The Big Sky is a collection of recent paintings made while getting to know areas of North Mayo, Sligo and The Burren – parts of Ireland that I hadn’t previously explored. The paintings, I hope, document that fresh take on new, ancient places. It took a while to create an appropriate response to these places – some felt like taking big, deep breathes, others felt like deep exhalations. Many of them felt like whispers of a new looser language. Regardless they were all made with love and are full of feeling – new sensations.

  • A Bird Set Free

    2,250.00
    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

     

  • While on residency at The Ballinglen Artists Foundation, I walked a lot on Lacken Strand. In 6-weeks I only ever met 2 other people on the lovely, long strand. During these walks, ideas would percolate - some good, some bad. It's hard to know in the solitude of a retreat if you're on the right track or veering off down (another) blind alley but the constancy of contemplation on these walks helped to refine the  body of work that is 'The Big Sky' . Most times on these walks I would document those thoughts in a notebook and it is these ramblings - thoughts and tangents - that underpin this love letter to the world from Lacken. Oil on Canvas 45cm x 35cm in Slip Frame
  • When I first visited Carrowmore Lake it was in a deluge. The rain was incessant and it was as if there had been an evacuation. The rain teemed and solitude seemed  it's constant companion. Nestled next to a bog and not far from Ballycroy National Park, and close to Erris beo  - it is one of the most Irish landscapes you could hope to witness. The rain makes it all the more moody. I have seen it in sunshine and it is equally enchanting then too.   Oil on Canvas 40cm x 40cm in Slip Frame
  • Dun Briste, a significant stack of land was sliced clean off Downpatrick Head hundreds of years ago. Folklore has it, that it was our own St. Patick who separated the land with his crozier in consternation with a non-believer who was slow to sign up. Regardless of the tall tales, the sight of that stack of land in the midst of the wild sea and contemplating the gap between the landmasses can't but move a body.  The vastness of the scene is humbling but also an opportunity  - a jumping off point  - in which to make your own departure, your own interpretation of the landscape and life. Oil on Canvas 45cm x 35cm in Slip Frame  
  • Lacken Strand is one of those wide, open spaces that you can't hide from or in. It is, to my mind, one of the most enchanting places on the island of Ireland. In the vastness of the expanse of the scene you really can't escape or hide from the elements. While on retreat at the Ballinglen Artists' Foundation I took daily walks at Lacken. The weather was broody and moody even in mid-Summer. Oftentimes, it felt like four seasons in one walk but even in perpetual motion there is always order in the natural world.   Oil on Canvas 45cm x 35cm in Slip Frame
  • Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm SOLD
  • Visiting the Burren for the first time in 2016 was a wonder! The sheer elemental beauty of the landscape is unlike anywhere else I have visited. It looks and feels completely different  – sort of, like landing on mars but with lots and lots of life and lichen! I was blessed to spend time working in the landscape while the wildflowers were in season. It was completely invigorating to see all sorts of plants bloom in crevices, between rocks and in the most unlikely places. Nature persists!   Oil on paper 70cm x 50cm SOLD
  • Oil on canvas 100cm x 75cm in slip frame SOLD  
  • Oil on board 30cm x 30cm SOLD
  • Oil on Canvas 40cm x 40cm in Slip Frame
  • 'The Big Sky' collection was inspired by a residency at The Ballinglen Arts Foundation in North Mayo. During the 6-wk residency, I spent a LOT of time walking by the sea. There is - for me - a conflict between being inside and outside the studio. -  I always want to be working. Of course, in this instance walking is working.  The constancy of the tides is so calming and invariably that made it's way in to this new, looser work. As did a lightness of touch (and spirit!) also manifested in the pink and peaches of the landscape. It was time well spent: Time in wide open spaces = cardiac care.   Oil on Canvas 35cm x 45cm in Slip Frame
  • Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm SOLD

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