Laurie's Drawing Board - Journal

Back to the Drawing Board

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:27:53 -0600

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The summer has come and gone. Whish! Now, winter is setting in with its grey skies and long nights. So I’m back to work on the drawing board, literally. Briefly, the Sibley workshop in June – awesome. Then fire season took me out to 3 separate fires in the state of Washington. Great experiences all of them. No – I’m not a firefighter! That is for the young folk. I help setup and run the fire camps. My first call was just after July 4th, and for the next month and a half I was out supporting fire fighting efforts. A whole ‘nuther story, perhaps another time.

The end of September I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) wait any longer so I returned to Ireland for a couple of weeks vacation, this time with Mom. I was very excited to share some of my favorite places with her. Just to go back was great. We briefly met with a couple of friends from the college while we acclimated from the jet lag, then I played tour guide for Mom.

Finally, mid October and I was back home and settling in for the winter. Finally back to work on drawings. Mostly I’ve been working on trying to complete a set of 5 Sporting Group head studies for a set of prints and cards (hopefully first of next year). Then a little piece I’d been wanting to do for my daughter – her two little “yappy” dogs, Tayysa and Angel.

I’m a little stuck at the moment on a good reference and layout for an Irish Setter and a Pointer for the last two Sporting Group dogs in the series. So, I’ve taken the plunge into a landscape that has been rattling around in my head for a bit. I’m sticking with pencil for now. I really like the effects and the textures and detail I can achieve with it. So, with some encouragement from the little exercise I’d done in Mike’s class way last spring, off I went.

There was this bike in the backyard of the cottage I stayed at while gong to school in Ballyvaughan. I have no idea how long it had been there. It was quite rusty and the ivy and grass had been having their way with it for a few years. It was calling out for a picture to be taken and something made of it – eventually. And then there are the rock walls I absolutely love. The different styles, textures, ways the ivy and blackberries and other bushes would climb over and around the rocks. So, the idea of the bike leaning on an old wall started bouncing around.

To date I have been working on the drawing for about 3 weeks, a couple hours a day more or less.

Now, as I move a little further into the drawing I’ve started to wonder about whether or not I want the bike to look like it has been there for years…. or someone just put it there. Each one conjures up a different story. Not sure which story will be told yet. I’m letting it unfold as I work up to the bike.

If you'd like to see more of the drawing board, go to my Drawing Board page on my website.

Sibley Workshop June 2008 Yellowstone

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:35:28 -0500

Not long before leaving Ireland, about a year and a half ago now, I was browsing the website of a British pencil artist I quite admire. He had just published a book which I found to be very helpful. Anyway, I'd already purchased my plane ticket home, when I found he was offering a workshop just across the water in England! Oh, if I'd known I would have postponed my go home date. Bummer. But... not long after arriving back home in the states I found he had just opened an offering for a workshop in - of all places - West Yellowstone Montana! Wow. Not only the chance to take a workshop from this wonderful artist, but to do it in my "other" favorite place - Yellowstone. Well, no hesitation, one way or the other I was going. So I signed up sure the spots would fill up quickly - which they did.

Well, that week has now come and gone, and it was well worth the wait! What a week. Mike is so generous with sharing his knowledge and helping those of us attending. To be together with about 20+ other wonderful pencil artists, all having a similar desire to draw animals and detail. Just to wander around and see how the others were tackling the exercises he gave us was eye-opening.

Well I could go on and on (which I might later...) In the meantime, here are some of the exercies from the workshop. Little tidbits of information, practice and understanding how to make that little pencil do some amazing things.

Final study using all the techniques we covered during the week.

Scrapbook: September 06 to May 07

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 09:23:13 -0500

I have enjoyed putting together a kind of scrapbook presentation that capture photos, sounds and music from my time abroad this past 9 months. For those who have visited my blog you will perhaps recognize some of the photos and art work. I have added songs, music and sounds that I heard often and now remind me of the places I've been and things I've seen.

You can download a version that runs in a smaller window but downloads a little quicker, or one that uses a little larger window but will take longer to download. Just click on the link and it will ask you if you want to open or save the file. It will download the wmv file and then run it on your computer. The duration is just over 15 minutes.

Clearly for me the pictures and sounds bring back many memories. I hope for those who view it, you will at the very least get a sense of where I've been, a wee bit of what Ireland, London and Italy look like, and a taste of the music and sounds that are so much a part of the memories.

Click here for the smaller window version.

Click here for the larger window version:

I hope you enjoy it.

May 31st Last Day in Ireland.

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:42:53 -0500

The walk into the village now is pleasant. The evenings are long, it is light until after 10:00, though I’m usually well in before then. On one side of the road the waters of Galway Bay vary on the day between glass calm and frothing whitecaps, in color from a clear brilliant blue to grey and angry green.

On this evening it is calm enough, there is some wind on the water pushing up small waves and wrinkles on the surface. The tide is in, bringing the water right up to the wall along the road. A few feet to spare yet, but I wonder, on a stormy high tide, do waves leap the wall?

On the other side of the road are a scattering of homes and cottages, holiday homes I wager for the most part. It seems, now that I’ve had a chance to spend some time here, that Ballyvaughan is largely a village for tourists. There are a few locals who stay year round, but there are many, many B&Bs and rental cottages in and around the village.

My last few days here. It is going to take a long time to digest all that I’ve learned, seen and experienced in the past 9 months. For now, it has been a well spent time.

I’ve learned quite a bit about my painting and about art in general. Can’t say I know yet what is going to come of it. I will keep drawing and painting, that is a given. What it is going to turn into, that is still open. I do know I am drawn to doing animals, in realistic rendering, and in landscape both as a background for subjects, and as a way of registering a sense of place.

I have also learned I am interested in traveling more. In looking back, the trip to Italy was a highlight for me. Something I never really thought I’d do, but am very glad I did. I would like to see more of the places I’ve read about in history, and of places where my ancestors would have left behind. I will certainly come back to Ireland to visit, and I am still particularly drawn to County Donegal.

And then there are the little things. References in reading or conversation or movies that now have more meaning because I have a context to put them in. And how differently we frame our thinking. I made a comment to some friends here one time about how Yellowstone was not far from where I had lived, about 200 miles. They sputtered at the thought. That is a major journey in the context of this place, where the next village is only a few short miles away, and you are never further than 150 miles from the edge of the island itself.

The smell of peat fires now brings warm and pleasant memories of walks through the village, or home after school on a cold and blustery evening. How much I’ve become dependent really, on the internet and the fact that it doesn’t exist everywhere, and where it does connections can be slow and dodgy. Soda bread is my downfall, particularly a thick slice toasted with melted butter in the morning alongside a bowl of wheatabix.

Walk on the footpath, not sidewalk; Hoover the house instead of vacuum. Use the cooker, rather than the oven for fixing dinner. Put recycle and rubbish in the bin. Very good things are grand rather than great. Everyone talks on a mobile, with a long i. Never ask for ride, its a lift. Young children go to cresh rather than daycare. And always start a conversation with a comment about the weather which can be soft, lovely, dull, bright, fresh and it will change before the sun sets.

