Sunset on the Wild Atlantic way

Last summer - 2014 - I had the opportunity to drive from Cork to Donegal when the weather was good, warm sunny days with pleasant breezes. A lot of my journey took me along the Wwild Atlantic Way and it was fantastic to have the opporunity to see the beauty of the Irish countryside and the breathtaking scenery in so many parts of Ireland's western coastline. While I have been aware of the beauty of Ireland's landscape for many years and have found it a great source of inspiration for my paintings I had never appreciated how many places had such rugged beauty. It was a real awakening for me to see the amazing light on the fields and hills in every county along Ireland's coastline. I was enchanted by the force and strength of the rocks and cliffs along the Atlantic coastline. The mesmerising sound of the waves crashing against the cliff faces or lapping the sand on so many beautiful hidden beaches in Cork, Kerry, Clare and further up along the coast. I was on hoidays and travelled at my leisure along my route stopping in many small villages to savout the slow steady pace of life.

Many times on my way I stopped to just look and soak up the beauty of a shaft of sunlight on a green field or the ripple of the wind through a field of golden corn ripening in the late summer sunshine. Many evenings as I paused in unflagged beauty spots to watch the setting sun I was amazed the beauty of the light on the shimmering sea water and the soft light on the rolling hills, rugged mountains and craggy cliffs that give Ireland such a magically natural beauty. I have painted a scene to capture this wild beauty.

                                       

 In the summertime heather grows profusely and there is an amazing clarity and softness to the lilacs,purples and whites that cover hills and mountains along the west coast. In many places you will see where turf has been cut and the rich dark browns of the peat create the perfect contrast for the soft purples. Irish hills are covereud by a sctutch grass that has an intriguing greenish yellow hue. This grass can grow up to 1 foot in length and as it dries in the strong winds and soft breezes of the west coast it beomes a soft brown or golden colour, especially in the yellow and orange light of the setting sun. I have included all these colours in the small painting of the Wild Atlantic Way. The painting measures 12 x 10 inches (30 x 25 cm) but I am very pleased with how I have captured the light and the beautiful colours of the Irish coastline in the setting sun. The sea reflects the purple hue of the heather covered hills which richly contrasts with the rich yellow/orange tones of the setting sun. There is deep blue colour in the sea water in the foreground of the painting to give a sense of its depth and hidden power. The hills in the left foreground have the rich browns and dark greens of peatlands near the coast. Even though the sun is setting there is still a soft blue to the sky to show the softness of light at this northerly latitude and that while the sun is setting it brings a slow and beautiful transformation to the Irish coastline. It is a scene that people would identify with many parts of Ireland's beautiful western coastline. I look forward to further travels on the Wild Atlantic way in many summers to come.

Back to my youth growing up on a farm in Kerry

Recently I was at an art auction and I saw a painting of some cows that really appealed to me.It was very atmospheric and captured the sense of animals together in a very natural way. It immediately reminded me of the cows and calves on the farm at home in Kerry. There were particular cows that had great personality and you had a sense of how protective they were of their young calves. I decided that I would do a painting that would capture that sense of cows nurturing calves. I wanted to show the solidity of the cow looking out over the landscape and how calm and at ease she was in her natural environment. Beside her I have put her young calf. I have painted him by his mother's side so that I convey the sense of security that the young calf feels beside his mother.
                                                             
The cow is looking straight ahead while the calf is looking out to the side. I wanted to give a sense of confidence and ease in the cow's demeanour while showing a nervousness in the calf. He is young and unsure of himself in this strange new world. The cow is an off-white -Charolais-.with tinges of brown while the calf is strongly brown - Limousin breed- to create an attractive contrast in their colours. The scene is set on a sunny summer's evening with a lovely soft light falling on the animals which gives a great opportunity to show rich areas of light and shadow.
My father was a dairy farmer and he built a fine herd of Friesian cows to supply milk to Kerry Co-Op. He was always interested in breeding animals and from to time experimented with beef cattle and also had sheep to see how they would contribute to the farm income. At one stage an uncle of mine persuaded him to get some Charolais cows and to cross breed them with a Limousin bull. The result is what you see depicted in the painting. My father's main interest and income was from dairy cows so while he was interested enough to try out other cattle on my uncle's prompting he did not persist with the Charolais and Limousin breeds. As children we were greatly taken with these big colourful animals. They were a welcome change from the constant black and white of the Friesian cows.

The farm  near Listowel is not beside the sea but I took the artistic licence to put the sea as a background beacuse the cloours of the sky and the water would set off the animals very well.  

