A great friend and an art hero

Portrait head of Lita, clay version
by Marcia Labelle © 2009

My dear friend Marcia, is definitely one of my heroes.
She has been my friend for all of the important parts of my
life -- was at my wedding, our children played together --
her daughter and my sons.  And she is one of the most
superb artists I know (and if you're reading this -- you
are probably another one of the incredibly great artists
I know. I am blessed with knowing so many inspiring
artists).

Marcia and her husband, David Cohen, visit 

 the show On The Bright Side at the
Wychwood Barns in 2010.

Marcia exemplifies everything a wonderful woman and
friend can be, warm and caring in her community, and of her
friends.  She is a loving wife, an incredibly kind mother,
and when her parents were alive she was their delightful
daughter.

Study -- Sunday afternoon, young woman with book

oil on paper, 9 x 12 inches

Marcia Labelle © 2016

I love her drawings -- alive with the talents
of the greats. And her sculptures are powerful, emotional
and evocative -- everything sculpture should be.

Every phone call with her (she doesn't live in Toronto)
makes me feel empowered, and understood.  She is
funny and we laugh at so many things.  Such a pleasure.

Thank you for being in my life Marcia.

Have a loving your friends day.

My women heroes -- #1 my sister

The Blue Sweater
acrylic on canvas
24" x 36"

Barbara Muir © 2005

Thinking about International Women's Day on Sunday, I'd
have to pick my sister Sally as my #1 woman hero.  The list of
what she's taught me in my life is too long to put here.
But in a strict, authoritarian family -- she was my champion --
always looking out for me.

She grew up to be an incredible therapist.  And aside from
the famous people who took advantage of her knowledge,
I benefited from the wisdom and excellent thinking of
her therapy partner.  I'm sure that most of my happy
days -- and I am lucky to have many, go back to what
I learned there.

Here's what I said about her in an earlier blog:
"My sister is an amazing and brave woman -- kind
and generous to a fault, funny beyond what you can

imagine, a wonderful mother, superb therapist, and 

super wife.  And she can really write."

Sally was always a big supporter of my art, and
she has bought quite a few pieces.

She's a feminist, and before our early conversations
on the subject I would not have known what that meant.
Being a feminist has meant, and does still mean the world
 to me.  It is high time that women truly become equal all
over the world.

Have a loving your heroes day.

Channel it -- starting a painting

Sketch study

Black marker on paper

5.5 x 8.5 inches

Barbara Muir © 2020

Like most women I can multi-task -- connections between
the right and left hemisphere and all.  But when it comes
to painting I move in a very linear pattern.  Concentrating
on one until it's done.

Today I worked away at the big portrait I'm doing.  Snippets
of it came together, and made me happy -- but there is
still so much to do.

So I decided to start a drawing for another big portrait
painting I'm doing, and here is a little sketch for part of
it.  It will be about sleep and dreaming, and I am
excited just looking at this sketch.  That got me back in the
creative and "I can do it!" vibe.

Woo Hoo!

Have a loving how you feel day.

Working big -- more work on the small one

End of a perfect day (work in progress)

Acrylic on canvas

12 x 12 inches

Barbara Muir © 2020

Today I've been working on my big portrait piece for
most of the day.  It is one of those slow, slow paintings.
It won't look that way when it's finished -- all loose and
easy, but it is.  Paint, look, leave the room, come back, change it.
Paint, leave the room, come back, change it -- you know the process.

To give myself a bit of a break I went back to this one,
which is definitely still a work in progress, but I like
the addition of the background clouds.

I hope you had a marvellous day.  It was a real March
day here.  When I was out for a few minutes, I saw a
man wearing shorts and a T-shirt walking his daschund.
The dog looked cold, but it was very warm and sunny.
Seconds later there was a cold wind, and the sky was
overcast.  And later today we had snow -- all gone
now.

Have a loving all the changes day.

