The Florence Biennale

 Me in front of my Wonder Water series

 with artist Gengliang Xu

Saturday was the opening of the Florence Biennale here in Italy.

 The opening ceremonies, dignitaries, flags, 

a procession through the exhibition

of people dressed in Renaissance costumes, 

playing drums. Lots of excitement!

The Biennale opens with wonderful fanfare. A procession of people in 14th century
Dress with flags and drummers marches through the exhibition. There are speeches
And so much excitement. Then the artists go and stay by their work, or circulate looking
at the vast show of 400 artists.

I met one of the actors in the procession, Cosimo who couldn't be more than 5 and
couldn't wait to get back to playing with his parents' tablet.

Cosimo -- a young actor in the procession

The wonderful thing about showing in international shows is meeting
artists from all over the world and enjoying great conversations. I will show
you more work another time.

Wonder water series © Barbara Muir 2015

And then there is Florence which is endlessly fascinating and beautiful.
I am exhibiting this work and my friend Patrick Luciani translated
the description for my show book.  Thank you to Patrick, to Heather Speers,
to Raylea Lambert, and everyone else who helped me and advised me.
It is a big deal to get ready for and participate in an international show.
I couldn't have figured it all out alone.

Have a going-to-an-art-show day.

A really big show -- in T.O. this weekend!

 

In September I submitted 6 of my portraits

to a show opening this week in Toronto at the

Super Wonder Gallery.  Three of my ocean series

paintings have been accepted, and a self portrait.

I also submitted my The Conversation Continues

series, but am not sure if there will be room in the

show for them.

Why?  It is a huge show -- over 300 artists will have
work in the space -- which itself is impressively large.
There's a $10 charge for admission to cover the curator's
costs in renting the gallery, and a cash bar.  I think
it will be as the curator Daniel Anaka says, "epic."

If you're in Toronto please come out.  I will be there
both nights.

Daniel's title, ReVersion is about the resurgence of figurative
work in the city.  And from what I saw when I dropped
off my paintings, he is right -- everything from
abstract figurative, to classical work and all of the
possibilities in between -- all vibrantly alive.

Please come and check it out.  I'd love to see you at
the opening(s).

Have a coming-to-a-big-show day.

Going the distance -- the Florence Biennale

 Wonder Water Series
polyptych, acrylic on coordinated canvasses

6 feet x 9 feet
Barbara Muir © 2015

Hi everyone,

I just signed off the forms to send my work to the Florence Biennale.
It is a strange feeling to go over your work with care (there have been
small changes since this photo), get it ready, and then try to
envision it going so far. But it's happening, and Mike at the
shipper has been so wonderful.

Now it's my turn.  How do I make the transition from uptight
artist, into international traveller, and get myself to the event?
Luckily this year I've travelled quite a bit, so it's not as
discombobulating as it would be if I hadn't been to Paris and
New York City.

I am crazy with excitement.  Cannot wait.  So here's the finished
product of what's going there -- to be presented as a unified
whole on the theme of our oceans.  I wish you could all be
there with me, and if you're going to be in Florence during the
Biennale, October 17 - 25, please let me know and I'll do my
best to get you tickets to the show!

In the meantime, where are you planning to go and show?

Have a charting-your-route day.

Listen to the pros -- behind the scenes in art land

 Untitled (work in progress)

acrylic on canvas

12 x 12 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

I wish I could confidently show you my finished
painting of the lobster burger I had in Nova
Scotia looking out at the Wallace River.  But
it's taking me a long time to paint.  In fact it's
arduous.  Not painful.  But time consuming in
the extreme. 

In my frequent breaks I soak in the advice of the
pros.  The queen of tinfoil -- which is what is slowing
me down in this small painting -- is Canadian artist,
Mary Pratt.  Actually Mary Pratt is known for
taking the everyday -- jars of jam, bowls of fruit, tinfoil --
and making it glorious. She is the most famous Canadian high
realist.  And in an interview, she said that she
estimated at one point in her career that it would take
her six months to do a painting.

 

Sketch of a bouquet from the Brickworks market

Watercolour crayon, and black marker on paper

8 x 10 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

I just got back from New York, and in the magnificent
Sargent exhibition at the Met, I read that for one painting
 he required 83 sittings!   Okay -- why is time such an
issue for us as painters now?

It's this -- it's the blog -- waiting like a dog that
needs a walk, for evidence that the artist is still
in the building.  I am.

Self portrait sketch

black marker on Moleskine paper

8 x 10 inches 

Barbara Muir © 2015

I also read a timely post by Danny Gregory about
getting out of practice called Mortified. He inspired
me to take another crack at sketching.  And keep
working and working, even when life is as jam
packed as mine has been lately.  So here
are some sketches, and a peak at my work so far.

Have a getting-to-work day.

From Paris to Pugwash

 

 Missing Fiona

Black marker on Moleskine paper

8 x 10 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

We've spent the past five days in Pugwash, Nova
Scotia in our little 100 year plus old school house.
You couldn't contrast our living conditions much
more here to Paris where we were in June, if you tried.
But what has our place in Pugwash got?  I don't think
that's something many people would understand.
We have to bring our water from a tap at the beach,
 it has an outhouse for a bathroom, and we have
minimal electricity.

The structure itself is the charming child's drawing
house shape -- which is my favorite.  I am in love
with all the white clapboard houses here, many
originally exceptionally well built by shipbuilders
a century or more ago.

And what we do here is visit friends, eat lunch at
the Chatterbox café and in good weather go to the
beach.  A bath involves the Degas women in the
bath technique.  And I think the smile on my
sweet Steven's face tells you how worth it the long
drive has been to get here, and our lovely five days.

Steven at the beach in Pugwash, Nova Scotia

There hasn't been much reliable computer time,
and hardly anytime for art.  I drew this drawing
of me with just the ear of my cat Fiona coming
up over my face.  It was International Dog Day
yesterday and I missed my dog and my cats.  When
I think of home in Toronto, I think of my family,
friends and our animals, and I know I'll be happy
to be home there too.

Thank you to the Maritimes and our friends here

for a wonderful vacation!

 

The final final (I think)

 Wonder Water Image #6

Acrylic on canvas

30 x 30 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

We are heading out for the coast today, but
I'll keep in touch when I can. This is the final,
final, I'm pretty sure of my painting of the
beautiful Etana.  Beautiful, brainy, and
committed to helping the planet, through
her work with women, and her volunteer
work.

The concerned, thoughtful expression on her face
inspired both her portrait, and the one
that followed of Emily.  People talk
about passing the baton.  These are two
women I would gladly see watching out
for our world.

Have a working-on-your-final-final day.

Art on the move

 

Wonder Water Image #5

Acrylic on canvas

30 x 30 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

I've been working on this portrait for the past
while, destined for a show in Europe.
The young woman is my son's friend,
and a delightful person.  She is kind, funny,
and super smart, and was happy to pose for
me for this portrait -- part of my ocean
series.

We are heading out to the ocean for the next
few days, and I'll try to post during our travels,
but I know the internet can be spotty, especially
in rural areas.

Thank you to Emily for posing for me.  The
ocean series is about both the joy in living
near the ocean, and the worry about what we've
been doing to our planet and these vital
bodies of water.

Have a taking-care-of-the-planet day.