“Clare”
From the Images of Ireland Collection (Post 14 of 15).
The story behind the painting…
County Clare is on the Atlantic Coast, in the west of Ireland. She watches from above as her true love sails the full breadth of the Atlantic Ocean (or so it must seem to her). While he will only be gone for the day, she worries as all women do about the safety of their fella.
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The West Coast of Ireland has some of the wildest weather in the country. The great Atlantic batters the coastline while the clouds bring sheets of rain and even snow and sleet at times. And that’s without a storm on the horizon!
Hand laid stone walls can be seen throughout the Irish Countryside — especially in the west. Each stone was purpose fit for a particular spot in the wall. It is worth noting that, despite the absence of mortar and reinforcements of any kind, these walls have stood strong for centuries and will likely continue to do so long after we are all gone. So too will the ancient monasteries, castles and towers like the one seen in the painting. Echoes of a long gone era still standing for the wonder of generations to come.
As with all of the artworks in the collection, the colours and contours of the fields and mountains combine to render the beautiful shades of green the Emerald Isle is famous for. This is in keeping with the dreamlike theme running through many of the paintings in the collection.
About the Images of Ireland Collection
“Images of Ireland” is a collection of fourteen oil on canvas paintings I created from 2008–2010. You can read all about how the collection came into being on my earlier post here. I will be telling the individual stories depicted in each painting here on Medium and via my weekly newsletter, one painting at a time.
Follow me here on Medium or sign up for the newsletter on my art site if you are interested in following along.
