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.
Too many lives have been lost to suicide in Ireland and I wanted to use the visual metaphor of a laburnum tree that no longer exists to express this.
I love the winter light on the beach, it feels like the genuine character of the place comes out.
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.
eastcorkpainter 