Iconic Inis Tuaisceart

The view of Inis Tuaisceart is engrained on my mind for a number of reasons. Firstly as a young secondary school student I saw it every year that I visited the west Kerry Gaeltacht. It was part of the 3 week course that we would go on a cycling trip of the local area and the circuit around Slea Head was always greatly looked forward to and enjoyed by students and teachers. We would pass this view on our way from Baile an Fheirteirigh to Dun Chaoin and it always struck me as an amazing place, 3 miles out from the mainland across a treacherous stretch of water. It sits beside the Great Blasket Island but was not inhabited on a year round basis like the bigger island. Apparently the Blasket Islanders would put sheep to graze on it for the summer months and young men would be sent to Inis Tuaisceart to look after the sheep. We saw it in all kinds of weather, from bright sunshine to pouring rain and sometimes we could barely make out the outline of the island through the mist and fog. I remember also that RTE used it as their last image as they played the national anthem and shut down broadcasting each night in the 1970's and 80's. They had a beautiful image as the sun was setting over the island on a late summer's evening. There was a golden glow to that image and it made Inis Tuaisceart seem like an idyllic place. There was a sense of peace and contentment to it. When I studied the literature of the Blasket Islands I was amazed by the quality of the writing and the stories of the lives of the people who lived in these remote parts scratching out a living from the land and the sea. The harshness of the landscape gave Peig Sayers, Tomás O Criomhthainn and other island writers, an ability to see the richness of the life around them and to capture the character of the people in their struggles and toils. The perpetual struggle with the unyielding elements and landscape proved too much for many of the islanders so that they emigrated to America and other far flung parts to try and build a better life for themselves. The Great Blasket island was evacuated in 1953 and has largely remained uninhabited since that time. The story of their lives is told in the Blasket Centre in Dun Chaoin. The setting of the centre is ideal for getting a sense of the people and the landscape as when you walk down to the end of the display area, which has all the information on the lives of the people, you can look directly out on the islands. In my painting of Inis Tuaisceart I wanted to capture a sense of the powerful and treacherous sea that the islanders had to row across in all kinds of weather to fetch priests and doctors to tend to their physical and spiritual needs. Inis Tuaisceart is also known as 'The Sleeping Giant and as 'An Fear Marbh' (The Dead Man) because the outline of the island look like a body in repose, sleeping soundly and calmly, and also ready to be taken away for burial. I wanted to show serenity and calmness in the landscape and also to convey the solidity of a seaswept island that has endured the ravages and battering of the Atlantic waves for thousands of years. The land on the island is poor quality and gives little possibility of growing crops to sustain any brave folk who might seek to eke out a living there. As a result of this you can see in the painting that there are no houses or signs of habitation. I wanted to give a sense that Inis Tuaisceart is almost aloof and removed from the cares of our world. There is a softness to the empty landscape but also a sense of a faded of jaded life.

Celebrating the life and lamenting the passing of Seamus Heaney

The sunshine in Cork cannot dispel the sadness we feel at the passing of one of the ‘greats’ in Irish life. One of our national treasures, Seamus Heaney, died yesterday,

 30 August ’13. A man whom I greatly admired and respected. A wonderful scholar and learned man imbued with the culture and history of his native land. He has left us a rich legacy of poetry and writings on so many aspects of life, culture, history, tradition, relationships, connections and much much more.

He celebrated his 70^th birthday in 2009 and I remember reading how he cherished his farming background and upbringing in Co.Derry. This struck a chord with me as I am also a son of the land, reared on a farm 3 miles west of Listowel, Co.Kerry. I have always loved the rural life and have been fascinated by the contours, textures, colours of the Irish landscape as it changes through the seasons.

In tribute to Seamus I did a small painting to celebrate his 7 decades in 2009. It is a scene from rural Co.Derry which I hoped would evoke memories of his beloved home and farm at Mossbawn. It was an autumnal scene to convey the richness of the landscape, fertility of the soil and the rich harvest of his own work. In the left middle ground there is an oak tree to connect him to the heritage of his native Derry – the oak leaf county. The oak is a symbol of kingship which I felt was appropriate for Seamus – a prince of learning and writing.

I placed the tree in a background of sloping hills and fields as I felt this landscape would reflect the contours and changes in life. It represents a lifetime of work and changes and a fruitful harvest after seasons of toil and labour.

I painted the scene with a golden autumn light filtering across the fields which mingles with the golden stubble of the recently harvested corn. The light also catches the yellows and golds of the autumn leaves and acorns on the oak tree. To include the human changes as we move into the autumn of our lives I put a thin film of white over the grass of the field behind the oak tree to show the whitening of the hair and the ageing process in a man of 70.

