Mullaghmor - Oil Painting - dedicated to my friend, John Quinn

In memory of my friend, John Quinn who died tragically on Sunday 11 July 2010. John was a kind, soft-spoken and generous man and I am so sorry that he will never get to see this painting that was done from one of his beautiful photographs.

John was a talented photographer and his passing is a great loss, not only to his friends and family but also to County Clare. We will always remember you, John and your photographs will live forever as testiment to your talent as photographer and love of Ireland.

Rest in peace, dear friend. Thank you for allowing me to use your photographs as references for my paintings. I will miss our chats, the rhubarb pie you always brought with you, endless cups of coffee and tea and your patience in trying to teach me to use my camera. 

 I miss you.

"Connemara Spring, Ireland" - oil painting

Oils on canvas 50×70cm

I decided to do most of the work in this painting with the palette knife using crisp, bright colours. Ireland is spring time is a real delight for the eyes and a visit to Connemara is heavenly.

Connemara (in Irish: Conamara), which derives from Conmhaicne Mara (meaning: descendants of Con Mhac, of the sea), is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway or south west Connacht.

The Ó Cadhla (Kealy) clan were the rulers of Connemara up until the 13th century, when they were displaced by the O Flahertys. The latter had fled into Iar Connacht from Maigh Seola during the English invasion of Connacht in the early 1200s. Like the Ó Cadhla clan, the Mac Conghaile (Conneely) clan was also a branch of the Conmhaicne Mara.

The coast of Connemara consists of a number of peninsulas. The peninsula of Iorras Ainbhtheach (sometimes corrupted to Iorras Aithneach) in the south is the largest and contains the villages of Carna and Kilkieran. The peninsula of Errismore consists of the area west of the village of Ballyconneely. Errisbeg peninsula lies to the south of the village of Roundstone. The Errislannan peninsula lies just south of the town of Clifden. The peninsulas of Aughris, Cleggan and Renvyle are found in the north-west of Connemara. Of the numerous islands off the coast of Connemara, Inishbofin is the largest; other islands include Omey, Inishark, High Island, Friars Island, Feenish and Mweenish.

The main town of Connemara is Clifden. The area around the town is rich with megalithic tombs

"Coffee Time" - still life painting in oils

Oils on canvas (50×40cm)

I found this quaint old coffee grinder in a shop in Miltown Malbay, County Clare and could not resist doing a still life painting. Cute cups, tea sets and all kinds of lovely items can be found in the shop.

And, of course, being a coffee lover, the subject matter kept me refilling the cup. Not good when you are painting as too much caffeine gives you a shaky hand!!

"Still Life - Fruit" - Oil Painting

Oils on canvas 40 x 50 cm (sold)

Art is for Everyone exhibition

On Thursday, 18th February, we had our second "Art is for Everyone" exhibition at the Kilrush Library, County Clare, Ireland.

There were 83 oil paintings by 25 artists of County Clare and they were all incredibly beautiful. The paintings were done on courses during 2009 and some of them were the first paintings ever done by my wonderful students!!!

We raised a substantial amount (980euro) for the Kilrush Lifeboat Station by raffle and had six great prizes. Congratulations to everyone who won a prize and our thanks to everyone who supported our exhibition and the raffle. The Kilrush Lifeboat Station is an incredible organisation and responsible for saving many, many lives!

Over the last few days, I have been trying to create a little 'video' of photographs taken during the 2009 and 2010 "Art is for Everyone" exhibitions and posted it to Youtube. So, this is just a little sample of photographs of the exhibitions and you can see some of the wonderful paintings in the background.

My thanks to all my friends and to everyone who braved a chilly evening. We had approximately 100 to 110 guests at the opening night! Our sponsors provided delicious wines, cheeses and other refreshments and we really appreciate their support. (They do not want to be mentioned by name but at the end of the video, credit is given to everyone who is too shy to be mentioned!

So, I hope you enjoy my first attempt to use Youtube!!

"Fanore Beach - County Clare" - oil painting

Oils on canvas 50x70cm. 

A beautiful beach and a beautiful day in Ireland! Fanore (Fán Óir, "the golden slope", in Irish) is a small village in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland.  

