Contours of landscape

The contours of the landscapes that we live, work and move in, are among the great fascinations and challenges for me in painting. Combined with the amazing patterns of colour, texture and light that we get in each season here in Southern Ireland there is also a great mystique and attraction in the rural landscapes and the coastal scenes that capture the eye.
It gives great scope to use a rich palette of colours and a wide variety of brush strokes and textures to capture the rough and the smooth, the light and dark in the glens and valleys, hills and mountains, crashing waves and steep sea cliffs of the Cork/Kerry landscape.
One of my favourite memories of a day spent with my family was a summer's afternoon spent climbing Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula. It was a beautiful sunny day with a pleasant cooling breeze to ease our passage up the mountain. As we got higher and higher it was fabulous to take a breather and survey the fantastic landscape that unfolded beneath us. The contrast in texture between the smoothness of the sea and the roughness of the cliffs on the rugged Corca Dhuibhne coast was a real thrill and challenge for any artist planning to capture such a beautiful scene on canvas.
The blues and geens of the sea water set off the greens, browns and purples of the fields, bogs and mountain-side that made such an intriguing tapestry of colours before us.
Such colours and patterns seemed to swamp my mind and I could not wait to get out my brushes and canvas to try and capture that wondeful afternoon spent with my family.

The painting that captures all this for me I have titled " From the deep blue sea to the purple mountain".  I am very happy with the contour lines in the painitng that reveal the richness and colour in the many layers of that much loved landscape.            

Meeting buyers of paintings

Yesterday evening I had the pleasant job of delivering a painting to a young couple who bought one at my recent exhibition. I got a very warm welcome from them at their home and we had a very interesting discussion about the exhibition and my plans for further work.
I outlined what I think my next theme will be and the timescale in which I hope to get the paintings done. They were very encouraging and hoped to be able to attend the next opening which I hope will be late 2011. It was very interesting to get their reaction to the new theme and even to see what a different view the husband had to it compared to his wife's view. It is on the general theme of sickness and illness but as yet I can't say what my specific theme will be as I want to let my ideas simmer and develop a bit before I start work on the canvasses.
It will be a new approach for me and will give me scope to adopt innovative ways to express views and challenge popular perceptions of well known subjects.
I am really looking forward to getting down to the task.

Relaxation through oil painting

Whenever I start to paint I drift into another world and very quickly lose all track of time. It is just amazing how it completely absorbs my attention and working on even a small corner of a painitng brings me into a world of colour and movement, light and shade, trying to capture expressions and moods. When painting people I focus on capturing their character and mood rather their exact facial features.
If ever I thought an activity would be suitable for therapy I think (for me anyway) painting is fantastic. You just drift away into the theme and task in front of you and it really startles me at times when I stand back from what I am painting to see what has been achieved and has formed on the canvas.
I must admit also that, at different times, the painting I end up is different to the concept I had when starting out. This is particulary so in the case of abstract themes but also happens a good deal with figurative paintings. In a way it is part of the pleasure of painting also to see what unfolds.
I am influenced a lot by the colours and designs I see around me and if I go to an exhibition somehow the work of some artists strikes a chord with me and inevitably they will influence my style and themes. I particularly like the 'Impressionists' and other schools of painting from that era and their bold use of colour and brushstrokes has influenced me in what I try to achieve.
For anybody who might be tempted to paint I would encourage you to just get on with using your brushes and build your feel for colours and enjoy the effects you achieve with the paint   

Artwork by Daithi

Have a look at the website http://www.dathanna.net/
It is a new exhibition of paintings that I have done over the last 2 years. The website is up and running but it needs some small changes to make the most of it.
The exhibition which was held in the gallery space at the Bishopstown Library, Wilton Shopping Centr, Cork from Sat 4 Dec 2010 until Thurs 23 Dec.
Still some paintings for sale and happy to have room to produce more.
Let me know what you think
Dáithí