I am building a slide show to post here that I hope will capture some of what I saw and heard. I hope to have it up in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

Donegal Trip - Glencolumbkille

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Glencolumbkille, The glen of St. Colmcille or St. Columba as he is more commonly known. I have wanted to return here since my first visit a few years ago. Mostly I remember a road from Glencolumbkille to Ardara. On that day it was cloudy and rainy and I remember it being a narrow road over high bog land mostly. Not spectacular, but a place I wanted to return. I decided to hold off on Glencolumbkille until a better weather day, and today is it. It is sunny and clear, a promising day.

Glencolumbkille Area

My first evening here in Donegal, my host introduced me to a visitor who had dropped by. Knowing I was at least partly looking for signs of McGinley’s in the area, he told me this chap was a McGinley and a historian of County Donegal. We met and chatted a bit. He told me where the McGinley’s were most likely to be found, and this was true for before the plantation of Ireland of Scots and English farmers. So, as I’d read elsewhere, further confirmation that McGinley is indeed Irish rather than Scottish in origin. He also asked if I know the meaning of McGinley and how it is spelled in the Irish. The meaning is Fair Valor and the spelling is Mac Fhionghaile.

With that, and the information that they seemed to be mostly from near the Letterkenny area and also Glencolumbkille area, I am looking forward to spending some time in Glencolumbkille. It also happens to be the place where I had planned on spending a few weeks studying Irish language among some other activities offered by the Oideas Gael school. And, I believe, the students from Evergreen State College might now be there for their 6 week stay in Ireland for their Irish Studies class. One of the instructors I have taken some summer Irish language classes from. It is was during one of those classes where she mentioned she would be taking a year long sabbatical to include some time in Ireland, that I first got the idea of taking time off work myself. Had I not taken that class I doubt I would be in Ireland now. It would be right somehow to see her for a few minutes, here in Ireland, to thank her for her inspiration.

The road I want to take is closed for the day. That is disappointing. There is a sign saying they are doing culvert work until later in the afternoon. Well, maybe I can come back by this road. That leaves me with dropping south just a little further to Kellybegs. This will actually work out well because I’d like to see Slieve League today as well, and these cliffs are on the way from Kellybegs to Glencolumbkille.

It is still relatively early, around 10:00 and only a couple of cars are at the upper parking lot at Slieve League when I arrive. There are two parking lots, a lower and an upper lot. The road to the lower lot is narrow, the road to the upper lot is narrow and in a couple of places just a few feet from the edge of a rather tall cliff. Deep breath. Nice and slow. Ok, it is safe to breath again. The cliffs of Slieve League are said to be the highest in Europe, and well worth the trip to see. Spectacular.

The Devil's Chair and Table

A good scratch

Once back off the cliffs, the drive to Glencolumbkille is uneventful, but pretty. I stop in the village for a cup of tea before wandering around the area and visit with a local chap about yesterdays weather and the weather in general. The rain yesterday he says caused some of the worst flooding he has seen. He said there was water in his fields where there hasn’t been before. At one point a neighbor called to tell him he had a sheep stranded on a little hillock, which he went out and rescued. He also has a couple of lambs come up missing but they later turned up safe. The weather in general has changed, and he echoed what I’ve heard from local people in County Clare as well. The winters are warmer, rarely do they get snow now, or frost, and this past winter was one of the wettest he could remember.

Along the coast near Glencolumbkille

After driving out the coast drive as far as I can go, or nearly so, I come back into the village and follow a heritage sign pointing to Colmcille’s church. That should be interesting. Once again a single track lane, this time the area is open enough that once I leave the last of the houses I can see it snakes up a hillside. Nope, not today. There is plenty of other things to see in the village, including a stop by the Oideas Gael office to see if Sean is in fact here.

View to the lower parking lot and beyond.

When I pull in to the building where the school is located there are few people around, except for a couple of young ladies sitting outside. So, they look like college students. When I ask if they are from Washington, they both give me a curious look, and then I ask if they are Evergreen students they say yes. In fact they are waiting for Sean and a class that is to begin in 20 minutes. So, there is nothing to it but to wait to tell her hello and thanks. Which I do after she has lined out the students for their class. Before I can say more then hello Sean she gives me a strange look and then recognized me. We chat for a few minutes, how strange to run into someone so far from home. And then they are off and so am I.

Bay at Glencolumbkille

This time I’m going to go to the 2 cemeteries I’ve seen and look for McGinley stones. Who knows, might find one or two if the historian I spoke with is correct. The first one is now and Anglican church. The church yard full of markers, many with inscriptions as many without, simply markers that someone is buried here. I’ve been told that they often are famine graves, people who died leaving no name or kin or wherewithal to have their burial marked. Others I have also been told could be catholic or Presbyterians who were against the rule of England. Both had little if no status under the Penal laws of the time.

Unmarked stones at the cemetary.

Boyles, Walkers, and other names, no McGinley’s. I walk up through the unmarked stones wondering if my ancestors would have been buried in this manner, I believe they were Presbyterians when they arrived, I’m sure they were not Catholic. There is one tall stone leaning forward, sort of out of place because of the small stones or flat markers nearby. As I bend over to read it, the name Michael is fairly easily read, the rest coated with white lichen and not so clear. There is an M and a G. Oh I have to look a little closer. And as I do, I run my finger over the carved out lettering, McGINLEY. What about the date? Is it old enough? Sacred to the memory of Michael McGinley who departed this life Novbar 29 1872 aged 82 years. – RIP

McGinley stone behind an early marker.

What are the chances this person is related to my Michael McGinley, b 1803. Could their fathers have been brothers? Lets see, the father of my Michael would have been born in Ireland likely between the years 1770 and 1780. This Michael was born 1790. Could this Irish Michael have been an uncle or a cousin? Or was he from a different McGinley clan altogether? I don’t know. Likely never will know for sure.

Michael McGinley

There is one other marker with the name McGinley in this cemetery, a Bridget McGinley who died at the age of 21 in 1841. In the other cemetery, next to the Catholic church, there are a few McGinley markers as well, but most of them are recent, within the last 50 years. I need more information, and that information has to come from Pennsylvania, around the years 1780 – 1800 telling me who Michael’s father was, a name and maybe a date when he arrived in America. That I’ll have to leave to some future journey, perhaps a road trip following my ancestors arrival and dispersal across the new frontier of America.

For now though, the afternoon is drawing to a close and I should be heading back to Glenties before the sun sinks too close to the far horizon. That still is several hours actually. It isn’t getting dark until nearly 10:00 now. But, I’m going to try the Ardara road, just in case they finished the culvert work. And I’d like time to take it slowly if it is open. Luck is with me, they are just finishing up as I head up the road. Several workers are heading back to their cars, and the road closed sign is moved back away from the road.

