Getting Ready for Cill Rialaig

Two weeks in February on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. What to pack to stay warm is the first question. What art supplies to bring is the first question too! As you can see from my previous posts, I'm more interested in the art supplies than anything else. And I haven't even looked at my watercolours!!

So excited to have been selected for a two-week art residency at Cill Rialaig. As I'm writing this, I have 4 weeks to get ready! Brendan has even bought me a LED headlamp, so I can get up the stira attic ladder to bed in the loft bedroom even if there is a power cut! And it's a long time since I've had to light a turf fire. Hopefully the skills that Máire taught me many years ago will come back to me! Firelighters are on the packing list!

Here is what it looks like from Google Street View. It's very remote. It certainly will be interesting in February. Which was my choice entirely. Winter skies are always more interesting. Just hoping we don't get too many big storms, as it's on the edge of a cliff!

Testing Testing - not so new art supplies

And I was also in the mood for testing art supplies I have in my stash, like gouache, gansai tambi, watercolour pencils, graphite pencils and Neocolor. And inks also. Everything but the kitchen sink!

Testing Testing (new art supplies)

Tempera sticks - non toxic, made in China. I won't lick my fingers, though. You never know. It says they're acid-free, but they're probably not permanent. The hard thing will be to decide which colours to take with me next time I'm travelling. I love it that you can use a fountain pen to draw on top of them, and even markers. The surface is so smooth and it doesn't smudge, once you give it a few seconds to dry matte. 

And also Stabilo Woodies - couldn't resist the pastel colours, and some colours I didn't have already!

And also some Caran d'Ache Neopastels - not so sure about them, as they will need fixing with an acrylic medium, or they'll make a mess. I only have gloss medium at home, and it's not ideal. But some nice colours. I got a set of 48.

Travel sketches

All went well with my trip to Belgium in early January. Despite my worries. And despite heavy snow the night before I was travelling back to Dublin, and also on the morning I was flying home. Somehow, Brussels continues to function, despite snow. Still, I was a bit of a nervous wreck. I'm not scared of flying at all. But I get anxious when I travel, I worry about delays and cancellations. I did deep breathing and some yoga stretches to still my beating heart, but it's just one of those things that I have to live with. I have discovered that if I use Fasttrack and book the lounge, I am able to stress a little bit less. The lounge in Dublin is €29. Well worth it from my point of view. Plus I get to eat lots and even take a sandwich to eat on the plane!

If I'm travelling for a holiday, I'm still anxious, but I get into my sketching and it's all good fun. Travelling to Belgium isn't a holiday and I struggle with sketching on those trips. Still, I managed to do a little bit. Mostly from observation, some from photos, and also some scribbles and swatches.

 

Playing with colours

Colour pencils are so much fun. Can you guess what artist has inspired some of my colur choices?

 

Camden Street on a miserable day

5 January 2025 -  it was cold and it rained non-stop. I was worried the rain would turn to snow. It did in many parts of the country, but thankfully not in Dublin. I was flying to Belgium the following day for my Mum's birthday and I was very stressed about the possibility of flight delays or cancellations. So, I wrapped up well and went sketching as a way to calm my anxiety. 

There was no way to sketch outdoors, but I knew a café that has good views over Camden Street. It's Caffé Nero. There's a counter at the window and a big convivial table where a few of us mad Sketchers sat - we just sketched what was in front of us. It's always interesting to see how we all can be in the one location, but we sketch very different things.

After a couple of hours of sketching, I went home. I was still worried the rain would turn to snow. But it didn't. I was anxious about nothing. But some days, it's hard to control it! Still, I got some nice sketches out of it! And, yes, I should have added an extra bin bag in front of that bin. I didn't notice the shape until I got home and it was too late to fix it!!

Street View World Tour

My takes on the Street View images for January's Stretview Worldtour. I had to leave early for the last one, so just took the essence of the scene as I saw it! Can you guess the locations for each of these?

Same colours, different mixes

I have used the same colours again. Well, more or less the same colours. I have added Blue Compose to the mix, for the feel of a sunny day, as I'm looking at a few pictures I took near Allihies last February! In the second set, I continued mixing what was on my palette and got some gorgeous neutrals. I've got a good few sketches I have done in an accordion sketchbook, so plenty of inspiration to keep me going.

On a roll

It feels so good when I paint again. In the old days, I used to only have time to paint while on holidays or between Christmas and New Year, a time where most people who work in an office take time off in Ireland. Now, it tends to be the week when I don't paint. It's a time for eating too much and watching movies together and going for nice walks if the weather is dry enough. And it feels good. But I miss painting, even if it's only for a week. So by the 3rd of January, I was ready to get back into it. Still obsessed with the landscape of Beara, and I keep finding new little corners that I want to paint, working mostly from photos I have taken over the years. This one is a zoomed-in look at a big hill.

Abstract and representational - just playing

Using the back of watercolours that I don't feel strongly about is a great way to trick the brain into loosening up! I was planning to go abstract, but the quarter-sheet format called for another go at that landscape. For the next one, I taped the paper into a square, and felt free to explore in abstract.

I always like the close-ups. I really want to zoom in in my next version!

Incognito

I have sent my three pieces for Incognito, in aid of the Jack and Jill foundation. I'm very happy with the three pieces I painted for this. I will post more information when I know exactly when and where they will be on display. But all information will be on the Incognito website in due course.

Moving to another view - I need to be patient with myself

Again, working too closely from a photo, without a plan. Tomorrow, I'm using my prompt cards again or I will go abstract. But this is probably telling me I need a change from these Beara scenes - 

Or I just need to keep pushing - since it was one of those situation where I had nothing to lose, I decided to attack it with gouache. Much happier now!! Never leave a painting at a stage where you're not happy!!

Cool and warm blacks

Still trying to figure out how to paint this Beara scene. But it's not working out, even when I try it in black. Composition is probably too balanced, and I'm sticking too close to the photo I'm working from. I will need to rethink it.

Cat bowl, again

Embracing the wonkiness! 

Love my new art display shelves

A quick and colourful selfportrait, with my new display shelves behind me. Got those in Ikea and I'm thrilled with them. It's a great way to have my work in progress present in front of me. Well, it's behind me, but I've got big sliderobes with full mirror in front of me, so it's even better, as I often see what works and what doesn't work in a painting when I look in the mirror!