The painting is small – 12 x 10 inches and I put a plain cream frame on it. I was very happy with my work and sent it to Seamus as a token of my esteem and respect. The message I wanted to give this hugely accomplished and highly regarded man was how much I appreciated his connection with the land of Ireland and how beautifully he captured the magic and richness of simple folk and everyday lives.

May he rest in peace.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.                   

Sunny day in Glenbeigh, Co.Kerry

A few months back I was asked to do a painting of Glenbeigh, Co.Kerry by a neighbour who now lives in Cork but is originally from Glenbeigh. She knows that I am from Kerry so that the subject would be close to my heart. Needless to say I was delighted to accept and happily set off to search out the most appealing aspect of this corner of 'the Kingdom'.
It is an area that I know relatively well as my brother worked there for a number of years. It has many beautiful remote spots as you head up into the mountains and explore the hills and valleys around Caragh Lake.
I felt that the best known part of Glenbeigh is by the beach in Rossbeigh so I focused my search in the hills overlooking the bay - Dingle Bay. Eventually I settled on the view from the top of Knockatinna. It gives a lovely view of the waves breaking onto the beach at Rossbeigh and the land as it stretches out along Rossbeigh Creek with Glenbeigh village tucked in under the mountains. Seefin mountain (1,621 feet)  looms in the background and the Macgillycuddy Reeks are just out of view on the right hand side. If you were to continue on out to the left along the beach, climbing the sandbanks as you go, you would reach the farthest out point of Rossbeigh beach where you can look across the water to Inch Point on the other side. From your vantage point on the sandhills you would be looking down on Dooks Golf links and Castlemaine Harbour.
Knockatinna Hill gave me a panoramic view of this spectacular part of Kerry with views towards Castlemaine and Killorglin to the east, Inch strand and the Dingle peninsula directly across the water (in a northerly direction) from me and westwards along the rugged cliffs and hills that skirt the Ring of Kerry as it winds its towards Cahirsiveen.
Rossbeigh is a stretch of beach and land that is very popular with walkers, swimmers, horse-riders and golfers.
 Even though it was April I was blessed with a beautiful sunny day which gave bright clear light on the scene beneath me.
There were beautiful shades of blue and green in the seawater and the light catches the white of the waves as they break on the shore. The soft colour of the sand adds brightness to the scene and it matches well with the colours on the mountains in the background.
                                                     

It is a scene that I greatly enjoyed painting as it captured an idyllic day in Kerry with the beauty of the land, sea and mountains all around.
It particularly pleased me to learn that she was giving this painting to her daughter in law who has emigrated to Australia. It will act as a reminder of the many happy summer days spent on the beach in Rossbeigh when she was a child.           

Breath-taking beauty of the mountains and lakes in Killarney

Recently I did a painting of 'Ladies View' in Killarney, as part of my series of paintings on cancer, and it set me thinking about how getting out into the countryside and enjoying the beauty and calm of the landscape is so good for everybody. Luckily our summer weather has been particularly good so far and it gives me a chance to get out in the late evening to walk and enjoy the scenery around Cork and Kerry.
I had the pleasure of going to the Munster football final in Killarney recently. It hit the right spot in every way - a beautiful day in Killarney, magnificent setting of Fitzgerald's Stadium against the backdrop of the Magillacuddy Reeks and Kerry beating their old rivals on home turf. Killarney always draws a big crowd and even Cork supporters enjoy the trip to the Kingdom.
It was such a glorious day and buoyed by the Kerry victory I decided to savour the beauty of my native county. I strolled around the town for a good while after the match, enjoying the atmosphere and chatting to friends at various 'watering holes' in the town.
The long summer evenings give ample opportunity to get out and stretch the legs so I walked into the national park which is on the edge of the Killarney town. It was a beautiful balmy evening and the scenery was spectacular. Even though it was after 9pm there was a perfect view of the mountains and lakes in front of me. The soft fluffy clouds lingered over the pale blue mountains in the distance and the light captured the hollows and undulations of the mountains and valleys in the middle distance.

In the foreground you could see the darkened shapes of the trees and shrubs growing around the lake shore  which was set off by the shimmering light on the water of Lough Leane.  It was a perfect evening in a breath-taking setting and it made me resolve to get out and enjoy such scenes more often.           