It is a nice drive, as I remembered it. Many peat cuttings, both recent and from many years ago are evident. Along the road, past the top of the summit, little farms hug the narrow valley along the creek. Here the golden bogs give way to fenced green fields dotted with sheep and loads of little lambs. As I drive by one farm, a lamb bounds off in the direction of a ewe and then launches himself into the air, all four legs splayed out as if he had landed on slippery ice. I don’t see him land, but I’m sure all four little legs were well under him in time to launch into another series of bounding leaps before demanding a drink of warm milk from his mother. I wouldn’t mind imagining that this was the home place of my McGinley ancestors.

The Northwest - Donegal Highlands

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

On the road again.

Morning dawns grey, wet and gusty. But there is promise of bright spells this afternoon. In either case, I’m off on a bit of a road trip today. Hopefully I’ll get some painting done, maybe not. The distance isn’t far on the map, about 150 km roughly. What is that, 90 miles or so. Mileage is deceiving here, where best speeds, for me, are only 50 to 80 km/hr even though marked 100 km/hr even on the narrow winding roads.

Bloody Foreland

My host, Michael, suggests a scenic route good for a nice view of the bridge at Dunglow. As I pull out of the driveway, I opt to do that later this evening. Given the rain I figure the scenic route will look better in the evening with the promised sun breaks.

So I ask Nüvi, my GPS navigator friend, to direct me to Dunglow just to get me headed in the right direction, which she does dutifully and before I know it I’m “arriving at destination”. Hmm. It is Dunglow alright, so I ask her for directions to the next town, Gweedore, where I’ll take off on a side trip along the coast to the Bloody Foreland. So named because the red glow of the sunset on the pink rocks. Bless her electronic heart, she gives clear directions and I end up driving past a few new housing developments then a little further past some older homes and finally into the yard of a farmer’s home; barn with stacks of peat on my left and house on my right. The road once did, and maybe still does continue, but I’m not going to. So I put the car in reverse and gingerly back out of the narrow quarters as the farmer comes out the door. I wave and smile sheepishly, no pun intended, and he nods. Well, ok, I am taking my own advice on getting to Gweedore this time. Back to the heart of Dunglow and my best guess at what the road signs say is the direction I need to go. This results in going in a circle, only once though, before finding the main road to Gweedore.

Bunbeg is a little village on the road to the Bloody Foreland. So I start looking for signs, and, yes ask Nüvi, how to get there. And, eventually, I do find my way to Bunbeg. Road signs here are all Irish as the is An Ghaeltacht, an Irish speaking area. This is where road signs do exist. So when I see An Bun Beag, the little bit of Irish I’ve dabbled with over the years kicks in. Besides it isn’t as different as Gaoth Dobhair is for Gweedore even though the are pronounced nearly the same.

It is quite stormy now, the rain lashing at the road whipped by a fairly strong wind. Lots of standing water on the roads is hiding some pretty good sized potholes along the edges. This makes dodging oncoming cars a little more interesting. If I hug the side of the road to avoid the car, will I loose the front end of the car in that small lake of a puddle just ahead? Ok, perhaps a exaggerate a little, I’ll only loose the hubcap.

The area is quite picturesque, even in the foul weather. Houses scattered along the flatter coast line; greens, golds and grey landscape speckled with white and blue and yellow and cream color buildings, and loads of wooly white black-faced sheep. Several ewes and lambs calmly, slowly, are crossing the road at the moment. At a high point looking out at the frothy ocean I stop, brace myself against the car, and take a few pictures. Then I jump back into the car and check the map for directions to my next planned stop, Glenveagh National Park. I only find myself going in a circle once as I try to navigate my way away from the Bloody Foreland. I don’t plan any detours this time, I’ve had enough little side roads for the morning.

The road to Glenveagh Park

The road to the park goes up a valley past Errigal Mountain, a 2466 ft cone shaped peak in the Derryveagh mountains. What I can see below the heavy clouds drifting along the steep slopes looks like wide-open bog land and rocky bog covered steep mountain slopes. Brown-stained from the peat, little rivulets and large r streams engorged by the today’s heavy rains tumble in ribbons of waterfalls off the hillsides. The rocky stream alongside the road is heavy and frothing as its load of water races over and around rocks and boulders. It feels like a wild place. Few cars pass on this little road. I like it here.

Less than an hour after leaving the Bloody Foreland I arrive at Glenveagh National Park. I’ve been told there is a visitors center and a shuttle bus that runs up to the Castle where guided tours are available to view the luxury of a past century. I choose to just wander the Castle gardens for a bit. As I understand the story, the Glenveagh area was aquired by John Adair who evicted the local farmers from their lands after the famine to build the castle and grounds and 40,000 acre park area in the 1870s for use by the then nobility and British royalty as a hunting lodge. Red Deer were reintroduced to the walled park, having been hunted to extinction on the island. The gardens are very pretty, very manicured. The castle was given to the nation in 1970s by its last owner, a wealthy art dealer from Pennsylvania. The castle has a beautiful view across the lake. After just coming from the wilds on the other side of the mountain the castle looks at, I found I was a little less than fulfilled by the park. I prefer the wild.

Glenveagh Park, one of its gardens

Glenveagh Castle from the Walled Garden

As an aside, the Red Deer reintroduced over a hundred years ago have now escaped the park and are repopulating the Donegal area where managed forestry provides many acres of pine forested hillsides and valleys. My hosts says it isn’t unusual to see small herds of 10 to 20 across the road from the B&B along the forest line. The park is also actively now in the process of reintroducing the golden eagle. It too was hunted to extinction on the island over a hundred years ago.

The time is now nearly 2:00 in the afternoon. The rain has stopped and the clouds are starting to break up allowing the sun to burst through with the “bright spells” forecasted for the afternoon. Time to point myself back towards the B&B I suppose. Not far from the park are signs to the Colmcille Heritage Center and birthplace of the saint himself. The remains of a church, built in the 1600’s, is located on the hillside overlooking a beautiful glen, or valley, of green fields dotted with sheep and scattered homes. Very picturesque. Here I could sit a paint for a bit. The weather is good now, the little parking lot by the church is empty. But the afternoon is wearing on and I don’t know how long it is going to take to get home. I have a plan, a route, I’d like to take. It is even a main road on my map. But that doesn’t always mean a quick drive. So I take lots of pictures for future reference. Yep, the juices are stirring again, gotta paint this stuff.

Nüvi says if I take a left, then a right I can begin to work my way back the direction I need to go. So I do, and my first red flag is the road is a narrow one lane path. The left turn doesn’t help much, it remains a narrow one land path, with grass growing up the middle of the track. But, I’ve been down a few of these so far and they, nearly always, drop me out on the main road. So I go with it, but I’m not as comfortable with this track. There are few wide spots and fewer places to turn around should I change my mind. Sheep filled fields are on the right, and pine forest on the left. When I come to a burned out car partially off the road, at a wide spot in the road, I decide that is far enough, I’d much rather turn around here and backtrack a bit to a slightly more used road. That’s it. I’m convinced Nüvi isn’t as familiar with Donegal as she is with other places. Or maybe it is just that there are fewer people and farms here and distances between farms and roads is farther. Ya, that’s it.

