Wild
PAINTINGS OF CONNEMARA
There's something incredibly wild and rugged about Connemara on the far west coast of Ireland. The land is natural and untamed and can feel like you've stepped back in time.
I was recently reading a journal I kept on my first trip to the area. I went alone hoping to do a bit of painting and exploring. What came out of it was a deep love for the land and a deeper connection to myself.
I did several plein air paintings at the time that I launched in my Irish Landscapes series. Since then I've visited Connemara several times and it's been on my mind to create an entire body of work dedicated to this wonderful, wild landscape. I've had an urge to paint bigger and felt that Connemara was the perfect subject to explore.
If you've been to Connemara you know the magic this landscape holds and I hope my paintings do it justice. If you haven't, definitely add it to your list.
I love watching the swallows dance at dusk. Diving head first into the boggy ground, swirling and singing to each other. The sky comes alive just as the last light leaves the sky.
I’m calling these sister paintings as they are of the same scene but on different days. This location on the Old Bog Road offers one of the best views of the Twelve Bens. I love how different the bog looks on a sunny day versus an overcast one. These would look beautiful paired together or on their own.
On a recent trip to Connemara with my mom, Oisín and my dog Maya, we were driving down a narrow road headed towards the seaside town Spiddal. We came over a small hill in the road and saw some Connemara ponies standing up on a hill looking out aross the bog. We were blown away by how majestic and beautiful they looked. We didn’t have time to capture a picture (there were cars behind and no where to pull over) and we tried to go back to see it again but by then they had moved. It was a special moment that I wanted to capture in paint and that we will both remember for a long time.
I have been fortunate to get my hands on this beautiful handwoven Irish linen. This lovely linen was woven by Marion Baur and has several strands of colors woven together to make up a beautiful pink hue - the perfect color the capture the mountains in Connemara.
Working en plein air and capturing the subtle colors here in Ireland has influenced by work so much. It’s allowed me to create paintings that from a distance feel subtle and even muted but up close are bursting with shifting color and energetic brush strokes. The same way the bog looks brown until you focus your eyes and realize it’s bursting with vibrant color.
