Capturing the moment

One of the great pleasures of art and painting is the oppportunity to capture a scene or a moment. On a recent journey to Mizen Head ( the most southerly point in Ireland) we passed through Dunmanway in West Cork. It is a sleepy small town in the Irish countryside. It is surrounded by rolling hills and is one of the gateways to the wild hills, craggy cliffs and rolling Atlantic Ocean of the more remote West Cork peninsulas. 

As we passed through this rolling countryside it was a pleasure to see the beautiful shadows and patches of sunshine created by the strong bright sunlight and sweep of the reflections of the clouds as they were blown across the skies.  As we came around a bend on the raod we came on a typical but beautiful scene in rural Ireland. Derelict farmhouses are a common sight, and beacuse I grew up on a farm, whenever I see an empty farmhouse it prods my imagination as to who lived in that house in bygone days and what their lives were like. 

There were beautiful colours on the hills with the rich purples and reds of the heathers. There was also a  great play of light and shadow in the clefts and hollows that unfolded as we drove along the road. My eye was taken with the old farmhouse, set back from the road that has an overgrown path leading to the front door. There was a lovely traditional, faded and tarnished yellow ochre wash on the walls and the house was perfectly set among beautiful tall beech trees that stood like sentries watching the front and back entrances.  The scene had the perfect backdrop of rolling hills behind the house which seemed to envelop and gently protect it. Added to this was the warm, rich,  russet and gold colours of late summer and early autumn crowning the tall, protective trees. 

This scene stayed in my mind over the last few days and it did not take long to capture it on canvas.

It is very interesting to see how working with different colours generates different reactions at different times of the year. Coming into late summer and early autumn there is a very pleasant feeling working with yellows, oranges, purples, reds and browns. It seems like I am responding to the rich autumnal palette and it gives great pleasure to capture the depth and strength of this season. Looking at these distinctly strong colours it gives a sense that nature is putting on a show of splendour before the bareness and bleakness of winter. 

It also gives a great sense of the ripeness and fruitfulness of nature at this time of year. I also get the feeling that the earth and nature is giving the message of power and strength, it may be going into a dormant period but it will be back with full colour and strength in a few months time.