A grand stretch in the evening..

…and it’s so welcome. I love that phrase, and at home when something is grand, we’re all at peace, happy with the general way of things: there’s a contentment in the air. We’ve just celebrated Bealtaine/May Day and we’re at the midway point to Summer Solstice. That stretch in the day is wonderful.

All of a sudden we’re rekindling our summer routines, there is less lounging about, less screens in the evenings and we can enjoy the garden or evening walks. Gardens have been a-buzz with activity. Magnolias are majestic. Daybreak is earlier.

I’ve been working at a slower pace this last season, with trips back to Ireland to see my lovely Dad who is in the Winter of his own life, and I head back again next week - perhaps for the a last visit with him, and I’m grateful I can do that.

I see now that my personal word in 2024, which is Yutori/Spaciousness, has granted me the room that I need. My approach to painting always takes a long time at the end and the slowing gives me more space. For me, as I’m getting ready to show work, one of the most important is looking back at the process and how it evolved.

Three new pieces are named Swanlight - after a transitional space (an art installation) bathed in light that was created in Dublin Airport after a poem of one of my favourite wordsmiths. I found my first photo of it, from 2019, and I’ve walked that space many times now..it has been a transitional threshold of sorts arriving and leaving bathed in the light and words that bring comfort as leave ‘home’ to go ‘home’.

Stay tuned - you can see these new pieces of work at Summer Solstice June 21st-June 23rd in Oakville at a group show called Lingering Light. More on that to come soon..

RW x