Autumn on Mount Kippure, ©John O’Grady 2014
Oil on deep edged stretched canvas 41 cm x 20.5 cm x 4.7 cm deep
(16″ x 8″, no need to frame and ready to hang)
NFS
The Wicklow mountains have their own particular elemental beauty that I keep returning to in my mind’s eye.
They are covered with blanket bog over large areas and their colours are rich and deep.
My strongest recollection is of sitting down on the bog to watch the patterns of light and dark move across the land and change from ochre to dark brown, from soft magenta to deep violet as the clouds rush by on the south westerly wind.
You can walk off into the bog and not hear a sound apart from the wind whistling by and relish the solitude only half an hour from Dublin.
In this painting, it’s late summer or early autumn. The heather is in bloom.
In the distance, the RTE mast on Mount Kippure is a focal point in the landscape.
It’s a television and radio transmitter and here, it’s my ever so clever segue of mentioning communication and asking for your opinion.
Is there anything you might want me to talk about or explore on this blog so it’s a richer experience when you visit?
I really value your input and support. I wouldn’t have posted well over 200 paintings without it.
You can either leave a comment below or email me directly if you find that easier.
Thanks a lot,
John
That’a a beauty John, well done again, eoin
Thanks a lot Eoin, much appreciated.
Just beautiful, John. The aspect ratio suits the subject so well, and the colors in the foreground sweep the eye right up to that focal point on the mountain. The lights and darks evoke the experience of clouds blowing by overhead, creating moving bands of sun and shadow. And the indistinct distance on the right is a nice counterpoint to the sharp delineation of the peak. I would like to see this place for myself, but I’ve had a taste of its atmosphere today, thanks to you.
Hello Josephine,
Yes the new formats are offering different dimensions to my painting, particularly this panoramic aspect ratio, which suits I think the wide sweep of open bog land. I am glad it gave you the feeling of clouds blowing by overhead and captured some of that atmosphere. I think I have rendered at a distance the Kippure. Hopefully you will have a chance to see this place in the future, it is just down the road from Sally Gap on the old Military Road and has a very small river called the ‘Liffey’ which burbles by at the foot of the mountain on its slow journey into Dublin, ‘river run past Eve and Adam’s’. Thank you for your comment and insights.
Once again a feast for the eyes! Scenic beauty, wondrous colour and a big, apparently empty landscape with just a hint of distant habitation. The mountain stands majestic on the high horizon. Lovely.
Hello Christine,
Glad you enjoyed looking at the painting and you responded to the colours and the wide sweep of the land