Carry

September 8, 2026 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged acrylic, acrylics, art, coffin, contemporary, death, detailed, figurative, gold, irish, niall mccarthy, painting, realistic, rope, surreal, tragedy, tragic | Leave a comment

This image has been on my mind for some time, several years in fact. The sloping ground is based on one of the family farm fields, the ‘High Field’. The Greek myth of Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down is the underlying idea. Here, I’m nearing the top of the ‘high field’ and the rope that I’m pulling my father up the slope with is about to snap. The coffin will slide back down to the bottom of the field, and the whole pulling exercise will begin again. It’s about living with long term bereavement from suicide. Forever grateful to my late mother for taking two photographs of my father lying in the funeral home.

Northern Lights in Front of Orion

September 4, 2026 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged contemporary, detailed, ireland, irish, niall mccarthy, night sky, northern lights, oil, orion, painting, photorealistic, realistic, surreal | Leave a comment

I witnessed the Northern Lights for the fourth time in my life on 19th January 2026. On that occasion, broad shimmering bands crossed the sky overhead. Luckily the night was quite clear and having some cloud around added to the atmosphere. I painted the green of the lights using Oxide of Chromium Green. I needed a dullish green that wouldn’t clash with the bright points of stars behind it.

Late Summer View of Garryvoe

April 29, 2026 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged atmospheric, barley, colorful, colourful, contemporary, detailed, east cork, fields, fields of gold, garryvoe, golden hour, harvest, ireland, landscape, niall mccarthy, painting, panoramic, photorealistic, precise, realistic, rural, wheat | Leave a comment

This took two months to complete. This year marks 20 years since I first tackled this view and 15 since I last painted it. It’s a view from one of the family farm fields, the ‘High Field’. I painted it on a big board over a metre wide, the biggest piece ever. Though it follows a reference photo closely, there is artistic licence in the colouring especially of the shadows. Reference photo was taken in late August 2008, so this has been a long time on the backburner. A housing estate near the edge of the land below the caravan site has been omitted, as have two electricity poles in the two closest fields.

Cropped View of Ballycotton Islands

April 22, 2026 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged art, Balllycotton, contemporary, cropped, detailed, garryvoe, irish, islands, niall mccarthy, photorealistic, realistic, seascape, surreal, unusual | Leave a comment

An upturned plastic tank facing the sea last Autumn provided an unusual way of framing a familiar view.

Fetal Rock

February 11, 2026 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged anthropomorphic, art, contemporary, detailed, fetal, fetus, human, niall mccarthy, oil, oils, painting, pastels, photorealistic, realistic, rock, winter | Leave a comment

The highlighted parts of a rock I saw last December reminded me of a fetus. This led me thinking about the Kerry baby and Ann Lovett cases in the Eighties and how, up until recently in Irish society, the absolute worst thing for a young woman in Ireland to do was to get pregnant outside of marriage.

Bedroom at Dawn

November 16, 2025 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged art, bedroom, blue, casein, contemporary, death, dream, dreamy, first person, gloomy, imaginary, imaginative, irish, niall mccarthy, painting, pov, spontaneous, ultramarine, wood of suicides | Leave a comment

Times of the year when daylight gets rapidly longer or shorter (late March and April, October) tend to bring out vivid dreams or nightmares for me. I wake at dawn. I’m exploring that in-between moment when the dream is still fresh and you’re not sure where you are. The wood of suicides from Dante’s Inferno features in the middle in the door area and various personal memories surround it. Limited palette of ultramarine blue, raw umber and bluish silver. I painted it in casein and it gives a unique look.

Claire Making Flower Bunches

November 13, 2025 by eastcorkpainter in art and tagged art, behind the scenes, bouquets, bunches, contemporary, detailed, flowers, irish, niall mccarthy, oil, painting, photorealistic, realistic, sister, unique, work | Leave a comment

In spring and early summer, I give a hand in my sister’s flower field. Planting seed trays and pots and weeding, it can be a busy time. This painting depicts Claire in the farm shed doing flower bunches. It’s late September and near the end of the flower season. I thought the composition would be interesting, surrounded by flowers fanning out and going sideways and down rather than the usual upright direction. I’ve not done a formal painting of her before.