Description

This painting is one of a series of 4 large paintings that I completed this autumn, taken from scenes in Killarney National Park. Here, Ross Castle stands at the side of Lough Leane, the shores are flooded and the bridge stands low in the water. The autumn colours are rich and vibrant in shades of crimson, ochre, gold and rust. The colours are reflected in the lake and long shadows are cast across the grass in the gentle evening light. A warm golden glow is falls on the castle walls as the sun sets.

The four paintings in this series are the biggest I’ve done, and took quite some time to carry out.

They are painted with the palette knife, using an impasto technique, and in the foreground each leaf is nearly visible!

I wanted to paint on this scale to give the full impact of the bright autumn light filtering through the autumn trees, casting brightly contrasting shadows across the paths and fallen leaves. The big scale also means the strong perspective of the path leading into the scene has huge impact. You really could walk right into the painting! The other reason I so enjoyed working on such a large scale was the amount of movement I could get into the canvas. I was literally dancing from one side of the canvas to the other, bringing in diagonals and lines drawing the eye endlessly from one side to the other, much as the wind swirls through the woodland trees.

Each of the four paintings in the series is truly a unique work of art, and I have seen people gasp with surprise and delight when they see each one, and tell me that they are so uplifting and cheerful to see. It is happiness on canvas.

Please do contact me if you would like to discuss, or look for advice on how it would fit into your home. It’s not actually as big as you might think, and would fit above a table, or on a feature wall in a normal sized home.