Walking for cancer

This series of paintings has developed many different facets and aspects. When I started out on this theme my idea was to paint cancer patients in different settings to show how it affects people of all ages and from all walks of life and also to use scans of various types cancer to give an inner view into how it grows and develops. So far I have completed 11 paintings in the series which has  taken me two and half years to complete. I feel that I have made good progress at one level and yet I feel that I should have a lot more done at this stage. I started with the idea of doing 20 paintings but as I progress I feel that I could do a lot more and I see new perspectives to paint from.
My latest painting in the series is based on a walk that myself and wife did two years ago to help raise funds for cancer research.We walked from Killaney to Kenmare on a beautiful sunny day. It was ideal walking weather and the scenery was spectacular. The pace was challenging but pleasant as it gave time to chat to the people on the way. I met some very interesting people who would lift your spirits with their attitude to life and how to deal with illness.
I was particularly struck by a man named Páidí from Rathmore which is on the Kerry/Cork border. He is a farmer and he had been treated for prostate cancer. Happily he had been diagnosed at an early stage and the treatment was successful. He was walking to raise funds because he had a brother who had died from lung cancer and a young niece who was being treated for breast cancer.
Since his treatment he said that his attitude to life had changed completely and that now he would 'just grab every moment with both hands and squeeze the best out of it' .
On our way back to Killarney in the evening we were brought by bus to 'Ladies View'. The setting was truly spectacular with a perfect view of the mountains and lakes for miles. There was a golden light on the scene which highlighted the amazing yellows, oranges and browns of the landscape. The depth of field meant that you could see blue mountains further in the distance and the soft white line where mountains and horizon merge. The soft blue sky with a few fluffy clouds completed this breath-taking scene.
                                             
Páidí's words summed it up;
' It is so beautiful that you have to be glad to be alive to see it. Nature is fantastic and we can be fantastic too if we can see the beauty all around us make the most of what we have'.
As a Kerryman I fully concur with his reaction to the beauty of 'the Kingdom' and his attitude to life.
                                       

            

Celtic Influences & Themes

As a teacher of Irish and History naturally themes with a celtic influence spring to mind quickly and easily. This new set of paintings that I have started on have a much more abstract and creative sense to them. They are totally from my own imagination and yet are clearly and strongly influnced by what I teach and read. I constantly 'doodle' on bits of paper and invariably swirling patterns emerge. There is great movement and flow with the lines that form patterns and shapes. Also it is very interesting to twist the paintings around to see what they look like from different angles. It has happened that I prefer a different view of a painting that what I painted it from.

In these painitngs I have used strong primary colours and which I really enjoy using. It is exciting to use contrasting colours to see how they work together and where to put particular colours within the painting.
Recently I was very lucky to get a large supply of paints at a very reasonable price. It means that I have a huge new range of ready made colours to use in the paintings. Ironically in spite of this large range of new colours I tend to go for 6 main colours most of the time.
While there is great freedom and imagination in these paintings they take a lot of slow intricate work to get the shapes and contours right. I fing also that because I'm using such strong colours I have to go back over the painting several times to make sure that the colours are strong enough and can contrast effectively with the darker or lighter shades.
In these painitngs I have used a very dark blue (Prussian blue) as the background. It shows off the strong colours brilliantly and I think of either a huge void in space filled with this colour or else plunging deep down into the ocean to discover whole new forms and shapes of life.
I am amazed and intrigued by how I react to particular colours and how I enjoy the strength and energy of bold colours. I also find that with these colours they demand bold brush strokes, swirling with energy and vitality. They capture the power and allure of my celtic ancestors. Aodh was the Celtic god of Fire so it must be in the genes to use strong brilliant colours to capture that energy.        

Bald headed mother undergoing breast cancer treatment

Meeting and observing cancer patients expose people to a wide range of emotions and situations. One of the most emotional, heart-wrenching and difficult cases I have come across is a young mother Nuala who was undergoing chemotherapy after surgery for breast cancer. I met her just a few times in the course of her treatment.

                                               
The most poignant moment was one afternoon after her husband and young 4 year daughter Maeve had visited. Nuala was clearly feeling anxious and unsure at how her treatment was going. She was lying quietly in her bed gazing out the window with a dreamy but sad look in her eyes. I was very taken by the way the teddy bear was lying on her breast and tucked under the bed covers just like a parent would tuck in a child before going to sleep. I later discovered that her little daughter Maeve has given her the teddy bear to keep her company while she was at school. Maeve had just started 'big school' a few weeks previously and was all excited by the new adventure. Because of her new time-table of getting up early in the mornings to get ready for school Maeve could not visit her mum until the afternoon when school was over.

It is strange how I thought the teddy bear seemd to have a puzzled expression as somehow this was not where it was supposed to be.