Once back on the main road, I follow signs to the Colmcille Heritage Center. Wouldn’t you know it, it is closed. So is the Art Gallery I was told stop at if I was in the area. That leaves only the drive home. The road is good, there are houses, even the occasional village school. I’m ok with this. About the time I get comfortable with the road, signs of civilization fade from my rearview mirror the road narrows some. But, it has been newly re-chipped and sealed. I take this as a good sign and continue on. I’ve not seen a road sign for some time now so I don’t know the name of the road I’m on. I think I know where I am, I know I’m heading the right direction. And oh my but the scenery is improving by the kilometer.

There seems to be no one but me on this little black ribbon of road between growing golden bog covered mountains. I just checked and I don’t have cell service here. No, I’m not going to worry about that. I’m just going to enjoy the drive. The music playing is soft, mellow Irish traditional pipes and fiddles. And as I come to the top of a long gradual climb I feel completely surrounded by these great, golden mountains, in front, on both sides and as far as I can see behind me. I stop the car and get out for a few pictures. But they can not capture the feeling of being engulfed, wrapped around by these mountains. The sound of water, rushing off them in little water falls, is the only thing I hear. It is an amazing sensation, and place.

I stay for a few minutes, then remind myself I still don’t really know how far yet I have to go, so I get back in the car and move off. Just when it feels like there is nowhere for the road to go because of the mountain in front of me, I top a crest, the road turns left and follows a little stream down until the valley opens up to a wide flat green place with a lake, and a few houses. Nüvi says it is Lough Barra, ah hah, this I can find on the map. I’m right where I wanted to be. It is also a lovely place, with the sun breaking through in places.

Eventually I come to a junction, with road signs. I could go on staying with the small secondary road, but enough of back roads for one day, nothing will beat the place I just came through anyway. So I take the left to Fintown, and from there the B&B and a ready cup of tea is only a few minutes down the road.

The Nortwest - Sligo

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Today is cloudy, windy and wet again. My host suggests a few sites that include visitor centers to get out of the weather. So the plan is Knocknarea, Carrowmore Tombs, Drumcliff High Cross, Parkes Castle.

Looking up at Knocknarea, the tomb is hidden by clouds.

Knocknarea is not very visible in the low clouds today, but, the drive out to it is nice. It is here where there is a megalithic tomb perched on its summit visible for miles around. The local lore says this is the tomb of the queen Medb (Meav) of Connacht), a legendary queen of Ireland associated with its epic the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The tomb actually predates the time of the legend by several thousand years, and is contemporary with Knowth and Newgrange.

One of the dolmans at Carrowmore

Not far from Knocknarea, is the megalithic cemetery Carromore. There are several tombs in various conditions. I stop at the visitor’s center to get information and a map of the cemetery then head out for a look. The wind is lashing, but the rain is holding off. It is actually a very nice walk. There are only a few people around, a busload arrives shortly after I get out on the field though. Very interesting place, again contemporary with Newgrange.

The other stops include the Drumcliff High Cross and church. Here is where Y.B. Yeats is buried.

Parke’s Castle sits on Lough Gill, the bright lake, although today it is a bit grey and wind tossed. The tour of the castle is interesting. It is built on the sight of an earlier tower house castle owned by Sir Brian O'Rourke in the 1500’s, who was executed for harboring a Spanish captain at a time when England and no love for Spain or the Irish. His lands were given to an Englishman in the 1700’s during the plantation period of Ireland. He tore down the century tower house and built a manor house, reinforcing the castle walls as he and his family were not popular landowner among the native Irish population of the area.

Parke's Castle

To Donegal - First Stop Ballymote

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 23:00:00 -0500

Once again I have packed my bags, stored some in Brid’s garage, and taken to the road, so to speak. Our house rental was good through the end of the semester, yesterday the 21st, and my new room rental doesn’t begin until next Sunday. So, I’ve a week to explore more of Ireland before I return home in June.

County Donegal is the place I’d most like to spend some time. Several years ago, on the trip with my sister, we spent a couple of days there, long enough to get a taste of it. As I recall it is wilder, more mountainous and boggy then where I’ve been the last 9 months. And, County Donegal is most likely were the ancestors who carried my surname, McGinley, came from.

There are others, Laughlin, McDowell and Alexander I can also place coming from Ireland. Only for the Alexander’s and McDowell’s can I pinpoint a time and place out of Ireland. They would be my 3rd great grandparents on my mom’s side, arriving in 1846, during the potato famine. Thomas, a weaver, his wife and 2 young children were part of the nearly 294 Irish passengers assigned to steerage. The McGinley’s I can only pin down to Michael, born 1803 in western Pennsylvania, his father of foreign birth. So I’m guessing Michael’s father, my 3rd great grandfather came from somewhere in Donegal as Donegal has the largest population of McGinley’s in Ireland. In fact, there seem to be relatively few outside of Ulster, the northern province of Ireland.

Well, all that aside, I do want to see Donegal. So, I’ve set my plan to spend 2 days in Co Sligo to investigate its scenery and megalithic tombs, then four days in Donegal. Finally a day in Co Leitrim on the way back to Ballyvaughan. Once back in Ballyvaughan, I’ve 4 weeks to paint. No classes, no distractions. The challenge will be to remain focused without that structure, such as it was, during the semester. I think I can. I’ve finished 2 pieces I’m pretty happy with, and have 2 more nearly done I also like. Actually, it is getting to where I like parts of each, hopefully one day I’ll get to like most of a piece. Practice, practice, practice…. then paint some more.

The weather has changed. The beautiful, bright, sunny weather of the last 3 weeks has been replaced by dreary, misty, cloudy weather. Actually, the change is needed, for a bit anyway. The grass is looking a little duller, some leafy plants are looking a bit thirsty, and, as I drive up through the Conamara, I smell the distinct smell of peat burning. The radio says the emergency forces have been very busy in Galway county, and a couple other counties as well, the last couple of days fighting gorse and bog fires. Too much dry, too much warm, and peat bogs do burn.

Leenaun Village

I’m not in a hurry. I don’t need to check in to the B&B until 4:00. I’d like to see Leenaun again. It is a little village on the tip of the only fiord in Ireland. The drive through what is called Joyce’s Country is beautiful, even on a drizzly day. At Maam Cross I take a right turn and drive between the Maumturk Mountains and the Twelve Pins of the Conamara National Park. The colors have gone from the blue-grey of the Burren to oranges, greens, golds and violets of Conamara. At Leenaun I stop for a cup of tea and a look around the little gift shop. Lots of standard trinkets and such, but there are a few prints of watercolor paintings that catch my eye, so I pick one up, for encouragement.

From Leenaun, the road passes between more mountains. One of the peaks, about 650 k, is called Devilsmother. I bet there is a story there somewhere. On to Westport. Croagh Patrick, the mountain is climbed by penitents, often barefoot, in honor of St. Patrick who is said to have spent 40 days on the mountain fasting and praying for the Irish. Today it is shrouded in low clouds.

