Recent Plein Air Paintings (Ireland, Croatia, and Italy)

Plein air painting of Colclough Walled Gardens near Tintern Abbey, Ireland.

Colclough Walled Gardens #1. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

I’ve been moving around a lot and haven’t been posting much, so here are paintings from the last three months. The first few are from the AITO plein air painting festival in Wexford, Ireland. It’s always a great to be back in Wexford and they always find us great spots to paint. I focused on gardens this trip, as subjects to enlarge in the future.

Most of these were already posted on my Instagram feed.

Plein air painting of Colclough Walled Gardens near Tintern Abbey, Ireland.

Colclough Walled Gardens #2. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of the Walled Gardens at Woodstock Arboretum near Inistioge, Ireland.

Walled Garden, Woodstock Arboretum. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of Curracloe Beach, Wexford.

Curracloe Beach Painters in the Rain. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.

I left the next three in Ireland for the exhibition and didn’t have a chance to photograph them properly, but here they are in the field:

Plein air painting of Irish cows.

Ballymore Cows. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of boats at Passage East, Ireland.

Boats at Passage East. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of the bank holiday weekend in Wexford, Ireland.

Bank Holiday Weekend in Wexford. 30 x 20 cm, oil on panel.

These next few are from a weekend in Zadar, Croatia where we went for a friend’s wedding:

Plein air painting of the Riva in Zadar, Croatia.

Morning on the Riva, Zadar. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of a cafe in Zadar, Croatia.

Cafe in Zadar. 30 x 20 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of the Riva in Zadar, Croatia.

Zadar, the Riva. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

And finally, the paintings below are from the last couple months in Italy. I have a lot of studio work and commissions on the burner, so I haven’t been painting outside all that much.

Plein air painting of a garden scene above Florence, Italy.

Lunch in the Garden, Vicchio di Rimaggio. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of Jory Glazner painting near Vicchio di Rimaggio.

Jory Glazner painting behind the Villa Schneiderf. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of an afternoon at Vicchio di Rimaggio.

Afternoon Tea, Vicchio di Rimaggio. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air landscape painting of the Grand Canal in Venice.

Grand Canal sketch. 35 x 25 cm, oil on panel.

Plein air painting of the Grand Canal from the Accademia in Venice, Italy.

Grand Canal from the Accademia. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

AITO 2013 in Wexford, Ireland

plein air painting of the harbor in Slade, Ireland

The Harbor at Slade. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen.

Here are some of the sketches from the last week at the 2013 Art in the Open Festival in Wexford, Ireland. I would highly recommend the festival to anyone interested in plein air painting with some of the friendliest people in the world. This was my second year participating and again the organisers had found some great locations for the paint-outs over the course of the week. There was even sun most of the time this year.

plein air sketch of a boat in Slade

Boat on the Road, Slade. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air painting from Newtownbarry House

The Sunken Garden, Newtownbarry House, Bunclody

plein air painting of the stables at Newtownbarry House

The Stables at Newtownbarry House. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Painting of musicians in a pub in Ireland

Musicians at the T. Morris Pub in Wexford. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

I love traditional music as much as traditional art. The pub where all the painters meet in the evenings, T. Morris has great musicians playing during the week. The above sketch I did one evening, painting alongside Antti Routiola and Leon Holmes. I was working under an orange light, so the painting came out a bit blue. Here is a short video of part of it, to give a feel for the scene:

plein air sketch of Ballyhack, Ireland

Boat in Ballyhack. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air sketch of an old tractor in Ireland.

The Old Tractor. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen.

Landscape painting of an oak tree near Ballymore.

Oak Tree, Ballymore. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

Plein air landscape painting of wheat fields near hook head.

Wheat Field, Hook Head. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen.

This last one is of a very picturesque old sheep dog.

Nelly. 18 x 25 cm, oil on linen.

Nelly. 18 x 25 cm, oil on linen.

Rocco says ‘hi’.

Art in the Open Paintings (Wexford, Ireland)

Here are some of my plein air landscape paintings of Ireland from ‘Europe’s biggest plein air painting festival’, the Art in the Open plein air landscape painting festival in Wexford. It was my first time in a painting festival like this and I had a good time.

I’ve painted the Irish landscape before, so I knew what I was getting into weather-wise. Last time I worked a lot from inside the car. This time I bought a full waterproof kit and just painted through the showers. Both methods have their drawbacks.

Landscape Painting of Kilmore Quay, Ireland

Kilmore Quay. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Kilmore Quay, Ireland

The Parking Lot at Kilmore Quay. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Hook Head Lighthouse, Ireland

Approaching Rain, Hook Head Lighthouse. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Hook Head, Ireland

Hook Head Lighthouse. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting, Hook Head, Ireland

Buildings at Hook Head. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Cityscape of Wexford, Ireland

Main Street, Wexford. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Seascape, Wexford Harbor

Boat in Wexford Harbor. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Wexford, Ireland

Wexford Sketch. 20 x 30 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Wexford, Ireland

The Quay at Wexford. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Huntington Castle Painting

Huntington Castle. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Landscape Painting of Enniscorthy

Enniscorthy Bridge. 25 x 35 cm, oil on linen (on board).

Irish landscape paintings can be quite a challenge with the radically changing weather. The Irish landscape is stunning though and I look forward to going back to AITO next year.

Art In The Open Festival in Wexford, Ireland

 

I’ll be painting and teaching a couple of short workshops in early August at the Art In The Open festival in Wexford, Ireland.

I had a very successful plein air trip to Ireland years ago, staying at the Cill Rialaig artist’s colony in southwestern Kerry, and I very much looking forward to going back.