Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Connemara Mist

Well I hope you all enjoyed yesterday's bit of blarney with Bridget, the Holy Cow. This is the season for blarney isn't it?  And Bridget is really one to spin a good yarn. She talked my ears off!

Connemara Mist (sounds like an Irish whiskey)

I'm back on a more serious note for today's Irish painting which comes from misty, moody Connemara. I love the rugged beauty of Connemara; the barren mountains (bens) which appear when the mist clears, and then disappear again when the next mist blows in from the sea. Lakes and streams wind their way through the bens becoming almost silver in the misty glow.

The backroads in Connemara are as narrow as cow paths with high hedgerows on either side. We were lucky to find a few places to pull the car over and get out to enjoy the views.

Painting Connemara's Mist

On a misty day in Connemara the clouds hang so low it feels like you can touch them. Trying to capture this feeling on a 2-dimensional surface proved to be a challenge. I needed to find a way to add a little dimension and texture to the piece. 

After I had painted in the sky, land and water, I added some Golden Pumice Medium to the surface of the painting. After the pumice medium dried, I scumbled and dry brushed some light values (whites, light violets, blues and greens) across the roughed-up surface. It did the trick, adding an extra layer of texture and depth to the piece.

"Going Green" It's Day 11 !!!

Everyday since March 1, I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog in honor of St. Patrick's Day. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme, you might want to look at some posts from the past few days. I will keep posting Irish art till March 17!

Slainte!

Related posts

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Blarney With Bridget

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Dingle: Land, Sky and Water

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Along the Conor Pass

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Rising of the Moon

It's day 5 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day!  Today's painting is called Moon over Conemarra. It reminds me of the words to the old Irish rebel song "Rising of the Moon" which dates back to the Rebellion of 1798. 

'Tis the rising of the moon, 'tis the rising of the moon
And hurrah, me boys, for freedom, 'tis the rising of the moon.

I did this painting shortly after I returned from Ireland. No photo references were used though. This came  purely from my imagination. I was experimenting with collaging torn pieces off decorative papers over watercolor. The paper used here was almost lace-like and once it was applied over the transparent watercolor it reminded me of the misty days we spent in Conemarra.

Conemarra has a stark, barren beauty. The rocky hills (bens) rise up from a hardscrabble landscape. Mist swirls in from the sea surrounding the hills obscuring all sense of depth and detail. When the mist clears, bits of lakes, and streams appear. Sheep are everywhere, including the road…especially the road! 

I tried to keep detail to a minimum here. This painting is more about atmosphere. There is a hint of land or maybe water in the lower right corner. The torn paper mimics the shapes of the bens, but is not necessarily meant to be the hills. In this painting I prefer to leave the details up to the viewer.

If this is your first visit to my blog you might want to look at the last 4 posts. They are all Irish themed in honor of St. Patrick's Day…coming up soon!

Slainte!

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Green Beer Parade
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Dunguaire Castle Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Beach at Dingle Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Ceili!