Over the Water, Ireland (and I'll be over the water as this is posted!)

Click here to bid.

The colors of land and sky in the west of Ireland are a landscape painters dream! Such vast expanse of beauty, the subtle variations of blues and greens vibrate against each other.  Painted on location in County Kerry. 

Another painting "from the vault" that I'm sharing (at, well, frankly, birthday suit prices) to celebrate both my birthday month and traveling back to Ireland! Just a few of my previous Irish series remaining. I've held on to some of these for several years now. 

I arrive in Shannon airport at 6am Sunday morning. Usually just a bit earlier than the airport cafeteria opens. I love the last bit of this flight when the sun is just coming up over the horizon, and I catch my first glimpses of Ireland stretching out below me! One on of my flights many years ago when my husband came with me, he gave me the biggest compliment, "Hey, that looks like one of your paintings!". 

Each time I back come home to the states, I've been known to bring home a beach stone or two.  Between the paintings and the stones, it's the closest way to 'keep it with me', until I return again.

Brilliant LIght Over Portmagee and Puffin Island; I'm off to paint in Ireland!

Click here to bid!

Just the thought of Ireland evokes so many thoughts for her children that have emigrated to all points of the world. Within those of us...there is a longing perhaps...an internal memory of those rolling green hills, laid out before us like a rumpled bolt of green velvet fabric.  Do you hear it calling? 

September is my birthday month, and in anticipation of that as WELL as this trip to Ireland, my gift to you is this opportunity. I have some special offerings on some 'paintings from the vault'. Some of the few remaining paintings of Ireland that I have done over the last few years. If you missed out, follow the above link (the one that says 'click to bid'). It will take you to several ebay listings and I'll be adding several over the next few days!  Spreading some birthday love with no wrinkles added!

I am finally packed,,,,,okay, okay, all except for my carry-on. That is always the last minute 'sit and stuff'. I've figured out which jackets, which sweaters, pants, socks, and most important, which paints and which size panels! 

Which brings to mind- how does any one actually wear clothes and paint big canvases....and not pay HUGE airline fees for bringing an over-sized suitcase or an extra suitcase? "Mr. Travel" - aka Rick Steves obviously does not haul along painting gear!  

Yesterday I had everything placed in a super-large suitcase and still had room left! (WHAT? when does that ever happen?). I still had enough room for one of my shorter neighbors and her dog, too.  I was thinking this was looking rather too large. I vaguely recalled something on a recent AerLingus email about luggage sizes and limits, so I went back to find the information. Holy cow! Glad I did- the limit is 62" and under 50 pounds. Well, I hadn't gone over 50 pounds yet, but I was wondering about that size limit. Turns out it is length + width + depth.  Well, this suitcase was a good deal over. I looked up what the fine/penalty/fee/gouging was to be??? Yikes - $100. A hundred bucks ? No way. So the un-packing ensued...and re-packing began, into a medium sized suitcase. (Didn't the three bears have an adventure like this?).

So the dreaded packing part is pretty much over. Tomorrow, hubby delivers me to the airport. I've made chili & roast chicken for him to have a few leftovers. Then he resorts to the Indian restaurant and the BBQ place for the rest of my trip. They have become like family and know us quite well now. The guy who owns the BBQ restaurant saw me in the grocery store one day and said, "Hey, you must've been out of town again, your husband was in here for dinner three times last week!".  Poor guy! It does work out better when my trusty art assistant gets to come along!  

I do you hope you'll follow along on the adventure! Here's hoping I have a good wi-fi connection so I can share the scoop with you! Get ready for a little armchair travel adventure. I'm bringing my watercolor postcards along, too...could there be some gifts involved for you? Why, yes! Make sure you are signed up for this blog (see the upper right hand column to enter your email address), so it arrives in your email inbox and keeps your name in the hat to win a watercolor postcard from Ireland! I'm so grateful to my loyal blog readers, I always love the input, and sharing thoughts and ideas with you! 

Peekaboo Lamb, Portmagee, Ireland - sold

"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way."
- John Muir

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

I'm not sure how to tell how old this little black-faced sheep was, but he seemed young and inquisitive. My friend and I had gone to paint in one of her friend's pastures that has an incredible overlook, just outside the village of Portmagee (Ireland). A couple sheep kept an eye on us. The older one acted like he could care less, but this young one, had to get a look at us from every vantage point! He was incredibly cute peeking over the ledge with all the wildflowers, looking as if he had climbed up from the sea! The sun was shining bright & high, the light was brilliant that day!


*****Well, I'm almost all packed to head down to Chincoteague, VA Thursday. It's an eight hour drive for me. But I look forward to this every year! I get to paint with dear friends (from when I used to live down there) and from Thursday through Saturday, we paint, eat, talk, paint some more...and sell! Saturday night is the show and sale at the Comfort Suites hotel, 4195 Main Street, Chincoteague, VA. The show hours are 6-10pm & coincides with 'The Art Stroll' in town. The Fifth Annual Plein Air Event is sponsored by the Chincoteague Cultural Alliance.

Mountain Road From Portmagee to St. Finian's Bay

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
- Irish Blessing


16"x20" oil on canvas mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

On each visit to Ireland - we always go across the channel from Valentia Island to Portmagee, then take the road up and over the mountain around to St. Finian's Bay. It's a wonderful place to go paint...and delightfully close to the "Skelligs Chocolate Factory"! I don't recall a day when I've been down that road when there isn't fog at the top.... for at least part of the day. When the fog settles it lends a dramatic mood to the scenery. When the weather blows through and the clouds lift, it is just another kind of beautiful! These 2 cottages are settled into the mountainside and the road is winding and SOOOOO narrow! Down below are crashing waves of the bay! Up and down the mountainsides are every shade of green you could ever imagine...and then some. For purchase information, click here.

Celtic Crossings - sold

Welcome to Wednesday!

"Ireland's ruins are historic emotions surrendered to time." - Horace Sutton

16"x20" oil on canvas mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

The other night it was raining, and I was dreaming I was back in Ireland. This is one place my mind always likes to travel back to....these ancient stone crosses in a large expanse of bog, on Valentia Island, down by St. Brendan's Well. In the distance you can see Doulus Head, and part of Dingle Bay & the cliffs at Culoo. It is so close to staggering cliffs, you can hear the surf crashing, and the wind waves the grasses in all directions on a summer's evening, yet it is so quiet you can hear your heart beat. It is such a peaceful place to 'just be'....and when you touch these ancient stones, you sense that you have touched humanity from many hundreds of years ago. How can one place bring such a sense of calm, yet make your heart race with the simple beauty of it all? When I talk to people who have traveled there, they have had that similar experience. Not a one has left the placed unmoved, or unchanged. And...it continues to call you back there. It is that 'sense of place' that wraps itself around your heart....and reels you back in. I must begin to plan my 5th return visit....