In a Sea of Green

Red Boat in a Sea of Green - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

Burren Wall

Burren Wall - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

Cascading Radiant Light in an Old Ruin

Cascading Radiant Light in an Old Ruin - oil/panel - 12"x9" - sold

The varying patterns of light and dark really interested me here.

How could I describe different kinds of qualities of light in the scene with the one brush?

The Cascading diffused filtered light that lit up the interior of the ruin and created a feeling of space and atmosphere (that would be my center of interest), as well as the strong lights on the grass and upper walls.

And then there was also the light on the not to distant Burren landscape.

A great challenge with my limited palette.

Hope you like it.

- Richard

Detail Below:

Hay Bales

Traditional Hay Bales - oil/panel - 5"x5" - sold

The Caher Valley

The Caher Valley - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

In Fields of Gold

In Fields of Gold - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

The Set Dancers Cottage

The Set Dancers Cottage - oil/panel - 5"x5" - sold

Don't know if you remember but about this time last year I made a Sketch in oil of the same scene.

Click on the Burren Residency 'categories' link on the right hand sidebar of my blog at - http://richardhearnspaintings.blogspot.com/ and you should be able to find it.

The renowned Set Dancer called Mick Carruchan who is well into his 90th years lives alone in this cottage which greets you on the way out of Ballyvaughan on the road towards Fanore.

I just love the way the cottage is nestled there between the Burren landscape and the waters edge.

- Richard

Last on the Left

Last on the Left - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

The West Wind

The West Wind - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

Created this small sketch along a road which leads to the old pier in Ballyvaughan Village.

I had been studying these wind swept trees that cling onto the wall and are left in a permanent arch that grows out eastwards due to the strong west atlantic winds.

The Holy Well

The Holy Well - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

Out along the winding coast road towards Fanore and down a small path close to the shore I stumbled across this beautiful white washed holy well sitting snug in the landscape.

This painting is dedicated to Tim Dolan, Arch Bishop of New York - who came to visit me here in Ballyvaughan the day before yesterday.

The Abbey

The Abbey (Cascading Light at Corcomroe Abbey) - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

Created this interior architectural study about a week ago inside a magnificent 10th century Abbey. The morning light was cascading through the celling less roof illuminating the beautiful arches and details. I picked this spot to study because of the atmosphere I felt by the way the light was becoming diffused as it faded into the interior space and then burst into full light again through the narrow window above the distant Burren landscape.

Some Swallows were nesting inside the vaulted room and came out swooping passed my head over and over contrasting with the vast stillness of the Abbey space. They were so playful and kept me company while I painted.

The Cooking Pot

The Cooking Pot - oil/panel - 7"x5"

The Cottage Window

The Cottage Window - oil/panel - 7"x5" - sold

A left turn off the road towards New Quay and Kinvara and down through three fields and remembering to close the gates after you brings you to my cousins Stella and Dymphna Walsh's beautiful old traditional Irish cottage. The first thing you see on approach through the fields is the chimney rising up from where the cottage is nestled in close to the shoreline.

The cottage has no electricity with just one small window in the front.

I quickly found my subject - The morning light was beaming through the old window lighting the thick plastered ledge and surrounding walls while back lighting an old pot and dropping the interior walls into shadow.

The Artist's Sandals

The Artist's Sandals - oil/panel - 7"x5" - nfs

And so another journey begins.

This little study marks the first piece created when I arrived in Ballyvaughan two weeks ago.

I headed out close to my cottage with the idea to find something in the landscape.

I suppose its quiet significant that I ended up after all my looking about to stop and gaze down at my Sandals.

This type of finding has happened to me to date on several occasions during my life time. There are a number of pieces that were made in the past during my time spent journeying in Thailand of a similar scene - the worn shoes I walked in perhaps marking the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one. And more recently a painting of my shoes on the grass beside me during a stay at Cill Rialaig and a larger painting of my boots.

For me these paintings are special in that they mark departures - perhaps a shift in my own mental state and form a more inward prospective.

Really looking forward to showing you all some of the larger finished works I have been completing here in preparation for my next solo show but first I will wait a while and continue to post images of some of my daily studies for you to see.

Hope you will enjoy them.

- Richard

The Italian Coffee Pot

The Italian Coffee Pot - oil/panel - 12"x9"
Private Collection, New York

Tuscan Rose on Hand Turned Bowl

Tuscan Rose on Hand Turned Bowl - 5"x5" - sold

This piece above is one of the last little studies created during the recent trip to Tuscany.

It contains nice variations of texture and subtle shifts in tone which I feel conveys an overall delicate atmosphere.