Sun Over The Skelligs and Montbresia, Summer Skelligs View (Ireland)

8"x10" oil on linen/panel

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This one was painted plein air, from our host, Barbara Mastaglio's back garden. There's a fabulous view of the skelligs from there (among other things!).  The morning was bright yet quite windy for this demo, with the wind picking up gradually as I neared a finish.  Wind - for the plein air painter can be as difficult as rain (perhaps more so).  But painting out in the elements truly gives you an understanding of the colors you are seeing, and the sensations of the day.  That's the only way you can transmit these to an indoor studio painting.  

The second one of this view, is painted from a photo, during one of our indoor demo's from a photo on a very rainy day.  The other element in this painting that wasn't in bloom at the time we were painting were the 'montbresia' as they are called in Ireland (known as crocosmia here in the states). They are brilliant and grow wild in the hedges over there. They were just beginning to open when we were there. They are probably in full bloom right about now! And luckily, mine were still in bloom when I returned home.

"Montbresia, Summer Skelligs View"

8"x10" oil on linen/panel

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Irish Waves of Montbresia - SOLD! - Day 26 of #jan30in30

 

10"x10" x1" deep oil on cradled birch panel

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Time travel...

thousands of miles away -

a different season -

memories of color, fragrance,

and tiny fluttering wings...

a soft breeze

wraps around my mind.

There is no storm here...

all is calm and well. 

 

As I painted this, the howling winds of the January 2015 blizzard 'Juno' filled the air. I settled in to my studio, and remembered the colors, the fresh air, and my upcoming trip to Ireland.  The first time I saw these over there, I was quite amazed. The blossoms look so delicate, yet they surely must be hardy to tolerate sea air and a stiff breeze off the ocean.  So of course, when I came home, I asked my garden supplier Petie Reed at Perennial Harmony Garden Shop (in Waterford, CT-click on the link for a VERY zen youtube video) if these would grow here in CT. And she told me they will - if they are in a protected area. They're also known as crocosmia here. So of course, we planted them....and they have spread and grown beautifully. The hummingbirds love them! I've painted them in various incarnations both here and in Ireland. I'm reminded how they bob about in the breeze from the times that I've stood outside and painted them....over and over. I found the process absolutely meditative this evening...and falling in love with this plant over and over again....and came to the realization I will paint these quite large - I see them in a significant space. 

Join me on my workshop in Ireland this June

http://www.valentiaart.com/Registration.html

 

Garden With An Ocean Breeze

9"x12" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.  ~John Muir

It is such a wonderful thing to have state parks, national parks, city and town parks where we can renew ourselves.

John Muir certainly knew it "way back when", and I think it's truer than ever these days. This particular garden has one walled in area, that breaks into open spaces that over look the sea.  

Ocean breezes make the tall, red montbresia blossoms bounce in the wind  - and how DO those little hummingbirds have such good aim as to drink from their blossoms?

Montbresia

12"x12" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Art is so wonderfully irrational, exuberantly pointless, but necessary all the same. Pointless and necessary, that's hard for a Puritan to understand." - Gunter Grass

This was such a wonderful day outside painting this from life. This is one of my favorite plants that blooms in the summer, that I had originally learned of in Ireland. Over there, it grows wild in hedgerows, just crazy lush each summer. It's the most wonderful shade of hot-red-warm orangey brilliance, and the foliage seems to vary from lime-green to blue-green depending upon how the sun light is hitting it. While I'm standing there painting, a couple hummingbirds are darting in and out among the blossoms- they LOVE this color of red. I think this is the plant that makes our hummers the happiest. Even with the wind blowing that sunny day and the flowers bobbing up and down, those little birds are tougher than any fighter pilots- they can maneuver in any direction while these flowers are bobbing in the wind. They are so tenacious!

I knew this summer I would get a painting of these from life and it would not be a 'botanical type rendering' but more of an impressionist viewpoint of the feeling I get from these incredible plants. Known as Montbresia or Crocosmia as well, I was happy to find that it would survive in southern New England, if in a protected area. This stand of them has tripled since we planted them. They are protected on one side by tall ornamental grasses and butterfly bushes.

This painting can be purchased directly from me from my DailyPainters.com gallery store