star performer

another of the kitchen chair paintings that I have been playing around with. This one is 24×24 inches oil on canvas.

A little book of paintings

Hot off the presses (if there are such things anymore) is a little book of my paintings. In fact about about 50 of them spread across still life, interiors, landscapes and animals. Great fun altogether!

It’s a kind of portfolio book for me but it is also for sale (at cost) for a short period by clicking on the buy/cart button. The book is 7×7 inches and one can choose hard or soft back at checkout. (I like the premium paper)

dogwood blossom

I very rarely paint flowers so this is a real step out of my comfort zone.

dogwood blossom 16×16 inch oil on canvas

If

I’m rushing this morning but I’ll leave you with this…

[With apologies to Rudyard Kipling]
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook people taking things out on you, when
through no fault of yours something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can do all these things,
Then you’re probably the family dog.

ladies choice

This is a reworking of a painting that I’m very fond of. It brings to mind an old fashioned party in the kitchen. I imagine Jim from up the road, who plays fiddle and maybe a tin whistle player too. There’d be a bit of dancing and red lemonade for the kids.

It’s mid-term here and although I’m enjoying not having the usual busyness of school runs and activities, we’re busy with other things so it still seems hard to get much done. Still, my daughter brought me tea and heart shaped toast in bed at 9am this morning. Can’t complain about that!

ladies choice 32×32 inch oil on canvas €1675

rare (lost) words

and today’s lost words are…

tristifical - causing to be sad or mournful.
eternitarian – one who believes in the eternity of the soul.
cosmogyral – whirling round the universe.

heir island

The reference for this painting was a beautiful photograph taken by my face book photographer friend, Kevin O’Farrell (no relation) from Cork. Kevin takes beautiful photographs of boats and maritime scenes and is particularly interested in the old skills still used in boat building. Check his work out on face book here.

heir island 12×12 inch on canvas

a birthday picnic

My little friend turned four today! She is the littlest of our extended brood and with red hair and character coming out her ears she is definitely the star.

The plan was to go for a walk in the woods and have a fire with sausages and marshmallows. Good plan! I even checked the weather forecast and yes I did believe sky weather when they said it would be a dry day! That was my first mistake!

It was possibly the wettest picnic I have ever been at part of. And I live in Ireland so wet picnics are pretty much all we get here. But really, it could not have been any wetter unless maybe we were actually having it IN the river.

But even still, the woods were magical, even in the rain and the sun seemed to be shining somewhere just out of reach.

And as it happened, I think it may have been one of our the best picnics yet.

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