Lying on the road between Ballyvaughan and Doolin, Fanore is renowned for its extensive sandy beach.  

The village is very popular with walkers, surfers, tourists and is particularly interesting to botanists, owing to its location on the edge of the Burren – renowned for its unique flora and fauna. 

It has a pub, a post office/shop, and a restaurant, as well as a surfing school near the beach. Fanore has appeared many times on Irish television: in particular, the Father Ted series often featured scenes filmed in Fanore and its surrounding villages. (wiki)

"O'Sullivans, Kilrush" - oil painting

Oils on canvas

One of the quaint, old family stores in Kilrush. Hardly anything has changed over the years and this shop is absolutely fascinating – a step back into time in Ireland.

The shopkeeper, Donal O’Sullivan kindly posed for me when I told him I would love to paint his shop. I rearranged some items for artistic purposes but the painting is very close to what this fascinating old shop looks like. A definite place to visit should you ever come to Kilrush!!

This painting was quite a challenge and I could probably still work on it for many more months perfecting every little detail – but I decided that I don’t want to go down the ‘photo realism’ path as that is just not my style.

Even if I do use a photograph as reference, I leave most of the last sections and finishing touches to my imagination. To me, a painting must still look like a painting so I decided that this one is done….

maybe :)

To see a larger image... click here

And...

Why I have been such a bad blogger...

Truth is, I have been a bit ill… and very worried too. I don’t exactly know how to say this as I did not want to explain but I decided perhaps I need to tell you why I have been away for so long…

Well… besides being busy with teaching and painting – which helped to keep me sane, I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in July last year and had to have several operations, etc, back and forth to hospital and needless to say, quite worried.

When you are suddenly confronted with the big ‘C’, you realise how short life can be. I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends and through them all I was able to keep a positive attitude and the future is hopeful.

I was lucky in many ways… I have wonderful doctors and the medical staff are brilliant. It always takes some time to ‘get into the system’ but because of my caring GP, I got the diagnosis and operations necessary. Now, I can only hope and pray that this horrible, deadly cancer will not return.

I love the sun… most of my life was spent loving the sun and being outdoors. But the sun can be deadly and I can only ask that anyone who has ever ‘loved the sun’ PLEASE take care!! No tan is worth dying for!

To my friends who knew and supported me through this time… I can only say ‘thank you’... you will never know just how much it means to me.

"Memories of Spanish Point" - oil painting

Oil on canvas 30×40 inches (commissioned)

A very special painting for my dear friend, Bridget, remembering a time when she and her dearly departed husband watched the dolphins at Spanish Point.

May your memories of that day always be with you, dear Bridget and comfort you when you feel alone.

"Polar Bear on Ice" - Oil painting

Oils on canvas

I have been working on this painting for several months and now, I think, it is finished… The temptation to add more and more is an artist’s greatest dilemma… knowing when to stop!

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native largely within the Arctic circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world’s largest carnivore species found on land. It is also the largest bear, together with the omnivore Kodiak bear which is approximately the same size. An adult male weighs around 350–680 kg (770–1,500 lb),[ while an adult female is about half that size.

Although it is closely related to the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet.

Although most polar bears are born on land, it spends most of its time at sea, hence its name meaning “maritime bear”, and can hunt consistently only from sea ice, spending much of the year on the frozen sea.
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with 5 of the 19 polar bear sub populations in decline.

For decades, unrestricted hunting raised international concern for the future of the species; populations have rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect. For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous peoples, and the hunting of polar bears remains important in their cultures.
Information source: Wikipedia

Oils on canvas

The Kilrush Art Group meets every Friday evening at the community hall but on Friday 16 October the hall was being used for another function so our group made our way to the Life Boat Station in Cappa.

I wish I had my camera but as usual, its never with me for the most spectacular natural scenes. Purples, pinks, bright yellow and gorgeous blues greeted us as we arrived at the station. The water was like glass and Scattery Island a silhouette in the distance. The ancient round tower with only a part of the church ruins I have seen so many times!

So, today (Saturday) after an art class, I painted the scene from memory! I wish I had a photograph but sometimes memory is even more vivid!

