Holy Ground.....a Terrible Beauty - (sold)

14"x18" oil on canvas.

"Hope and Memory have one daughter and her name is Art, and she has built her dwelling far from the desperate field where men hang out their garments upon forked boughs to be banners of battle. O beloved daughter of Hope and Memory, be with me for a little."
- W.B. Yeats

This has been one of the most delightful challenges I've taken on! This is a commission from a collector who already owns one of my Irish landscapes. This location is one of his favorite places - Old Head Golf Links, with a few artistic liberties taken to include favorite memories of the place all in one scene (such as the weather, the Stone of Accord, the light-house, etc.). The rugged coastline is what always fascinates me - Old Head is a diamond shaped 'island' connected by a land-bridge in the Kinsale area of Ireland. It is a magnificent place.

In collaborating on a painting such as this, I always encourage the collector to 'name the painting' they have chosen to commission. I knew there was a story behind this when this collector chose: "Holy Ground...a terrible beauty".

"The Holy Ground, the euphemistic and inaccurate name for a rather bawdy section of the docks in Cobh, County Cork, is also a traditional Cork ballad...allegorically thought to refer to Ireland, the refrain:
You're the girl that I do adore
And still I live in hopes to see
The Holy Ground once more

There's more .....the song was played by a lone piper upon the arrival of Tiger Woods et al at Old Head the first time he played there (July 1999)......quite a gala......

A "terrible beauty" is of course stolen .........

All changed, changed utterly
A terrible beauty is born

Easter 1916, W.B.Yeats"

Ah, there's not much I love better than a good story...but a wonderful scene to go with it!

***

I do regret the lack of blogging lately- so much has been going on, and I'm still in the thick of it. The shows and events in Norfolk, VA last weekend were wonderful! I did sell the 'pink house' - "New York Lady" - right away. And it seems I may have a new place to show my work in Norfolk!. More about that in a following entry!

My regular blog followers know that I've recently moved one daughter down to Fairfax, VA, from up here in CT. Now her sister is on her way down there as I write this. I'll follow on in the van tomorrow. Yes, it's just a family mini-van - but it certainly feels like a moving van!