Welcome . . .

... to Fran Muir's online gallery.

Says Fran:

I love to paint portraits, as capturing the personality of the subject is both challenging and satisfying - when it's finally accomplished. And it's very gratifying when the subject of the painting and his or her family are delighted with the result. At the same time, it's also essential to me to make the portrait into a complete work of art by paying attention to color and composition. I love how light and color help to define space and objects - how we see them, and how our eye creates meaning and patterns from this.

For that reason,  I'm also attracted to nature themes. My goal is to create paintings that are attractive and uplifting to look at, and that also convey appreciation of natural harmony and the value of observing and enjoying nature.

I work with acrylic paints because I like their "feel" and their appearance on canvas, and also   their versatility. After I choose a subject, I have a mental concept of what I want the finished painting to be like. I take several photos of my chosen subject for reference, and study those photos while I contemplate the future painting that I hold in my mind, until I feel ready to begin. I can't seem to keep from approaching each new painting nervously, hoping things will go well, so I work from step to step. First I prepare the canvas with gesso. Then I sketch in the "bones" of the painting, after which I apply a thin wash of base color which will reflect through the painting when it is finished. After that, I start filling in the units of the painting; trees, rocks, sky, water, people - whatever the particular painting contains. When that effort is balanced,  I work on refining the painting. As I work, I manipulate the paint with brushes, knives, fingers, paper - whatever I need that comes to hand. Much as would like to, I seem to have no preset ways of dealing with problems as I come to them. Every problem of each painting seems to need to be treated uniquely, which can be very stressful at times, and I'm almost always concentrating on specifics. But there is a point where the painting starts to take on a life of its own. At this stage, I study the painting to learn what it has to tell me about what it is, what it wants to say, and how it wants to say it.

I would like people looking at my paintings to be able to enjoy them on several levels - the content, design, color, texture, and organization, and also the emotions, thoughts and memories that may come to their minds. And since each painting is created from my love for the natural world and for the experience of painting, I believe that they also contain good "Chi" (life energy)!

                         Gillian & Delta

Galleries of Fran's paintings are  listed in the menu on the right.

May the sun bring you new energy by day,

may the moon softly restore you by night,

may the rain wash away your worries,

may the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you  walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

( Apache blessing)

When Earth's last picture is painted
And the tubes are twisted and dried
When the oldest colors have faded
And the youngest critic has died
We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it
Lie down for an aeon or two
'Till the Master of all good workmen
Shall put us to work anew
And those that were good shall be happy
They'll sit in a golden chair
They'll splash at a ten league canvas
With brushes of comet's hair
They'll find real saints to draw from
Magdalene, Peter, and Paul
They'll work for an age at a sitting
And never be tired at all.
And only the Master shall praise us.
And only the Master shall blame.
And no one will work for the money.
No one will work for the fame.
But each for the joy of the working,
And each, in his separate star,
Will draw the thing as he sees it.
For the God of things as they are!

                                  - Rudyard Kipling