"European Otter" - oil painting

Oils on canvas (40×40cm)

I worked on this painting, on and off, for almost two years and now I think I am satisfied that it is finished.

This cute little creature is an European Otter and the painting depicts the moment before he slips into the water again. I love the cheeky look on his adorable little face.

ISPCA Otter Sanctuary was opened in May 2007 in County Longford, Ireland due to the declining numbers of otters in Ireland. May their good work be successful!

The European Otter’s diet mainly consists of fish but can also include birds, insects, frogs, crustaceans and sometimes small mammals, including young beavers.

In general this opportunism means they may inhabit any unpolluted body of freshwater, including lakes, streams, rivers, and ponds, as long as there is good supply of food.

European Otters are strongly territorial, living alone for the most part. The territories are only held against members of the same sex, and so those of males and females may overlap.

Males and females will breed at any time of the year, and mating takes place in water. After a gestation period of about 63 days, one to four pups are born, which remain dependent on the mother for a year.

The male plays no direct role in parental care, although the territory of a female with her cubs is usually entirely within that of the male. Hunting mainly takes place at night, while the day is usually spent in the European Otter’s holt (den) – usually a burrow or hollow tree on the riverbank which can sometimes only be entered from under water.

The European Otter declined across its range in the second half of the 20th century primarily due to pollution from pesticides such as organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls .

Other threats included habitat loss and hunting, both legal and illegal European Otter populations are now recovering in many parts of Europe for example in Britain the number of sites with an otter presence increased by 55% between 1994 and 2002.

Recovery is partly due to a ban on the most harmful pesticides that has been in place across Europe since 1979, partly to improvements in water quality leading to increases in prey populations, and partly to direct legal protection under the European Union Habitats Directive and national legislation in several European countries.

In Hong Kong, it is a protected species under Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170. They are listed as Near Threatened by the 2001 IUCN Red List. (Wikipedia)

"Sailing past Scattery Island, Kilrush, Ireland" - oil painting

Oils on a round linen canvas. I had lots of fun painting this view of a boat/yacht sailing past Scattery Island, Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland.

The view is of the ancient ruins of the church and round tower on Scattery Island.

Kilrush From the Marina - Oil Painting

Oils on canvas. A different view of Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland.

"Killrush - Cill Rois" - Oil Painting

Oils on canvas – (24×20 inches)

This painting took several months to complete as I tried to paint it as accurately as possible, using a magnifying glass for certain areas.

Kilrush is a lovely town, a few miles from where I live – friendly people, home of Mrs Crotty’s (pub well known for Irish traditional music) and the Vandeleur Gardens. (Vandeleur was the infamous landlord who evicted Irish tenants… see history below)

This view is of the bridge with the beautiful, historic church in the background and a few of the buildings known as Merchant’s Quay.

Left: part of the painting - little miniature cars in front of Merchant's Quay.

CILL ROIS, meaning the church of the promontory or woods has existed since the 16th century but it was not until the 18th century that it underwent major development. This development coincided with the succession of John Ormsby Vandeleur as the wealthiest landlord in the district. Of Dutch origin, the Vandeleur Family was the most prominent landlord family in West Clare. They designed the layout of the town and many of the present day street names derive from Vandeleur family names.

John Ormsby Vandeleur built the large family home, Kilrush House in 1808 and by that stage he practically owned Kilrush. With wealth achieved from a financially beneficial marriage and some political skulduggery, he decided to develop the town. A Scots businessman James Patterson, who had been a gunboat lieutenant until 1802, assisted him in this project. Patterson entered the oats trade in West Clare and in 1802 he got a site on the square from Vandeleur and erected a six-storey building.

However the famine years (1845-1849) brought much hardship to Kilrush. Famine, evictions, fever and cholera reduced the population of south-west Clare to such an extent that it never attained its pre famine numbers. In the post famine era, the Vandeleur name became synonymous with the worst of landlord evictions, with over 20,000 evicted in the Kilrush Union. The Kilrush workhouse witnessed terrible deprivation and deaths. By that stage Hector Vandeleur had succeeded John Ormsby Vandeleur.

