Middle Third

Weekend away near Oranmore last week. Wonderful to be in the West. The weather was better than forecast. And the light in the West has a certain quality that's hard to describe - a softness and a sharpness at the same time. Like light and dark, sunshine and rain. That's how they get the rainbows! 

Loved the company of old friends. Chats about the state of the world, philosophy, religion, art, music, India, meditation, etc... This would be a perfect location for an artists' retreat! For now, it's an AirBnB in case you're interested!! Lovely location by the sea, close to Galway city, and also to the Burren.

It's really hard to sketch friends, much harder than strangers. Because I care about how they'll feel when they see how I represented them. I think one out of the three was happy enough, one neutral, and one not too happy. And, to balance the page, I added my favourite quote of the moment.

Ann is so talented - she can play the guitar, the ukulele, the fiddle, and probably any other instrument you put in her hands. And she can sing too. The landscape is the view from my window when I got up on the Sunday morning (Art before Breakfast indeed - Danny Gregory has a lot to answer for). The paint took a lot longer to dry than what I'm used to, hence the blurry bits. It's damp in the West in the winter, even in a well-heated house! And in case you're thinking I'm a Foster & Allen fan, I'm not. Just to be clear.

The effect of the prevailing wind on the tree in front of the house. I finished the sketch when I got home.

And this is the barn behind the house next door. Lots of moss on that roof! I can picture this barn as a workshop space for art groups!! This one I did from a photo I took while walking around the bay.

And here are the same two pictures as a double spread in my sketchbook. I think they go well together.

Tried to sketch Ann in Nockton's (Tigh Neachtain) in Galway but failed miserably. Although, if I look at the picture on the right, the (left - clearly, since there is no right eye in my sketch) eye looks just like her (although now that I think of it that's her right eye, isn't it)! Maybe the glass of Guinness was starting to relax me!

Tried to draw her again at home when she was playing the guitar. Harder than I thought it would be. I added the patterned background later. But maybe those small sketches helped me capture the essence of her when I moved to watercolours!