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SOLD OUT!A Turn For Grace
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SOLD OUT!Nocturne
Inspired by time fishing with my father on the Mayo Lakes, Nocturne is evocative of days ending and that very special light particular to the low sun on the lakes. I am a fair weather fisher but time on the lake with my Dad is nothing short of glorious. It is time out of time. Even though senses are accelerated with the cut and thrust of the boat traversing the waves, sideways rain and all the slip-slop sounds of water, reels and bird life – time feels somehow suspended. The experience is utterly elemental and yet really, very restful but stimulating. Beyond the shoreline, out on that horizon there is a promise of magic and reward. Great days - time well spent – the best currency – before the waves roll us back to shore and home. Oil On Canvas: 150cm x 150cm In Slip Frame Ready To Hang -
Oil on canvas 180cm x 120cm In slip frame ready to hang These larger paintings have been stirring inside me for the past few years. It has been a pleasure to see them finally come to fruition in the studio. I am forever saying my work is ‘holding on and letting go’ . There may be more robust, verbose words for my process but the practice of turning up, letting go of all my notions and hang ups and holding on for inspiration, flow and the good stuff (that feels to my mind like fire) is essentially how I find and harness inspiration. Begin to Hope feels like a line I am making by walking, beyond the fertile void, it is of itself spilling out into the world at large
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 5ft x 5ft (152cm x 152cm) In slip frame, ready to hang.“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
- Anais Nin -
When I visited Spike Island, I was struck by how stunningly beautiful it is, how wild and yet how much grows there. It feels otherworldly - a strange edgy energy is pervasive. I couldn't help thinking about all the pilgrims, monks and prisoners who have passed through. The island's small surface area and it's situation make it impossible to forget you are on an island. I wondered were those temporary residents taunted by the lapping tide from the far shore. Many must have contemplated making a swim for it! It would require courage to leave and maybe another courage to stay. I think all of us in this quiet time have contemplated change - our personal precipice. For me making these big paintings is a personal jumping off point. When painting, I jot down notes - often a series of words - random ramblings and gems. For this Precipice - I noted:Resilience - Connectedness - Home - Belonging
I think all of us - pilgrims, prisoners and painters - maybe sing to the same tune. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 120cm x 120cm In slip frame, ready to hang. At a young(-er!) and (more!) impressionable age, I read May Sarton's A Journal of a Solitude. I remember being floored by the line 'Hope, but for what?'. The lack of hope or vision or joie de vivre struck me as utterly sad and terrifying too. I have known the feelings of being rudderless and at times been terribly lost. I think that is part of the human experience. Many of us anticipated the recent Covid quiet period with dread - it smacked of 'the end is nigh' and yet on the other side of it, many of us feel renewed and are facing forwards with some hope. And we are certain what we are hoping for. On the other side of solitude, I think the things we are hoping and hopeful for are not 'things' - there is a communion in that too. It reminds me of the words of another great writer, Mary Oliver:'Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
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I made this piece over an Easter weekend in my studio. I wasn't entirely sure what I would paint but I had recently returned from a residency in Kerry and the view of the ancient famine village at dusk, with smoke billowing from the little chimneys haunted me and found its way into the work. The famine village is located at Cill Rialaig on Bolus Head, on the last road out of Ireland. The location has been central to much of my work here in Ireland. Residencies here provided an essential time and space to immerse myself in the landscape and it's history - so that I might respond to and develop a sort of language of the land. mixed media on canvas 148cm X 104cm
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SOLD OUT!This large piece captures my 'love at first sight' impressions of the Kerry Bogs. It was painted in-situ in the middle of the bog at Emloughmore. I painted it in a tee-shirt on a bright January day – my birthday – it was my first BIG painting and truly felt like a gift. Mixed media on canvas 148cm X 104cm -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 112cm x 112cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €4,450.00 Spike Island was once a remote monastery, a fortress and the world’s largest prison! 'The Idea of an Island' collection attempts to present the contrast of what is potentially an idyll and a place of pain and suffering. The palette in these paintings is itself a contrast – a mix from cheery pinks to a spectrum of blacks. ‘Fools Rush In’ was made during the Covid isolation and draws on the idyll of the sea – it’s spectacular beauty which can be so comforting – but also it’s inherent power and danger. One of the first things I did post-lockdown was to swim in the sea – it was freezing but full of freedom! ‘Fools Rush In’ I hope illustrates life’s contrasts – how nothing is ever completely lost or indeed perfect – but made up of a series of magnificent moments. The present happening over and over again. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 140cm x 74cm In slip frame ready to hang This painting typifies much of the push and pull at play in my work and could equally be called ‘Holding On & Letting Go’. It was painted over the course of a year in many layers – this painting and I had something of a long loose dance before we capitulated towards each other. Lands Edge is to my mind about standing your ground – staying within the magic limitlessness of imagination – and not getting sucked into the nonsensical void. Out beyond the churning chaos there is magic. You don’t always have to see it – but you must always believe in it, for as Roald Dahl said ‘only those who believe in magic will find it’. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on Canvas, 120cm x 100cm in slip frame. €3950.00 -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 90cm x 90cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €2950.00 Silver Strand on Sherkin Island has a dreamy quality - it is a time and place. And it is time out of time. 'Holding On & Letting Go' is a theme that flows through my work. Inspiration is a feeling - sometimes fleeting - and sensations like how I felt at sunrise on Silver Strand are often like water in my hands. I hope this painting goes some way to capturing all of that. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 120cm Ready to hang in slip frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame The sea adjoining Ciarraí can often catch colours of the tropics - turquoise and fizzy greens that don't quite match our inky skies. I have been greatly infleunced by Sorolla this past year - visiting his studio in Madrid and seeing his shows in London and Dublin. I wonder how he might have painted our sea - with all the drama but not so much sun, I imagine the Spaniard may have had much to say in paint. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame I am a fan of islands but despite having spent much of my painting time in Ciarraí, I have only recently started to document Valentia island. I love the sea-crossing - short as it is - and Bray Head, and the lapping water at ever side. I love too that you can go way, way high up and low down again into the sea. This is one of my first paintings from this place - it was made following a stormy Summers crossing. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas (SOLD) 94cm x 69cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €2250.00 Inspired by the imagined longings of historical inhabitants of Spike Island. The tranquility and beauty of their setting, with the far shore still in site, must have been jarring to say the least. A constant taunt for liberty denied and life going on at pace just beyond them. For all the beauty of our surroundings, having peace in our hearts and minds is the prize. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame I made this painting while on a painting fellowship at The Ballinglen Artists Foundation in Ballycastle, Co Mayo. Dun Bristé - or the stack - is a tiny landmass just off Downpatrick Head. It’s a sanctuary for birds now but legend has it that the chunk of rock broke away from the mainland when St Patrick struck the earth with his stick in response to a naysayer who doubted his Christian doctrine! Either way it is striking and I love to paint it! -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame This painting was inspired by a night walk along the shoreline. There is quite a bit of gold in this painting - a departure for me - that I think captures the otherworldliness of the sea at night-time. -
SOLD OUT!I often say my work is best described as holding on and letting go. Letting go of all the doubt, fear and notions and holding on for the good stuff to come through. This painting was years in the making – it just wouldn’t quit! I turned it to the wall for a while and then, one evening, it sort of painted itself. It was a time when I was attempting to close out my Mayo Lakes series but they kept turning up on the canvas. This is a sort of swan-song to my Mayo Lakes series, bridging the gap to The Big Sky collection that followed. It is, I think, about devotion – redemption and renewal –about new beginnings and moving on to new, ancient landscapes. Oil on canvas 100cm x 75cm in slip frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 90cm x 60cm In slip frame ready to hang I’m not good at remembering road no’s or indeed mountains names so I fondly refer to the mountains midway between my parents home and mine as – The In-betweeners! This painting was completed on a Monday morning following a lovely weekend at my folks. I had been a little ‘stuck’ with the painting but when driving home, across the country from my parents’ house the evening before, the answer was literally staring me in the face. A golden orb, the most glorious sunset guided me home. It’s more literal than my usual work but I liked it, so I’ve left it! -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 90cm x 60cm In slip frame ready to hang I’m honestly not sure if this is a sun-rise or sunset - and surely one becomes another on this magical orb of ours. I took the title from ‘Sail On’ the gorgeous song by Interference. I listened to it a lot recently around the time of Maurice Desmond’s death. Maurice was a wonderful Cork painter, a true contemporary landscape painter. He was one of the first artists I met when I came to Cork. He was entirely himself and always lovely, kind and encouraging to me. His legacy is long, his work speaks for itself. I think he might live forever. I will never forget him -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 90cm x 60cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €1950.00 Post the first COVID lockdown I took time out to spend a weekend on a yoga retreat Sherkin Island. It was my maiden voyage - I now know what I missed. It is glorious - idyllic, super lush in Summer time and so close to Shore. Going against all my usual holiday pre-requisites, we did yoga at sunrise on Silver Strand. It was cold and damp but just as the sun came up - the sun slid across the sand (giving a full explanation to it's name!) and it was the most glorious setting I have known. Immediately afterwards we swam in the sea. Had you asked me to partake in such a dawn excursion pre-Covid, I would have excused myself impolitely! And yet - it was wonderful - an absolute Silver Lining. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 60cm x 60cm In slip frame ready to hangI had the most enchanting conversation with someone recently about the strength of stillness and the power of darkness. In long Summer days, darkness (metaphorical and physical) feels less compelling, but my friend spoke of how germination requires darkness in order to cast deep roots into firm soil. The silent shoreline of this painting seemed to me a place to pause and enjoy the inherent (restorative) stillness we all have capacity for – when we shelve all the shizzle. I love to think there is a fertile void in all of us. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 56cm x 51cm In slip frame ready to hang My mind gets a bit blown when I think about how the opposite end of the shoreline I am standing in, is washing someone else’s feet on the other side of the world. It is entirely mind-blowing but also enormously reassuring – as if to affirm that everything that lives is connected. The cyclical nature of tides, sun rise – sun set, seasons and the rhythms of our own biology all pre-date time itself and point to an innate knowingness and our ability to be harmonious – in sync – or at the very least community minded!. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on Canvas 61cm x 46cm In slip frame ready to hang This painting might appear a bit maverick in this collection but, as with them all, was painted in response to a time and place. In this case. The time being a VERY hot day in my studio. It began life as a demo (for my Abstracting the Landscape Online painting course) but as the layers progressed I realised it was harking back to a recent landscape I had visited. ‘Heatwave’ was painted at the tail end of the collection and the beginning of my next body of work, so it literally is the shape of things to come. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 76cm x 51cm Ready to hang in slip frame Mayo has some magic places, DownPatrick Head being a case in point. It's the edge of Ireland and not for the faint-hearted. The sea lashes it for much of the time - making for dramatic sea spray and the foamiest, thundering current but then at other times it is all calm - like at day break when the sun steals its way in silence into the sky. The stormy times are not forgotten, but behind us now as we begin again.
Contemporary Irish Landscape Painting