10 Reasons to be happy

Jesca 

Acrylic on canvas

24 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 2012

An exercise I used to do when I was teaching School Success,
or Positive Psych, was 10 Reasons to be happy.

I've done it before here.  And of course it's just my reasons.
But in class it was like a regular segment on a TV show. At
the beginning of each class 10 people would come to the front
of the room, and each one would tell us one reason to be happy.
The exercise had a dramatic impact on the students at the front
and on the entire class.  The mood lifted, even when students
were frantic at exam time.

So okay for me.

1. Going through my files I found this portrait of Jesca that I
was asked to do in 2012 for my friend Gill Cameron, to give
to Jesca for her birthday. Jesca  lived in an orphange in Tanzania.  Gill
met Jesca when she was working teaching art at the school the
girl attended and developed lasting friendships with her students.

2.  I may be going to have work in my third show in a row in
New York City this year.

3.  I had a great conversation today with Howard Wolinksy,
the wonderful writer, photographer and videographer
whose interview got me on Oprah 11 years ago.

4. I am working on one of my large paintings for the Liminal
exhibition at the Heliconian Club in April, and it's going well.

5. I had a good time in the morning meeting with the coffee
women in my neighbourhood.

6. I had a great session Sunday with the model for one of my other
paintings for the Liminal show (more to come).

7. My Monday night class did a fantastic job this week.

8. Today I walked with my friend and saw so many signs of spring.
One was that we were walking in warm rain! Yes there is still snow
on the ground -- but hey!

9. Steven made a delicious dinner,  even thought it was my turn.  Bonus!

10. I am delighted to be part of this blog world, and your friendships,
comments and beautiful work make me happy.

What are 10 things that make you happy today? I'd love to hear about
your ideas.

Have a being happy day. 

Happy Birthday -- David Cohen

Silver salad servers at work

Black marker and watercolour

on Fabriano watercolour paper

4 x 5 1/4 inches

Barbara Muir © 2017

On March 1 as I was getting ready to go to bed, thinking
about teaching, and the three large paintings I'm working
on, and at least a dozen other topics I stopped mid-thought,
and said out loud -- "Tomorrow is David Cohen's
birthday -- March 2!"

That might not seem remarkable to you, but I don't remember
anybody's birthday.  Okay my own close family.  And maybe
that's how David ranks -- because I've been friends with his
beautiful, talented wife pretty much all my life.  I could
easily call her and David family.  David is a brilliant writer,
a passionate activist for every cause that matters, and a
wonderful, kind and loving person.

So Steven and I and our dog Sally (who David loves) sang
Happy Birthday to David over the phone, and we all enjoyed
it.

A few years ago I put this painting of a salad on the blog for
David. It seemed appropriately festive.  Steven makes a
magnificent salad on his night to make dinner
(we alternate nights, although he does more than his share).
I usually serve what remains of his salad on my nights, because
I hastily heat something up for dinner, and don't enjoy cooking.

Tonight was my teaching night, and although I did paint
today, the work is at a very early stage.  So enjoy the salad.

Have an enjoying your salad days day.

March -- the month of exuberance and expectation

Detail -- The Stars that Shine

3 x 4 feet

Acrylic on canvas

Barbara Muir © 2020

Tonight I'm showing you a small detail of one of the paintings

I'm working on this month.  These are peaches on peach trees.
The painting is a large portrait of a mother and baby I started
about six years ago.  I don't know why I didn't finish it,
but suddenly I want to, and I know I can.  Ideas of what to
do keep flooding into my mind, and what seemed much too hard
now seems like no big deal.

Strange in art isn't it, how that can happen?  Sometimes a
word changes everything.  I came up with the title for the
peace -- The Stars that Shine, and I knew exactly what to do.
So you will see more.

I wish you a wonderful and healthy March. I may condense
this title to the Month of Change.  But you know what I mean.
And speaking of peaches, my wonderful husband put up
a bunch of jars of peaches last fall, and I am enjoying them
as often as possible.  Yum.

Have a loving your life day.