Impressions of Beara

We only spent a few days on the Beara peninsula. And it's a 5-hour drive from Dublin, no matter which way you go. Driving down isn't too painful, but driving back in the rain behind tractors and cattle transports, and then hitting crazy traffic on the M50 when you get back to Dublin isn't pleasant. And I wasn't the driver, just the co-pilot!!

But when you're on the peninsula, you forget everything. There's the mountains, the skies, the ocean. It's all that matters. Watching the rain clouds rushing across the mountains. The whole peninsula is rugged, and there were very few tourists. It's not known like the ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula. The only downside is that it doesn't have the beaches, and I'm not a hill walker.  I have two favourite spots. That turn in the road before you get to Lauragh, and the mountains are everywhere around you, with their geology exposed, and the clouds clinging to the tops. There are only two small spots where you can pull in, but there was nobody else around, so we had the place to ourselves. And then there is the Healy Pass, with more rocks and scrubland, and a twisty road. And now I just want to paint rocks and clouds.

So I started with 4 thumbnails (more or less postcard size) in one colour. So that I'm not distracted by colour, just thinking composition and values. And all I hear is the silence.

If you're interested in my notes, they are numbered top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right (my favourite).