PERFECT STORM IV
Acrylic on canvas, 2019
45cm x 35cm x 4cm, Sold
Original Sold, private collection
Limited Edition Print available
The ever changing Irish weather is a huge influence on my paintings and how I work and I love nothing more than to paint during a good storm; wind, rain, thunder and lightening provide an extra layer of passion and energy to my canvas. 14 years ago when I was heavily pregnant with our first child, my husband and I fell in love with an old coastguard station. In truth, it was just a very average, very rundown end of terrace house, but it had a tower, and that was the main attraction. A Tower with panoramic views of the sea from 3 Juliet balconies. What’s not to love about that? Over the years, this tower room has had many functions, it has been our bedroom, a home office, the spare room, the kids room and the au pairs room, not all at the same time! And now, I am lucky enough to have managed to get it as my studio! With the addition of running water, I was ready to go. Up here in my tower, surrounded by the sea, the wind and the sky I feel very close to the elements and have wonderful views of the sea. Naturally one would expect that I would paint the sea, but that’s not how I operate. I don’t paint what I see, I paint what I feel. And in this tower, I feel alive ! It is the most invigorating space in which to paint and the surrounding view and air fills me with the energy I need to explore an empty canvas.
The Perfect Storm series started one night when I couldn’t sleep due to the noise of the thunder and lightening. Sleepy and in my pjs,I went in search of our dog Monty, as I had a feeling he might be unsettled. But I couldn’t find him, and after searching, I found him in my tower at the top of the house. He must have been really frightened to end up there as normally he isn’t allowed up stairs. So together with my dog I started the first of the Perfect Storm series. I didn’t finish that painting for weeks, it is, as all paintings in this series are, an accumulation of many layers and deconstructed layers of paint. It’s an intense process when I start to deconstruct layers of painting as I never know if I will create something amazing or if I will just simply destroy what I have already created. The hardest part of deconstructing a painting is knowing when to stop and truthfully, I just have to go with my gut feeling, I just know when it’s finished and I have to make sure I do actually stop when I get that feeling.
Thankfully due to the ever changing and volatile Irish climate, I think this series will just grow and grow! I have many more perfect storms in me yet.