Leenaun

I still have plenty of afternoon left, so at Newport I veer left and head toward Achill Island. It is billed as one of the highlights for beautiful scenery and views in Ireland. Though it is a very pretty drive today, a wild and rocky golden moorland, most of it is shrouded in low clouds as the rain settles in. I can say I made it on to the island but not much further today.

I’ve taken a few “detours” so far that have added to the time, if not the miles. These have actually provided several interesting and beautiful views, probably not in the tourist guide books. As I was following one of the narrow, one lane, windy roads, it brought me to a ridgeline wide enough for the road, with lovely lakes not far below, one on each side. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic.

Somewhere in Co Sligo...

Enough wandering for now, time to head for Ballymote, Baile an Mhote, the village on the mound, where I’ll spend 2 nights. After checking in I’m ready for a walk. Ballymote, on a Sunday afternoon, is pretty quite. It has a lovely Catholic church not far from the B&B and not much further a little park near the railway station that joins up, via a tunnel under a road, to the Ballymote Castle. Built in the 1300’s by the Norman Richard de Burgo, the great Red Earl of Ulster, it was actively used until the 1690 by both Irish and English forces. Looks like it was quite a formidable fortress in its day.

I’ve seen loads of lovely, wet, Irish landscape, but accomplished no painting today. One thing I’m finding is it isn’t easy locating places to just pull off near interesting views. Walls, hedges, or bogs, line the roads, no shoulders unless there is a passing shoulder with is a no-stop area. Ah well, it was too wet to stand outside for long anyway today. I did get several photos though, these will provide lots of ideas to work from later.

Front wall has been demolished so this is a look inside the castle wall.

Lovely evening shots.

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:22:35 -0500

Glenneigh Castle

Well, just must share some pretty pictures. One of my roommates and I went back to the Glenneigh Castle for the evening as I needed some more reference photos for a painting and she hadn’t been there yet.

After we lost the sun behind Black Head, we took a short drive past the point to the little village of Fenore. Here there is a lovely little sandy beach. Another place I find interesting because of the nearly black rock, the burren limestone and the orange sands. Here we were just in time to watch a very lovely sunset.

It turned out to be the perfect evening. Some clouds, lots of sun and the flowers are just starting to come on. So, here you go. Not much explaining needed, just some pretty pictures to enjoy.

Sunset on the burren limestone near Fenore.

Easter Break - Sunday and Monday

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:00:00 -0500

Kerbstone at Knowth

Early start, straight for Newgrange this morning. Having been to Newgrange a few years before, I was looking forward to the experience of standing inside the passage tomb and seeing the carvings that decorate the huge rocks of the interior. The visitor center has a nice display explaining the area and its history. To get to the tombs themselves you have to signup for separate short bus rides that run about hourly. These tombs are only accessible via a guided tour, whereas so many other ancient monuments, like Loughcrew are accessible on your own time and terms.

West passage at Knowth tomb

I want to see both Knowth and Newgrange so I get a sticker and bus pass for both tours, the cost is quite reasonable. The bus ride is short to the Knowth site, and my particular group fairly small, about 15 of us, most seemed to be a group from Spain. The Knowth tombs are not accessible to the public to enter, but the site tour guide was very interesting and explained much about the site’s history. Beginning with the Neolithic building of the tombs, to early Christian monks building an abbey on top of it to the Normans reinforcing and adding to it in the 12th and 13th centuries. I didn’t know or remember that the early Christians who built an abbey on top of the Knowth tomb, by their time only a bump on a hilltop, had known about the legends of the pagan history of the area and dug a trench around the interior of the tomb, just inside the kerbstones, causing the two passages to collapsed.

One of the smaller tombs at Knowth

At Knowth, the largest passage tomb known, the main tomb has two passages, one facing east and the other west. They line up with the sunrise and sunset of the spring and autumn equinox, whereas the Newgrange tomb aligns with the winter solstice. Knowth alone contains as much megalithic rock art as has been found in the rest of Europe. These tombs, with those at nearby Dowth constitute the Brú na Bóinne complex, are nearly 500 years older than the pyramids of Giza and 1000 years older than Stonehenge in England.

Newgrange

The Newgrange tour group was a little larger, more people visit the Newgrange site even though Knowth contains more tombs, the largest tomb and the most megalithic carvings of the complex. The Newgrange tour consisted of another guides description of the history of the area and then a walk inside the tomb itself. It really is amazing, even second time around. It is hard to explain, being inside the cramped quarters, with the massive stones holding up and making up the corbelled roof. Each of the 3 niches have carvings on the walls and ceilings. It would be something else to be here on one of the few days when the winter solstice sun, if not obscured by fog or clouds, reaches a long finger to the very end of the passage, illuminating the interior for only moments before withdrawing. Why was that such an important event to the ancients? What did it mean to them? Lots of conjecture but no one knows for sure.

By the time I’ve finished the tour of Newgrange and a bite to eat it is pushing late afternoon and I decide not to try to find Monasterboice. It will just have to wait for my next visit, which there will be. So, instead, I wander my may back toward Oldcastle and end up Loughcrew. Rather than climbing to the tombs I decide to find the Loughcrew Kaffee House which my hostess says a local artist owns. I end up sidetracked by a signpost pointing down a narrow lane to the village of Fore (in Irish Fhobhair meaning spring or well), another place my hostess suggests I visit.

Fore Abbey ruins

The Fore Abbey is an old Benedictine priory ruin built as early as 650 near a natural spring, said to have been brought fourth by the founding saint, and later fortified by the Normans. Sure enough, sitting in a lovely little valley are the ruins of the monastery ruins and on the hill under the shadow of a grey cliff, an old church ruins. The sun is low peeking out between fluffy clouds making for a lovely view. Worth the detour. Perhaps this would be a good place to come to first thing in the morning to do a little painting, providing the good weather holds just a little longer.

All that is left of a round dove keep, or columbarium, used by the monks. Doves and their eggs were a staple food source and these "pigeon holes" is where they were kept.

Inside the courtyard of the abbey.

Mill ruins next to the spring at Fore.

Sunday morning, so much for a nice sunrise and good light for pictures and painting. Today dawns grey and misty. But I do get an early start and go by Fore, just in case the sun breaks through. No luck. Ok then, off home it is. I have plotted a course to take me past the high cross of Darrow and finally Clonmacnoise, both early Christian sites.

Clonmacnoise

Darrow I find. There is a little church and cemetery, a man is tending to one of the graves at the far side. Still grey, but I get out in hopes of finding the high cross. Unfortunately, I can’t. Surely it is here somewhere, but I don’t see it, and now no one is around, still early by time standards here, so I decide to move on to Clonmacnoise.

Carvings over one of the doors at Clonmacnoise, one is St. Patrick, another is a bishop.

