Cill Rialaig – House on the cliff

Oil and enamel on canvas – framed by Kerlin for the RUA exhibition 2005

The enamel is my cottage on the edge of the road and the edge of the cliff, feeling like a living centre to my creativity, with the waves of creative energy moving in and out and through everything.

In 2005 I learned to enamel and was obsessed for a number of years. The enamels became embedded in my paintings like jewels or gems created in counterpoint to the work. These energetic and joyous abstracts were explosions of energy in opposition to the tightly controlled and disciplined creation of the enamel work. Looking back now they are strange works but I loved them and the joyous energy remains with them.

This work was created at Cill Rillaig in the deep south of Ireland, an abandoned village re created as an artists retreat by the irrepressible Noelle Campbell Sharpe. I had the honor of staying for a time and the magic of the place and the people left an enormous impression on me.