Man from Aran

I like to keep a journal whenever I travel - I jot down notes each day of the places and people I encounter along the way, notating anything that I found interesting.  I also usually take along a small sketchbook of watercolor paper, a few brushes and the primary colors (cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow and cobalt blue) so that I can do little plein air paintings and/or paintings from my hotel room.   All the paintings are watercolors on watercolor paper, 5 x 7 inches in size and painted in Ireland and Scotland in May 2002.
 

Billy Goat
We were traveling with a bunch of backpackers traveling west from Dublin crossing across Ireland to Galway and then headed south to the Cliffs of Moher and along the Burren.  The roads were narrow and after we rounded a curve we came to an abrupt stop because there were sheep and goats in the road.  This billy goat seemed annoyed that we had interrupted his lunch.  Was this a goat or a sheep - they said goat, but goats tails curl upwards and sheep tails hang down behind them?

Celtic Cross at Clonmacnoise
Clonmacnoise means "Meadow of the sons of Nos". It is a monastic site overlooking the River Shannon in County Offaly. Clonmacnoise was founded in 548 AD. by St. Ciaran, the son of a master craftsman. The first buildings were made of wood, so these buildings were not built until 900 to 1100 AD. This site was once visited by scholars from all over Europe and it is the burial site of the Kings of Tara.
Walking amid the ruins and towering celtic crosses was surreal. So much had happened here in this holy place.

Celtic Cross and Ancient Church 
Clonmacnoise

Courtyard in Dingle.
I loved everything about Dingle.  It is a small seaport on the coastline of southwestern Ireland. It is said to have 52 pubs and 1300 residents.  Too bad I didn't get to Dingle until long after I had put the plug in the jug so to speak.  Nevertheless, I found Dingle to be charming in every respect - the people, the food, the cobblestone streets and the drive around the peninsula where there was a scenic view at every turn, most especially the crucifix facing the sea at the southernmost point. We saw the Gallorus Oratory (a 1300 year old stone church) and the Famine Fields untouched since the planting in 1845 where the potatoes rotted in the ground.  Such a shame. The little painting above was the view outside our B&B window. Would that I could return sometime.

The West Coast of Ireland

This is an area between Slea Head and Dunmore Head on Dingle Peninsula where several movies have been shot including Ryan's Daughter starring Robert Mitchum. We were told many uproarious stories about the shooting of that movie and the drinking escapades of Robert Mitchum while he was there.

LaHinch Seacoast Town
Country Clare, is a place where the Irish go on holiday because of it's long beaches and appeal to surfers wanting to ride the wild Atlantic waves. We ate a wonderful Fisherman's Broth while there and then went for a stroll along the ocean side walkway as portrayed in the above painting.  Along the way, there were some Irish lasses selling cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh. . . The Irish lads told us not to buy from them as they were tinkers, but we bought a bag of sea snails freshly boiled in a pot of sea water right on the rocks of the beach.  They were quite tasty and we lived to tell the tale.

Scottish Countryside
These next three paintings are out of order. I am a bit technologically challenged, so I hope anyone reading this will just bear with me.  We flew across the Irish Sea to Glascow in a raging storm.  It was raining so hard that all our belongings got totally soaked in our back packs as they sat on the tarmac waiting to be loaded into our plane. It was bitter cold and must have been at least 25 knots of wind or more when we landed and boarded a train into the city.  Bill struck up a conversation on the train with a couple of Irish lads who loudly announced they were going to Glasgow hoping to get laid. Outside the window I was amazed to see that there were men playing golf in the driving rain along the Scottish sea coast.  The wind was so strong the rain was almost horizontal, but they were out there golfing as if it was just a balmy day.  By the way, only men are allowed to play golf in Ireland and Scotland - at least that was the way it was when we were there.  After spending a few days in Glascow we joined an English bus tour group and traveled to the Scottish Highlands staying in Ft. William on one of the Lochs.  Each day we went out on a day trip to various locations in the highlands including Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye. We were the only Americans on the tour.  They called me the American Woman.

Man on Bench, Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland

Fishing Trawler, Dingle, Ireland

St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland
St. Stephen's Green once was a common for public whippings, floggings and hangings.  Today it is an elegantly landscaped 9 hectare park where people stretch out on the grass, play tag football, go jogging or play frisbee.  That's the way it is in Ireland - a mix of a tragic violent past and beauty.  On the way to the Green we walked past Trinity College where the gloriously illuminated Book of Kells is housed.  We stopped to listen to the street musicians for a while until the police arrived and rousted them out.  Apparently they did not have the proper permit or some such thing.  Everywhere we saw F-C-U-K graffiti in this area.  F-C-U-K by the way stands for French Connection-United Kingdom. We got some fish and chips in a pub along the way.  The pub was so smoke-filled that we could barely see through it.  I understand the pubs no longer allow smoking, but that was the way it was when we were there.

Street Musicians, Dublin, Ireland