A real community

Mother and Daughter
acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
Working on the daughter --
I worked on her face,
her shirt, and sweater,
jacket and hands. I
concentrated mainly
on the face, and I now know
I'm getting there.

If you're reading this and you're just thinking about
becoming a blogger, I strongly urge you to jump
in and start. The art blogging world is a real
community. I recently read an article in The
Globe and Mail explaining that the cyber world
was cruel. That's not true in the art blog world.

In fact I have never had as much encouragement,
support, attention and excitement about my work
and about each small step in progress in some
paintings, as I've had since I had the great good
fortune of joining the blog community. I know
that some artists have received the odd cruel
comment, but those are most definitely not the
norm. And when people do leave nasty comments
on someone's blog, friends from around the world
write to dispute the unkind remark.

You will not be popular in the blog world if you
don't get the rules -- say something nice, or
don't say anything at all. Of course we can't
all like one another's work, so what happens
is that we find friendships with people whose work,
we admire -- for many of us that covers a wide
range from representational to abstract.

Most of us don't want criticism unless we ask
for it, and most of us don't want instruction
either, unless we ask for it. We just want
a community of artists who like our work, and
understand what we're trying to do. And isn't that
huge? For me it's been a constant source of joy.
We all need that.

Tonight I'm showing you the work I did on the
daughter in mother and daughter today.

Have a building-your-art-community day.

Lovely June

Pansies in the garden
black marker on bond paper with the odd
bug
8 x 10
Barbara Muir © 2009
I hastily drew this drawing while
we had tea on the bench under our
cherry tree. It's in honour of Drawing Day
http://www.drawingday.org/participate.php

Saturday is one of my all time favorite days of the week,
how about you? This morning after checking out the
Style section of the Globe (I save the rest for later in the
day), Steven and I headed out to the Brick Works
Farmer's market. My friend, Jan Marriott has an
amazing vintage fabric table there, and if at all possible,
I like to go and check out her wares. Today there
were exceptional quilts in every colour range, lovely
scarves, pieces of vintage fabric in mattress ticking and
gorgeous stripes, chenille bedspreads in every colour.

By the way if you're planning a wedding any time
soon and need a dress, she's the person to contact
for a vintage wedding dress in perfect condition at
a fraction of the price of a new dress. Then
Steven and I went to buy flowers, because he has
to work tomorrow, our usual flower buying day.

I picked up some delicious savoury buns from the bakery
lady and we had lunch on the back porch with the
boys.

Lupines from the flower store.
In Nova Scotia we walk across the street
and pick them from a field. But I
have to admit they were reasonable
here -- I bought two massive bunches.

For the rest of the day it's all art all the time.
If I have anything in a finished state I'll post
it.

Have an I-love-the-weekend day

The thinking part

Step Two Today
Mother and Daughter
I'm starting with Step Two
because I don't want Step One to
show up in the blogs that show
images. This is still extremely rough,
but not as rough as it was.
Step Two, Three, Four (you
know how it goes) was beginning
to refine the face and hands, plus
the shape of the figure, and
covering the red underpainting with
a gold paint.

How Step Two Looks in Certain Lights

The Gold is very bright in certain light,
so I may dull it down -- I'm not sure.
I intend to put real gold leaf on in
places to suggest pattern.

If you have the luxury of working on one painting at a time,
you work on that painting until it's done. Small works
can almost be finished in one sitting if all goes well, but
larger paintings, and more complicated subjects can take
a month or more. The great thing about a longer project
is the thinking time.

Step One -- blocking for blocking
Don't worry -- the pictures above are how
it looks now -- I saw you -- you panicked.
Have faith! It's going to be beautiful. Promise.

Mother and Daughter in process
(I decided to move the edges around a bit,
and tried different colours on the couch.
I painted a red ground over the green I
was contemplating for the mother's
long coat)

I'm saying this because I'm teaching myself about my own
rhythm. Isn't it strange that we live with ourselves for
years, yet need to constantly learn how to manage ourselves?

Well with more than one project on the go at the moment,
I need to make sure to consciously build in the spaces
to think. In portrait painting, when the sitter is there
we take regular breaks to give the sitter time to recover,
stretch, have tea, but working from photos between
sittings, I'm teaching myself all over again, to go away,
read for 10 minutes, trust my instincts, and not get
caught up in the whir of activity so much that I don't
reflect. Because whether it's one painting, or 20,
we need to pause, check our own minds, go deep, breathe
and then lighten up and have fun the way Bob Burridge
suggests we do. Bob says that perfection is boring, and
we need to give ourselves permission to have fun, and
to paint something no one has ever seen before. I love
those messages.

Have a painting-like-only-you-can day.

