Hayfield Harvest at Dusk- Ireland

Hayfield Harvest at Dusk

It was late afternoon of the day we arrived in Kenmare, Ireland.  The plan was to paint the following day somewhere along our drive of the Beara Pennisula, so I decided to go to our vehicle and get ready.  As I was squeezing out fresh color onto the palette and organizing my gear I took a good look around.   I was surrounded by picturesque scenes in every direction.   There were lovely flower gardens, tall stone walls with an arched, embedded gate, and a water fountain.   These subjects were tempting but they were already mostly in shade and daylight was waning.  

A tractor had been noisily harvesting and baling the next property over, and with perfect timing, and maybe the luck of the Irish, he finished as the sun broke out.   It lit up the field, the green pastures and the mountains with almost magical golden light.  I broke out my easel and the result is this (very rapid) color study.  For me, speed means palette knife and very thick, bold paint application. 

It was a good thing this was toward the beginning of the trip given the amount of paint that was applied.   What a memorable experience and the color study will be useful in the future for a large studio painting.

Farmhouse Ruins - Donegal

Farmhouse Ruins - Donegal

These farmhouse ruins are adjacent to a new farmhouse on Fegart Road, Isle of Doagh, Donegal.   The September light illuminates the green grasses, and the colorful lichen on the crumbling stone walls.    The nothern-most tip of Ireland, Malin Head, is the mountain ridge in the distance.

White Geraniums and Pink Petunias

White Geraniums and Pink Petunias - In Progress

This year, my gardening has been limited because we moved to a new house in late May.   In a way, it has been nice because there is so little daily maintenance.  But I was in the mood to paint summer flowers, and all I had within easy reach were geraniums and petunias.     I taped a long piece of canvas off the roll onto a piece of hardboard.    I placed my flowers in a square vase.  I liked the longwise aspect of the surface since the white geranium blossom stood tall above the rest of the blooms.    I toned the canvas with a transparent wash, then wiped out the lightest colored petals as well as the angular lines of the cut crystal vase.  I was pleasantly surprised as the painting developed.

Geraniums and Petunias

At some point along the way, I decided to unfurl the bottom section of canvas, another 8 inches or so.  You can see a ripple in the canvas where it used to be folded.    One thing led to another...I continued painting down the canvas. Impulsively, I added a round table under the vase I used cool shades of white to paint a tablecloth and let the "folds" drip down the long stretch of cloth.  Even though the table isn't looking quite round yet, I like it and I may even make a rod pocket at the top and hang it tapestry style.  I can always stretch it later if it doesn't work.