time that I
started, to try and catch the winter sunlight that hits our
hallway in the later afternoon on the weekend.

Late on a weekend afternoon is a great time for
a nap in any season. I remember intensely
disliking that time of day as a child, because
my parents insisted on quiet while they either
read their books or slept. That's when my
younger brother and I would head out to our
fort in the woods across the street -- a couple of
big trees that had fallen down
years ago, and were the center of all kinds of
games acting as shelter, horses, or elephants
depending on our mood. The woods were really
a thin ribbon of wooded area running between
a veteran's hospital parking lot, and a field that
hadn't been developed for housing yet. But to
my brother and I -- with vivid childhood
imaginations, they were dark, dense, scary
and a long way from home, and the dreaded
silence of nap time.

Have an it's-okay-to-have-a-nap day.

Happy Victoria Day

Firecrackers in the field at the school
across the street

For the past few days firecrackers have been going
off in the neighbourhood. The culprits? Mostly
grade eight boys, and parents getting the jump on
the whole Victoria Day, go to a park and share your
expensive exploding devices with the rest of the people
thing, giving their kids a bit of a show in the backyard.

The world is a green, green one, and cold as ice.
But frost didn't kill the flowers last night, and
the masses of weeds are still thriving in my garden.
At this stage the weeds seem overpowering, but we
always win, so I will keep heading out for short
stints and taking out the worst offenders. It is too
early and cold to plant most things.

But here in honour of the holiday and my Winter
2009 classes who I miss are:

10 More Reasons To Be Happy

1. It's a day off -- am I crazy? No -- I'm happy it's a holiday.
2. The cat stopped hollering to get out (yowling and
yowling.) She's fixed so she's not in heat, but she
has a great, Siamese set of pipes.
3. We're probably going to see a super fireworks show
tonight -- we'll have to wear our winter coats, hats and
mittens.
4. It isn't hot. I really love spring weather -- okay a bit
warmer than this, but Toronto in heat stinks - literally.
5. We're having salmon steaks for dinner -- one of
my favorite meals.
6. Steven is buying me flowers today, because we were
too busy getting groceries yesterday.
7. I am going to have some time to paint.
8. I'm reading a great new novel.
9. My son who hurt himself is recovering well.
10. It's a gorgeous sunny day.
11. My friend's daughter got accepted into the university
she wants to attend. (Oops that's 11).

Reality Check

Timbah my cat,
my constant companion this afternoon
when I was hit with food poisoning
(I think it was the cereal)
Timbah certainly made me feel better.

Shortly after I wrote the blog I was hit with a case
of food poisoning, didn't get to paint, spent the day in
bed and just managed to walk across the street to the
local school with my son for five minutes to see the
firecrackers there.

Quick Sketch of Fiona the cat
Sharpie on Bond paper
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

So things can change quickly. But I do feel better
now, and my family are so kind to me.

Have an any-reason-for-a-holiday-is-okay-by-me day.

Firecracker tales

Self portrait
Sharpie on bond paper
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(I'm taking part in a self portrait paint off
this month, so yesterday drew myself when
I'd just got up, tired, no makeup. The
real me (except I only wear glasses
reading and at the computer).

Firecracker day, otherwise known as Victoria Day, because
it used to be celebrated on the 24th of May in Canada,
is the long weekend holiday in May. This year it's early,
and the temperature outside is zero, or freezing. There's a
frost warning, and we had to turn the furnace back on!
Now for those of you in warmer climates, this is pretty
standard fare for this weekend, whenever they hold it.
Still it does seem too early this year, and I have to go and
bring my pansies I haven't planted yet inside!

My Mother told me a funny firecracker day story today.
When she was a kid, her uncle in Ottawa owned a big
concession store, and her family bought their firecrackers
from him. Back then children carried around lots of small
firecrackers and let them off all over the place. This was
true when I was a kid too, but now people are much more
careful.

But my mother's family of girls lived next door
to another family of girls in Rockcliffe, a lovely neighbourhood
in Ottawa. Dori, 14, one of the girls next door, had a plan to
scare my mother's older sister, Marnie. So...before she went to bed,
she tied a string to her big toe, and let the string trail out the second
story window to the ground. At seven o'clock in the morning on
Victoria Day, (early for a holiday in a quiet suburb) my mother
who was about 10, snuck out of her house and pulled on the string
waking Dori up. Dori left her house quietly, met my mother outside
mom's sister Marnie's window, and they let off some loud firecrackers.
"Did it wake your sister up?" I asked. "Oh yes, she was pretty mad,"
laughed my mother. It was the part about the girl sleeping with
a long string tied around her toe that cracked me up. Don't let this story
give you any ideas.

Our dog hates firecracker day, and shivers and shakes at
every bang. Our kids used to light sparklers, and we'd go to
a local park and watch. In recent years we've gone down
to the lake (Ontario) to see the big, public displays.

Have a super-fireworks-impressive-glorious-Victoria Day!

Saturday -- time to stand back

Mother and child (Skype diptych)
acrylic on canvas
8 x 16 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(Still working on it, especially
the child's face, and the background)

In her post yesterday Laurel Daniel talked about lots
of backing up. I call it standing back, and it's a super
idea. I thought about it today working on my small
painting of the little girl, for the mother and daughter
diptych. And I realized it's hard to get back from a
smaller work, because I don't have a table top easel.
Still her words rang in my head, and any improvements
that worked were the result of moving away from the
close work of the piece.

Because it's Saturday the idea of stepping back seems
right all round. I tried to step back a bit from the press
of work. Steven was working all day today, which
makes it hard to remember that it's really the weekend.
But I spent a little time weeding in the garden -- that
felt like a holiday, and tonight we sat at the kitchen table
talking and playing crib with some good friends. That's
what we do on vacation in Nova Scotia. It's a kind of
break from thinking, and with this couple so much
fun. Now I'm going to watch a movie with my
sweetheart, and then go to bed. The children are
both well. The day went well. It was time to stand
back a bit, and just relax.

Have a stepping-back-and-reading-a-book day.

Mom where are you now?

When you get a call on your cell phone as you buzz through traffic
from your 19-year-old, who headed out half an hour ago on his
bike, asking in a strange voice, "Mom where are you now?," terror
covers your heart in an ice cold layer. "Why? What's the matter
Sam?," I asked. Sam's answer: "I've taken a pretty bad tumble on my bike."

I drove as quickly and carefully as I could through rush hour
traffic to the Brick Works where Sam said he'd be, and my husband
sped to the site from the opposite end of the city. Luckily
both of us had our cells with us and on, not always the case.
Thank goodness Sam had his cell, and was not so injured that
he couldn't call.

Sam in the hospital
black marker on bond paper
6 x 6 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

When we arrived Sam's normally rosy complexion was grey
green, and we loaded the bike and Sam into Steven's car, and
I followed up to Sunnybrook hospital. Our son is lucky. He has
a large bump, and massive bruise close to his groin, that missed
hurting him seriously, or cutting off the nerves to his leg by a
fraction of an inch. We chose the right emergency ward,
and they were prompt. In the hospital we wrapped Sam
in blankets and waited 2 1/2 hours to see a doctor, but that
was fast. The hospital staff treated him with care and kindness.

Hearing that your child is hurt, swiftly puts all other thoughts
in your mind into instant perspective. And knowing he'll be
fine makes the world right again.

Sam after the pain reliever
6 x 8 inches
marker on bond paper
Barbara Muir © 2009

My drawings tonight are of Sam in the hospital. A nurse
very kindly gave me paper. I seem to have lost the best one.
Oh well -- I have my boy and can draw him again.

Have a thanking-the-universe-for-the-people-you-love day.