Into the yard

Night Iris
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

After a day of handling errands, getting paint, planning,
and getting reference together, I went into the backyard
with the dog at the end of the day. Most of our small
bit of land, shaded by tall Maples was in deep shade, but
the light hit the yellow Irises and I rushed inside to
get my paints. I'm not a plein air painter, but it was
perfect weather, cool, and clear. I sat down on a little
wicker foot stool, and painted in a rush to get the
disappearing light.

And it was fun. The dog was waiting for dinner, but she
sat on the porch patiently watching my progress. Steven
came home, and she complained bitterly, talking (dog
talk) and barking because I started to paint at her
dinner time. So here it is.

Have a getting-out-into-June day.

In praise of notebook sketches

Pansies in a milk jug
Notebook sketch
marker on bond
5 x 7 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

A while back (November to be precise) I did a rough notebook
sketch of my friend Flora in Nova Scotia, as we talked on
Skype. . Little did I know that that one little sketch, quick
and simple would launch me into a whole
new phase of my career. I became in that instant the Skype
Sketcher, and caught the attention of Howard Wolinsky and
the US Skype blog. But I wouldn't have even published
that humble sketch, coils from the notebook and all, if
I hadn't seen a notebook sketch (much more detailed)
on David Lobenberg's blog. I am eternally grateful to
David.

So...I am working on a number of paintings, all large, and
all under wraps at the moment. I was thinking about what
to show you on my blog today, and remembered this
simple drawing I did a couple of nights ago of pansies in a
milk jug.

Watch out -- my last sketch lead from the blog, to Howard,
and from there to a wide world of opportunity.

Have an honouring-your-notebook-sketches day.

Abundance

Andrew
Skype portrait
black marker on watercolour paper
10 x 12 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
(My brother lives in a beautiful
location on the Gatineau River)

Thinking about Louise Hay last night lead me directly to
the concept of abundance she introduced into my life.
I've never met Louise Hay, although I'd really like to.
When my first son was a young boy, and I was about
to have my second child, she rocked my world with
that concept on her tapes and in her books. The idea
that we already have everything we need, moves us
out of the idea of want. That doesn't mean that life
will always be easy, far from it. It means that if you
need something, it will come to you.

Another writer recommended sitting down with
your journal and writing down a question. Then if
you sit for a minute the answer comes flying in. I
think that this works for art. Alyson Stanfield in her
Art Biz Blog is always reminding us to go back
to the studio. That's because she really does understand
the psyche of avoidance, which is the complete opposite of
abundance. But I say sit with that too. Write down,
"Universe, why am I avoiding my painting, that I
love so much?" And when the answer comes roaring
through your brain, down into your hand and onto
the page, you'll know. And then you'll start.

Louise Hay teaches us, as does Julia Cameron in The
Artist's Way, to recognize abundance when it's in
front of you. These spring days seem like an ode
to abundance. It's been cold here, very unusual
in June. But many of the spring flowers, which I love,
are more brilliant and lasting longer than last year.
The Irises, are just gorgeous -- a whole flood of purple
ones look to be about five feet tall, and beautify a corner
on a busy street near here, just by the bus stop. That
abundance is available to everyone who passes by
that garden.

Tonight's drawing is a Skype portrait of my brother,
Andrew. I started it the other day, and thought I'd
gone too far, but I just needed to spend more time on
it, and get it done. My brother is one of the people
I am incredibly grateful for. He has helped me so
much in my creative life.

Have a seeing-the-abundance-all-around-you day.

HIgher self

Sam on Mother's Day
marker on watercolour paper
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

I was introduced to the idea of the higher self through the
teachings of Louise Hay. But this idea permeates a lot
of belief systems. It seems to me it's connected with the
whole idea of a "calling." You are called by whatever
you believe in to demonstrate your higher self. Aside
from the idea of hierarchy -- it's an appealing idea.
(I'm not attracted to the thought that we have a higher and
lower self -- disturbing thought on a spiritual level,
because it implies that we are climbing. Trying to
reach a higher status is something many of us have had
enough of.) But I do like the idea that we need to find
our purpose. And when we do find that purpose, it fits
like a glove. We are in our own skin, speak with our
own voice, think the thoughts we enjoy to think -- and
this can have nothing to do with any religious affiliation --
it is just being where we were meant to be, doing what
we love to do.

I love to do two or three things the most. I love to paint, to
teach and to write. I know when I am painting, or teaching
that I am giving those tasks everything I've got. Plus,
even though the jobs may not be easy, they are associated
with a great joy, and an ease and understanding of how to
be.

The drawing tonight is a quick drawing of my son, Sam.
I did it from a photo of him taken on Mother's Day. Drawing
him tonight, I realized how powerfully happy my children
make me, and how they launched me into a world of
discovery that lead me here to you.

Have a moving-into-your-higher-self day.