Thursday, January 9, 2014

Fly Away With Me ~ Caherciveen Ireland

Fly Away With Me ~ 6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
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Starting at only $39

(the auction becomes active on the morning of January 10, 2013)

Oh…to fly away to Ireland again…I wish I could. Maybe not quite yet, judging from the fantastic storms they're having right now, I might not want to be there. But soon. Please…soon :)
This building looked like a castle from a fairytale to me, but it was called the Barracks, in Caherciveen. 

Caherciveen was a little coastal village that I stayed in, as a departure point for my trip to the Skellig Islands, where the ancient beehive monastery perches on top of a spire of mountain rising out of the sea. The evening before my trip, I spied a castle ruin in the distance and decided to go for a walk. It didn't look very far, but the road meandered in it's typically irish way, and it took me a few hours to reach my destination, Ballycarberry Castle. The ruins were fascinating, and I spent a while exploring inside, where it was dark and spooky…imagining duels in the narrow tower stairwell.
Anyways, on my way back to my hostel the sun was starting to go down, and when I reached the Barracks, it was illuminated by the golden light of the setting sun (it's actually a whitewashed building) As I stopped to snap pictures, the multitude of birds perched along it's spires and rooftops burst into flight…and I ended up with this.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Afternoon Encounter ~ Bella Coola Grizzly

Afternoon Encounter ~
5" x 7" oil on 1/8" hardboard panel
BID NOW on DailyPaintworks
Bidding starts at only $30

A memory of an afternoon swimming with my family at the Atnarko river. The water is this rich green colour, from the algae that on the bottom, but also from the reflections of the lush greenery all around. Bears are abundant in our beautiful valley, and encounters like this are not at all uncommon. Generally the bears are shy and go their own way, but we did have a poor hitchhiker get attacked this summer! He was near a salmon bearing creek, and it is assumed it was a momma with cubs on the other side of the road.