Kilrush however survived these setbacks and with the arrival of the West Clare railway towards the end of the 19th century, developed into a bustling market town, the spirit of which lasts today. The designation of Kilrush as a Heritage Town recognises its legacy as a landlord estate town with a rich maritime and market tradition.
http://www.kilrush.ie/Ourtown/history.html

The Prayer

Oils on canvas (12×16 inches)

What a delight to paint this beautiful child! I love painting so much and this little girl with her sweet and innocent beauty captured everything I would wish for children all over the world. I don’t know who she really is but I named her ‘Sarah’.

So, for my little ‘Sarah’ and all the little ‘Sarahs’ all over the world:

An Irish Prayer

May God give you…
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

Old paintings, new life!

I started painting one of my favourite animals, the gorilla, a few days ago and its keeping me quite busy. While the layers were drying, I tidied up my studio and came across a few old paintings that I did a long time ago!

"Somewhere in Ireland" was done in acrylics - not my favourite medium as you really have to add dollops of retarder to prevent if from drying too fast and thus getting that flat, dull look that I dislike about acrylics. You also have to add medium to the paint in order to give it a sheen as acrylics is water-based.

But the painting is quite beautiful, despite all the additions. "Somewhere in Ireland" is a place that I imagined I would like to be... a quiet, tranquil little spot, 'far from the madding crowd' and possibly a great fishing getaway too!

The foreground and more colourful areas were eventually touched up with oil paints to give it a more brilliant and softer look.

My paintings are also available as cards, matted prints, laminates, posters, mounted prints, framed prints and canvas prints from one of my gallery websites: Paintings by Avril Brand

Rose of Clare

It's been quite a busy time for me but very enjoyable too. Art tuition, exhibitions, finding old friends from SA and the Rose of Clare festival.

So, I hope my blogging friends will forgive my absence and I hope to catch up soon.

Briefly, the exhibition was wonderful, lots of people and so great to see the interest. Congatulations to all my art group friends who sold paintings and thank you to everyone who joined us for a very pleasant evening.

Sunday was my third year of judging at the Rose of Clare festival in Cooraclare - a great day of excitement fun and games for the county of Clare.

My job each year is to choose the Bonny Baby and Glamourous Granny and it's certainly not easy as the county's bonniest little 'uns and beautiful grannies are very difficult to choose indeed...

In fact, and please don't tell anyone, I wish I could choose them all, give out all the trophies and run like hell from the other commitee members... just for fun.

Usually I stay for the end when we all participate in the tug'o war but this year I slipped away quietly as all the other events, courses, exhibitions, etc, have made me so exhausted that I feel quiet zombiefied. (Does that word exist?)

Last year, I was proud to win a trophy as did everyone in my team, for coming second in the tug 'o war event. My trophy has pride of position on the mantel piece. As the second of two teams, we won second place... you do the math. Hahaha.

Anyway, it was a great day and the festival continues for the rest of the week... if you are in county Clare, please come along and enjoy the rest of the events.

Kilkee Storm, George's Head, County Clare

I am really in the mood for seascapes! So, here's another Kilkee painting!

I used an old photograph I took several years ago. Of course, it was a lovely serene, calm sea but I was in the mood for big waves.

So, here is my Kilkee Storm, George's Head, with big waves from my imagination.

I hope you like it!

Now, I want a Kilkee sunset as well as a view from the cliffs and maybe, if I am still in a 'Kilkee' mood, a rock pool. Oh I love it when I am overcome by a 'painting frenzy'.

The only problem is, I forget to eat and only stop when my body aches.

Occupational hazard???

To work!!!

Kilkee Beach, County Clare

My painting of Kilkee Beach, County Clare, only a few miles from where I live. (Just finished this painting today so it will need a few days to dry).

Kilkee, a very popular tourist resort during the summer season, is otherwise quiet and peaceful. Long walks on the beach and even longer walks towards the cliffs.

On the painting, you can see George's Head, the rocky cliff on the right hand side.

And so, back to work! So many paintings to do, so little time!

Oil Painting Art Course - County Clare, Ireland

I will be offering an oil painting art course on June 15, 2008.

For more information, please visit: Oil Painting Art Course