I’ve come across Clonmacnoise in several books I’ve read on the history of Ireland. Seems it was a major early Christian location for trade and learning. Monks and scholars were educated here before travelling to the continent to spread their message. During this time Irish monks and scholars were often sought after for their learning by kings from other lands. It was sacked many times by Vikings as well as other Irish kings for its riches. Eventually the English, garrisoned not far from here put a final end to its use during the 1500’s by destroying what was left and removing anything that was able to be carried away.

A view from inside one of the structures to a replica of one of the high crosses. The originals are now on display in the visitor's center and are stunning. Said to be some of the best examples of the Irish high cross.

The site if very interesting with several ruins and two round towers. It has been a place of pilgrimage for nearly 1400 years. There are still services held here on special occasions and Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage here in 1979 while on his trip to Ireland.

The ravages of time.

Again, the range of time and history found here in Ireland continues to amaze me. There is so much western civilization history packed on such a small island. Last semester during the Irish studies class, the instructor mentioned several times that places we visited just in the Burren area had not yet been investigated archeologically. And jus the other day I came across something about how so many of the historical sites in the country remain unstudied. At the moment the government is doing all it can to keep up with addressing sites found or impacted by the rapid growth taking place here, there are not the resources to study all that is still out there to be studied.

Easter Break - Saturday

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 05:29:00 -0500

View from the Hill of Tara

They chose well, those early Irish kings and clan leaders. The Hill of Tara, the place where kings were chosen and celebrations held has a 360 degree view of the lands surrounding it as far as the distant horizon will allow. It is a large hilltop, with what remains of the earthworks for several ring forts, what is called Cormac’s House, the Kings for and the Mound of Hostages, what is actually a portal

Mound of the Hostages

tomb.

A Christian cross dated 1798, the date of an Irish rebellion put down by the British, is inscribed in Irish. It sits next to a standing stone, The Stone of Destiny, which would proclaim the new high king of Ireland. This place is said to have been occupied and revered for 4000 years, from 3500 BC to nearly 1000 AD.

A new church now stands on the ruins of a 12th century Knights Hospitalers building, the “new” church was built in the 1820’s. Today ravens are nesting in the many gnarled tress encircling the walled churchyard. Their cries are heard above all else - planes overhead, people talking, children laughing, song birds proclaiming their territory in the distant woods.

As I sit on a bench on the hill top a young toddler runs up near me, giggling in glee as his mum chases him. Both clearly enjoying the sport. A father with two young girls walks past. He just took pictures of them standing in front of the Mound of the Hostages. They are asking him questions, as all young children do of their parents. I hear his answer only. He explains that the mound is where they put bad people in the “olden days”. “Olden days to me use to be the late 1800’s, the “wild west”. This place and the others I will see this weekend, alter radically what I consider to be “olden days”. It is sunny and warm with a few fluffy clouds and light breeze, Saturday, April 8, 2007. These, or similar scenes, have played out on this very ground over the past 5000 summers, give or take a few hundred.

So, my idea a week ago was to take a road trip over the Easter weekend. Though I must admit, as Saturday draws closer I am a little apprehensive about striking out so far on my own. But, I won’t get over the fear of traveling solo if I don’t do it. Early Saturday morning I load up the car, a little Ford Fiesta, and point its nose East, toward Dublin, more or less.

My plan is to visit a couple of places I visited with my sister several years ago, as well as discover a few new historical sites and ruins. I’ve only 2 months left in Ireland and there are still some things I’d like to see. The ancient sites of County Meath are first on my list. Newgrange , Knowth, the Hill of Tara, Monasterboice’s high cross, Clonmacnoise and any other ancient site or ruins that I happen to be near, which in County Meath, could be several.

I found a great traveling companion. I picked her up when I rented my car. As Saturday’s drive progresses, I find I’m developing quite a relationship with Nüvi, that is what I’ve started calling her. She doesn’t talk much, but always gives advice on when and where to turn in order to arrive at the destination I have selected. She never seems to loose her cool, even when I blatantly ignore her direction to turn at the next intersection. She simply states she is recalculating and comes up with another turning point down the road a little further. If I get out of the car for a bit, I just disconnect her from the mount on the windshield and put her in my purse. She has made traveling the sometimes confusing and poorly marked back roads of Ireland much less daunting. I highly recommend travel around Ireland with a GPS. I can take interesting looking little roads and feel pretty comfortable Nüvi will give me the directions I need to get back to where it is I really need to be going, after seeing some interesting county on the back roads.

About midday I stop in the town of Kells long enough to walk around the main part of the old village where the site of the abbey established about 800 AD where an old church now stands round tower, high cross and St Colmcille's (St. Columba) oratory or house still stand. The town streets are packed with people and cars. Here I am most intrigued by the old oratory. It is a small stone structure, now locked behind an iron gate, built in the 11th century. It is here that the Book of Kells, that magnificent piece of illuminated art, was created, or it could have been the island of Iona, where St. Colmcille first settled before retreating here to Kells during the Viking invasions that hit Iona, and much of Ireland so hard during the 800’s and 900’s.

View of the round tower of Kells

Enough of the congestion of Kells. Do I do Newgrange next? Or better to leave it to first thing in the morning? Better to leave it, I think, until tomorrow morning. So I ask Nüvi to direct me to the Hill of Tara a few miles south of here.

The Hill of Tara is quite evocative for me. There are several cars in the parking lot and along the narrow lane with the bumper sticker “Don’t Tar over Tara”. It seems there is a plan to put a motorway right next to the hill. It is causing a bit of an uproar by those interested in saving their cultural heritage. I can’t image why the government would allow the destruction or even partial destruction of such an important landmark and historical site. I hope the bumper stickers carry the day on this one.

After some time on the hill, it is time to find the B&B I booked for the 2 nights I’ll be in Meath. Again, I tell Nüvi to find my next stop, Oldcastle, and she promptly sends me back towards Navan, a rather large town with major construction works to deal with. I came through Navan on the way to the Hill of Tara and would just as soon avoid it now. So I decide to ignore her advice and head northwest in the general direction of Oldcastle, taking little side roads that offer beautiful views of green fields, scattered farms, and plenty of sheep and cattle enjoying the afternoon sun. And she dutifully recalculates and provides me with a new route.

I arrive at the B&B at 4:00 and am warmly greeted by Marie and Pat, who have just sat down for a cup of coffee after working in their lovely garden all day. They invite me in to join them. Besides their garden, Pat keeps a couple hives of bees and collects the honey from them. Last year’s was a very good crop, probably due to the lovely weather and abundance of clover. Marie suggests a couple of good places for dinner in the village and some sights to visit in the area, particularly Loughcrew, which you can see from her living room window on the hilltop across the way. Loughcrew is a megalithic cemetery on the order of Newgrange with several passage tombs scattered on 4 adjacent hilltops.

View from Loughcrew hilltop.

