In Connemara

Oil on canvas

100cm x 150cm

In slip frame ready to hang

Glorious, Glorious Connemara!  Ms. Doug (the dog) and I took a road trip to Connemara when I first got her. I am ashamed to say I didn't know the landscape very well (seeming always to not stray beyond Mayo) but I reckoned it was high time I did and it would be the perfect place to run a pup. 

I had been reading The way that I went so was enthralled before even beginning.  I will NEVER forget that time - it was rain, hail and glorious sunshine, all utterly splendid. Dogs bay seemed a logical first stop. I was stunned by the white sands and luminous green kelp. Onwards to Omey island only added to the enchantment. It was a gift in this life to roam long deserted beaches and feel your feet firm in the sand, your heart in utterly the right place and a deep connection to place. 

The composition of 'In Connemara' is unusual for me - being longer than wide -  but it felt a logical way to paint scenes that seem ever expanding - these scenes, a couple of years later,  continue to unfurl in my mind.