With her bald head Nuala looked like her treatment was tough going and looked tired and lacking in energy. I have no doubt that her little daughter Maeve was foremost in her mind and must have been  tortured by thoughts of what the future held. I have given the head a blotchy redness to convey the trauma that the body goes through with the cocklail of drugs used in chemotherapy and also the emotional high and lows that go with the treatment, particularly in the case of a parent of young children. I have painted Nuala's right eye as slightly less open and has a sad, distant look while the left eye is more open and alert. The purpose of this is again to convey the roller-coaster of emotions that she feels and also the tough regime of treatment she is undergoing to treat her breast cancer.

Capturing the feelings and emotions of cancer patients is a very delicate and sesitive area. In painting a patient I feel that I am intruding in their lives and exposing them in their most vulnerable moments. Sickness and illness brings people into contact with life in its rawest and cruellest state.  When I started this series of paintings I was not sure what I would portray but as I worked on each painting the subject began to reveal itself. I know that in the end I will not have a series of pretty pictures but I knew that before I began and the purpose was to capture some of the situations and emotions that are revealed by cancer.

There is a sadness and difficult situation revealed in this painting. Nuala left the hospital 2 weeks after I observed her with the teddy bear and I can't say what happened next as I have not seen her since but hopefully she is healthy and happy with her husband and charming little daughter.

I have not completely finished this painiting as yet as I want to work on the composition and positioning.               

Blue Male Nude for Testicular Cancer

I'm sure that it is a common experience for people that when you have somebody close to you who has been diagnosed with a particular illness you come across a number of other cases of the same illness within a short space of time. In the cancer series of paintings that I am doing I have been amazed by how many times this has happened and it applies equally to men and women.

My most recent painting is on the theme of testicular cancer which is one that obviously applies only to men but is particularly prevalent among young men. Fortunately I have only come across a few cases of this type of cancer among men that I know in the last few years and my experience has been that each case has been an active, healthy, young man. I have limited knowledge and experience of the different forms of cancer but this is one that really tends to be deadly and fast acting. Not wishing to be alarmist it is a form of cancer that really requires immediate attention and action. There is no time for being embarrassed or shy in bringing attention to this as soon as a young man becomes aware of a problem.

In this painting I have depicted a healthy young man who seems to be shy in terms of exposing his body to the public gaze and I have deliberately put his facing away from the viewer to convey the sense of finding it difficult to comes to terms with cancer of the testes. His hand is strategically placed to cover his 'manhood', to give the viewer the sense that he finds it difficult to engage with this illness. It is hard for him to face up to an illness that attacks his manhood.  I have given him a well toned body and fine physique to show a young man at his prime in life and at his peak of physical attractiiveness.  His head is tilted slightly downwards and he has a frown on his face to show his anxiety and how difficult it is to cope with this cancer. There are dark shadows around the eyes and mouth to show how challenging it is for a young man to look at and talk about his changed physique due to surgery.
 Would a painting showing him with only one or no testicles reduce his attractiveness and how would it affect his confidence as a man? Would it be an invasion of privacy to depict a young man in such a way?

As an artist I feel that it is a very sensitive subject and I don't want to be voyeuristic by invading such personal and intimate space. As an Irishman I feel that there are boundaries that I must observe and respect, and in spite of the modern times I feel a certain inhibition - because of my middle-age and the generation that I come from - in painting the male genitalia, penis and testicles.

Once again in painting a male nude I have opted for a blue picture because it is the colour so strongly associated with maleness and blue is used a good deal for painting nudes in art (Picasso). Blue is a great colour to use because it has a great variety of shades and can be both soft and hard, gentle and/or harsh. Blue is also a very moody colour associated with different emotions, calmness and tranquility or depression and sadness. The different shades of blue mean that you can have great variety in a painting and can show strength and depth through the use of  the range of shades and brush strokes.
 
Perhaps even to a greater extent than mentioned in my painting about prostate cancer, dealing with this part of a man's body goes to the heart of maleness and virility. Testicles and penis are the defining male organs and when cancer strikes in these organs it goes to the core of manhood. As mentioned already, the treatment can present great challenges as removal of one or both testicles is the first part of the treatment. The people I know who have publicly acknowledged that they had testicular cancer have shown great courage and have done a great deal of good in removing the fear and stigma of being diagnosed with this form of cancer.

It is hugely important for all men and particularly young men to take care of their sexual organs and to be aware as to how you detect testicular cancer at the earliest possible stage.
Thankfully nowadays there is far less inhibition in talking about bodies and sex so that hopefully young men will feel less inhibited or embarrassed to talk to people who can support and help them deal with illnesses or problems with their sexual organs.