The Oldcastle area itself is a lovely place, the village small and bustling, yet not chaotic. Oldcastle sits at the head of what is considered the Boyne Valley which continues all the way to the coast above Dublin. It is rich in heritage and history apart from what are some of the loveliest landscape views. In this valley can be found Irish history from the Mesolithic right through to modern day. In this valley are found the Brú na Bóinne passage tombs such and Newgrange and Knowth and Loughcrew, early Christian monasteries and abbeys, the Battle of the Boyne was fought here, securing the dominance of the English over the Gaelic Irish for generations to come and for a long period was considered the edge of the Pale beyond which were the feared and troublesome wild Irish clans.

Ahhh

After dinner there is still enough daylight, it is staying light until nearly nine now, to go out to Loughcrew and check out the tombs there. Ah hah! I’ve found a road Nüvi doesn’t know about! But there are small signs pointing the way to a narrow lane which passes several farmer’s barns. At the base of the hill is a small parking lot with a few signs describing the site. I’ve been here before? It sure looks familiar. The walk up to the top of the hill is pleasant, though a bit steep on a full stomach. Several black faced lambs watch curiously as I pass by then pause for a few pictures; got to take pictures of sheep while in Ireland, right?

View from Loughcrew hilltop.

Sure enough, once I reach the top I recognize this as the place my sister and I visited several years ago. The views ar stunning. This evening there is only one other lady and a family with several children working hard to get a kite into the calm evening sky, without much luck but lots of perseverance.

Looking inside the tomb entrance.

The primary tomb on this hill has its passage facing east toward the sunrise on the spring and autumn equinox. Inside the locked gate are large stones covered with ancient carvings. Still the meaning remains a mystery to the experts – decoration, spiritual, language, something else entirely?

Ancient carvings

There are several other tombs on the hilltop, mostly collapsed. I spend the rest of the sunlight just wandering around the hilltop. It is a very peaceful place to just be. But the sun is creeping below the next hill so I best be heading back to the car, and the B&B. It has been a long but rewarding day.

View from Loughcrew.

Tomorrow Newgrange....

Return

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 01:38:00 -0500

March 29, 2007

Thursday. JFK International Airport New York. Destination Shannon, again.

Evening at the Bird Hide just outside the village of Ballyvaughan. Looking west towards Black Head.

The last seven, nearly eight weeks, I’ve been back home. An illness in the family prompted the return. I’m glad I did take the time out from school to help out, visit with family and friends and take advantage of the time to re-evaluate my longer term goals and plans. It has been an intense and thought provoking 7 weeks.

Looking back towards Ballyvaughan from Glenineigh Castle (Black Head area).

What I do know for sure is I’m going back to Ballyvaughan and the Burren College of Art to complete what little is left of the semester and stay for a one month residency at the college to continue work on my painting. Then a month to spend in and around Yellowstone to paint and consider my options.

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March 30th, Shannon. Why is it I feel like I’m coming home each time I land in Ireland? This morning's arrival is no different. As we land, the early morning sun is cutting through the mist promising a lovely day. Shannon Airport is now almost familiar to me having flown in or out five times in the last year! A year ago last November to visit the college, last September to start school, the school trip to London, my trip to Italy and today.

This time I stop at the car rental desk to pick up my car. I will have wheels for the last 2 months here. There is much I want to see before leaving, and now that the weather is better, I hope to do a good bit of field sketching and painting. They offer a GPS and I decide to give it a try, given the number of roads and varying existence or non-existence of road signs, it may just come in useful.

---------

March 31st, Ballyvaughan. I don’t recall the last time I slept until noon, until today. True to form for jet lag, I woke up at 1:30 last night, but after a bit was able to get back to sleep. And slept, and slept, and slept a little longer. That should take care of the jet lag!

Gleninigh Castle, an O'Laughlin late medieval castle or tower house.

My studio is as I left it, the painting of the rock wall still on the easel, unfinished. I putter around the studio, putting away the few items I brought back. Do I attempt to work on it today? No. It is going to take a few days to get my head back into the space I was in before leaving. Better to setup something new and warm up to it again.

Castle stairs.

I found it took a few days to adjust my thinking and focus when I went back to Olympia, though I tried to keep my hand in some art. I did do some small paintings, playing with acrylic trying to get past my frustration with it, it feels plastic to me and dries so quickly. That can be a good thing, but I find it frustrating. I also started some pencil drawings, but found they weren’t stirring my interest much. By the end of the first month I was beginning to go flat with my art. That experience will take some time to digest. Why did it go flat? Still working on that one.

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April 1st, road trip. So, now I’m working on stoking up the creative juices again so I can get back into that space I was in before leaving. A lovely day again today, even though I slept away the morning once again. Two days in a row now it is nearly noon before I crawl out of bed. Surely I’ve caught up on my sleep now.

Perhaps a trip to the ruins of the cathedral and high cross at Kilfanora will help stir the creative juices. I’ve been there a couple of times now. So I load up the car with my traveling easel, paint box and odds and ends. Nice day for a drive out the coast road so that is the direction I point the car, and find that there are several others of the same mind.

It seems that winter hibernation is over and the tourist season is starting to come to life. Quite a few cars on the road, and several of them are parked in what might be considered wide spots in the road, that being any shoulder where there is not a rock wall or rocky cliff right up next to the wall. I wonder, statistically, do cars in Ireland go through an inordinate amount of break shoes and clutches? Between breaking to avoid parked cars on blind curves and breaking while snuggling up as near the edge of the road to avoid big tourist coaches, or even the larger SUVs, there is plenty of footwork to keep a driver busy.

Cappanawalla hill in the background, ruins of a house about famine period in the midground. View is looking south from the front of the Glenineigh Castle.

But, it is worth it. The coast is beautiful. Today the water is nearly a turquoises color. The wild hillsides are still orange and brown from winter, though there is some green starting to show. At one intersection I’ve passed before, I take a hard left to see where it will go. I’ve noticed this road before and am curious about it. It is only a single lane road, heading up away from the ocean past several scattered farms. Fortunately the only car I met I see coming from some distance so am able to find a driveway to pull out of the way. Meeting a car on this little road would require some deft backup skills - mine are far from deft yet. In the end, about ten minutes on, a sign says this road goes nowhere, but the views are lovely from the top of the hill, so it was worth it.

Kilfanora must have something happening today. While visiting the ruins of the old cathedral I’ve been asked twice about where the hall or church is. The road through the town is lined both sides with cars so there is room for only one car in one direction. Truly though, this is not that unusual in the towns and villages I’ve been through. Often there is only room for one car and a kind of dance takes place when you meet another car, one or the other looking for a drive or empty parking spot to pull into to allow the other to pass.

A good day in all. Was worth the drive to get out and see the countryside again. I think I’ll take a road trip next weekend. It is a 3 day weekend due to Easter. Perhaps the ancient tombs at Newgrange, the Hill of Tara and a spattering of round towers, high crosses and church ruins. Yep, sounds like a good idea.

Dawn. The moon is just about to set, birds are singing all around. In the distance sheep bleat and cows call to each other. A dog barks in the distance. No cars, no people. Amazing place.

Spring Semester Underway

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:41:08 -0600

Here it is almost February. Spring semester started 3 weeks ago already, and already so much has happened.

