St Patricks Well
St Patrick's Well, Glasshealy
Every parish in Ireland has its own St Patrick’s Well. It would seem he was well travelled (excuse the pun). Our well is at Glasshealy, and the local folk have done a great job in preparing the site for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Hidden away across the fields, with no road access, its location is only known to the people of the area. The water from this well is renowned for its curative properties, with plenty of ‘miracle’ cures to enhance its reputation. Overlooking the site is a piece of sculpture, St. Patrick, created by Dick Joynt who lived in this area and was commissioned by the local people to produce this work. Dick had a studio nearby and it was a great place to spend an evening talking ‘art’ and drinking tea, in a cloud of pipe smoke. He moved to Bree in County Wexford to establish a much larger studio to train young artists but unfortunately died shortly afterwards in 2003 without realising his ambition. He is remembered in his many fine monumental sculptures (see here) in Ireland.
St Patrick (in the upper left). Notice the communal drinking cup hanging on the tree beside the well.
The actual site of the well is beautiful and orderly (see photos), the very reason why I would not find it a good subject for my style of landscape. I followed the stream as it left the well and found an area of ‘wilderness’ nearby, which was the scene for this painting. Having completed the painting, more or less as the scene suggested, there was something missing to make it a ‘good’ painting. I added a foreground, with a blackthorn tree from the imagination, and this put the finishing touch which I felt was missing.
The colours were the usual: Burnt Sienna & Raw Umber (red), Yellow Ochre (yellow) and Cobalt Blue (blue). Also used was black and white, and Sap Green to boost the greens (it is St Patrick’s Day!) as the Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue mix is a very low key green.
The video shows the progression of painting and the first ‘finishing’, with the later additions added on. I will post this video in the next few days, after I recover from the Paddy’s Day ‘celebration’.
PictureS 
Happy St. Patrick’s Day Liam! Best to you today and always!! Sharing this on my FB page!
Thank you Lorelei. Nice shades of green!
Thanks Liam! That means so much coming from an artist like yourself!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! It’s not the 17th here yet. This is a lovely composition. Thanks for stopping by my site!
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
Thanks for the photos, too. I love those landscapes.
Incredible work!!!
I have an award for you, Liam. Here’s the link http://wp.me/p1PkGU-6M
Two awards, congratulations! Well deserved. Thank you for your nomination, I’m honoured you chose me. In spite of my best efforts I know I probably will not have the time to fulfil the requirements of acceptance. Because you thought of me in your choice of nominees is reward enough and encouraging. I would love to be able to get more involved in the social side of blogging, there are so many nice people there (like you). Its not that I don’t appreciate the visits or the comments, I do, but preparing my posts is so time consuming I’ve no time left to do anything else. Thank you again and keep up the good work.
It’s my pleasure, Liam!!! Don’t worry, I know not everyone has time for that. It’s okay! 🙂
I just wanted to let you know I really love your art!!
Thank you, and thank you for thinking of me for the nomination.
Hi. Very nice painting. The change in elevation is immediately obvious, but my eye travelled last to the little waterfall. I love the way you use your greens. Jane
Thank you Jane.
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Gosh, it’s a big compliment to be complimented by such a great painter! Thanks a ton, and this painting is absolutely stunning.
Thank you Sionnan for the compliment – it sounds like a meeting of the mutual appreciation society – and your portraits are stunning.
Lovely painting, and I now know about St. Patrick’s well. Thank you. I also appreciate the commentary on your painting, gives one an insight into the scene. Think you’ve found a new follower!
Thank you.
thanks for dropping by my blog and liking my van Gogh post, Liam.
It is nice to see what you are up to.
I’d still be interested to see what you’d make of the view of St Patrick’s Well in the bottom photo. There are lots of nice textures there and you could maybe make your own composition to soften all the horizontals and make the curves more dynamic.
cheers,
Sarah
Thanks for the comment. I prefer to make ‘order’ out of disorder. That’s why the ‘wilderness’ is more attractive for me. I can create a world from the random bits and add a few more if needed.