At Low Tide ©John O’Grady
18.25″ x 27″ x 0.75″ oil on canvas ready to hang.
SOLD
Standing on the beach at low tide, sand, rock pools and carrageen moss show off their beautiful colours and patterns, and then our eye is drawn towards a distant, barely noticeable island silhouetted on the horizon.
It is blue hour on the coast, the cusp between day and night.
It is one of those days when the wind drives in off the Atlantic at a furious pace, alternating between sunshine and showers and sometimes both at the same time.
The clouds skitter across the sky towards land.
Our eye notices the swirl of clouds and mist that leads you skywards through the encroaching blue and violet twilight to reach the towering cumulus puffing up over sea and land.
An inner light, captured from the last of the sun’s rays, animates them with different colours: gold, rose and puce.
Soon, once the cumuli has passed by, darkness will fill the space.
In the meantime, the island, immutable, appears dwarfed under the dramatic sky.
It’s easy to miss moments like this. But the drama taking place before us and above our heads is always worth looking up to see.
Wouldn’t you agree?
Wow, that is beautiful John, and the description – It is like poetry. (In fact, maybe it is poetry ) Anyway, it compliments the painting perfectly. Well done again
Thanks very much Eoin.
You know yourself sometimes the writing part can be as much a struggle as the painting part, glad you liked them both
Thanks very much Eoin.
You know yourself sometimes the writing part can be as much of a struggle as the painting part, glad you liked them both
Wow indeed John! It lifts me up to see it this morning. The wonder of nature, the big and fascinating sky and the sense of looking out and up from the beautiful, delicate colours in the shoreline is such a pleasure. It evokes that time that you describe so well (in words and in paint) of the twilight or blue hour. You are right, it is always worth looking up from our day to day life to allow ourselves to become absorbed in nature, to enjoy such a view; this is one of the great things that art can give us, even in our own homes.
Hello Chris,
How lovely to hear that the painting lifted you up this morning. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I have to remind myself sometimes to look up even though I’m a cloudwatcher. Like us all we sometimes get so involved in the minutia of life the world passes us by. Thank you for your thoughtful comment
What a magnificent painting, John. I love the reference to the “blue hour,” one of my favorite times of day, the moment hovering between day and night.
My eye is drawn again and again particularly to the lower half of the image: the silent island, the streaks of light, the rich and secret darkness of the land, all in the fleeting minutes before color retreats with the last rays of the sun. The palette and mark-making feel both forceful and delicate, creating an emotional tone that tugs at me in a way I can’t describe.
Hello Jo,
You came to mind when I mentioned the ‘blue hour’ I think I first heard the phrase from you, and found it so evocative of that special time, almost as if the day is condensed in those last 15 minutes, like a last summation of the day Thank you for your feelings and thoughts on the painting, it’s lovely to hear that it tugs at you.