I think I've mentioned I am sharing a house near the village this semester with 2 other ladies. It is a very nice place, plenty big and close enough to walk into the village "any 'ol time" without worries of narrow roads and fast moving cars. I am walking into school in the mornings when the weather permits, which hasn't been but about 3 days so far, and those just this week. It is a 40 minute walk, and at the moment there isn't very much traffic. In fact it seems the entire village has gone into hibernation. Several shops are closed until March or at least for January. There is still the local SPAR for groceries, and 3 pubs, and a small cafe. Most everything else is quiet.

Even the wind is quite at the moment. Starting about November the winds started along with the rain. Even the local have commented on how nasty, wet and windy the weather has been this winter. After 3 or 4 days of the gales buffeting the house and school buildings, I find the quite on a calm day almost deafening! I hear it should start getting better now. And in fact this week has been mostly dry with a fair amount of sun peeking between drifting clouds. Best of all, the winds are generally calm.

So, this semester I've signed up for painting, photography, life drawing, and more painting.... I am choosing to not do landscapes for awhile. I think I need to do something different to get away from the "this is how a landscape should look" frame of mind I find myself in each time I start one. I know I'll go back to them, but for now I think I need to try to work on different compostions, hopefully that will feed back to the landscape work.

Photography is a beginning class, just the basics... this is a camera, you point it a something you want to take a picture of and push the button. Actually, it really isn't that basic. We are working with black and white film and learning how to compose and develop the films. I've never done the dark room stuff and am finding it quite interesting. It is fun to watch the picture "magically appear" on a piece of paper.

Life drawing is more of the same from last semester. I need all the time I can get and really enjoy the class.

This semester is going to involve a bit of creative academics as I will be coming home for about 6 weeks beginning in February. The school has been great to work with and they are swapping the time away for a month of studio space this summer, which is perfect, as I've been looking for ways to fill up some of the time this summer before going to Donegal.

But for now, I'm painting and drawing and messing with chemicals in the dark room and having a good time learning "stuff".

First day back with paintbrush in had. Don't really like the piece. The composition is ok and there is some color stuff I like, but otherwise what this really turned out is an exercise in painting while very frustrated and edgy. Just putting paint on the canvas.

I have a series of photos around the idea of doors or passages into or through or to the other side. This is the theme I'm going to go with before leaving for home in a week. I kinda like this one. The source is a rock wall, typical of the Burren.

The idea of a door again. I am also interested in looking for ways to depict old, and older. Some way to get at the ancientness of the place and buildings. So this source is an old abbey not far from here. The knotwork is trying to get at the thread of celtic through history, prechristian to christian and even today as the church has less influence then years past.

Vatican Museum - Last stop on Italy Tour

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:41:25 -0600

The final stop on our trip was back to Rome and the Vatican Museum. We were scheduled to see the Sistine Chapel at the beginning of the tour, however that day was Christmas day, needless to say it was closed. So the tour manager rearranged the schedule and managed to get us in on the last day of the tour.... a true exclamation point on what turned out to be an awesome tour of Italy, in my opinion.

Before arriving back in Rome, we stopped in Sienna for an early break and look around the town. By this time I was about topped off with seeing more wonderful churches, so when we entered the piazza I opted to find a seat outside in the wonderful morning sunshine and have a cup of espresso with a couple others from the group. It was a great break. No shops, no churches, just a great cup of coffee on a sunny plaza, ah yes....

Proof I was there! Ah what a lovely way to spend a morning.

So, after a warm up we were off for Rome. The Vatican museum was quite a site. The amount of art, frescos, statuary, mosaics from early Rome onward was amazing. Rooms and rooms, and more rooms of art and antiquities. In some rooms there was no space left undecorated. It could take several days to see it all properly I think. I think, besides the Ceiling, I was most taken by the ancient statuary and the tapestries, they were huge and beautiful. I am just going to post some pictures, there is little else to say.

I have no pictures of the Sistine Chapel as cameras are forbidden (but I was amazed at how many people still were taking pictures!) We were led into the chapel at one end, nearest to the Last Judgment and were to meet again at the far end in 15 or 20 minutes. The chapel was quite full of people. I took only a few steps in and found myself transfixed by the ceiling when I looked up. I must of stood there for several minutes before moving to the center of the room. From here I just looked, and looked, and looked. I really can't describe what it was like, beautiful yes. I found that as I looked it seemed the figures were coming out of the ceiling. A very 3D effect. I wondered what it would have been like to be in there for long periods, very hard to take my eyes off of it. And then there was the Last Judgment another piece of work that would take hours to fully appreciate.... Time was soon up and we had to move on, sadly. But, I at least had the opportunity to see it first hand, something I have always wanted to do but never thought I'd get or take the opportunity. I'm glad I did.

Vatican Museum Roman sculpture

Tapestry

same one, it was huge

more of the same tapestry

Ceilings, every one was decorated

Raphael fresco. We went in to what was called the Raphael room, all walls were frescoed. Most by Raphael

The Ceiling

Italy Continued.... Milan, Florence

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:47:08 -0600

While in Verese we took a day trip to Milan to see Da Vinci's The Last Supper. It was amazing, simply amazing. It is in its original location as it was a fresco painted on one of the walls of the eating hall of Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie. It takes up the entire wall, the idea being the monks were to sit at their tables and have the impression that at the far end of the hall was Jesus with his disciples. The room is now climate controlled such that you walk in to a small room and get "decontaminated" of the city pollution, then to another sealed room and finally into the hall. Just amazing.... to actually be there, where it was painted, and see it.... amazing....

The Last Supper

And the Castello Sforzesco - Sforza's castle

Close up over the castle gate

Piazza del Duomo - Milan's central square

Some of the other sites in Milan included the Duomo, or Cathedral of Milan, impressive, very impressive, but I still like the smaller churches....

Duomo

Overlooking Florance. The large domed building is the Cathedral or Duomo of Florance

Nearing the end of the vacation... about day 10 I think, we stayed in Florance for 2 nights.
Florence Italy, the capital of Tuscany. I really liked Tuscany, very pretty. The highlights for me in Florence was the David statue by Michelangelo and the Florence Duomo and Campanile of which the facade was beautiful, the inside was quite austere in comparison.

Main entrance to the cathedral ( Santa Maria del Fiore). I really liked the color of the marble used on this church.

Bell tower of the duomo

Just more the the duomo

Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze where Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and others are buried.

The tomb of Michelangelo.

Close up of sculpture on the tomb.

Some of the frescos in the church.

Alter piece in the church

Ceiling decoration in the church

Tombs in the floor of the church

More art in the church....

But for me the highlight was seeing Michelangelo's David statue. It is in the Academy of Art now along with several other unfinished sculptures which were also amazing. Again, no photos so here is a link.... It is hard to explain, but I've seen copies of this statue and they did not have the same effect as seeing the original. It seems to have a presence all its own. .... Link to David

So with that.... all that is left is the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel..... thats all... just the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican museum..... The crown on an amazing trip to Italy.... Stay tuned and I'll get the pictures up soon!