Monday, January 30, 2012

Across the bay



Over the weekend I had a full day at home on my own and spent a good while observing the changing weather. The camera (well, my camera) never captures it, but I get the most amazing views. Sometimes I almost take it for granted, especially when I am in a rush, but most days I take in the view before I get in the car, and on days I don't have to be anywhere I love seeing the sun rise and watching the world transform outside.

It goes through a wide range of blues and greys and greens, and every now and again County Clare in the distance is pink and lavender and seems heightened and so much closer (see photo). Often there is a silvery blurred strip between the water and the land and then, of course, all kinds of mist and clouds and foam. This being the west of Ireland, the weather can be very dramatic, so there is a lot happening in the course of a day..

It occurred to me that I have lived in this house for three and a half years and have never painted the view. I always suggest an exercise to my students where you tape a sheet with a rectangle cut in it on a window and record the changing weather patterns within that frame, and I still haven't done it with my kitchen window. So that is my next project.

Somebody who lives here but comes from another place by the sea in another country once said they missed the feeling of vastness that you get when looking out at the endless sea without land in the distance. I understand what they mean, but you don't have far to go to get such a view, and I have grown quite fond of seeing tiny houses in the distance across the water. At night you see lights twinkling there, together with the odd one from a ship on the ink-blue water. On very clear nights stars get added to this, and it is magical.

4 comments:

  1. Oh! That's such a beautiful post and such a beautiful photo. I'd love to live by the sea. I like the exercise you suggested, I'll give it a try, although the only thing I can see from my window is a car park. But as Gustave Flaubert said:"Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough"

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    1. Thank you, Angeliki. I completely agree with Flaubert - and car parks make for interesting patterns.

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  2. Beautiful. I was on holiday in Connemara (which I believe is very close to where you live?) 2 years ago, and it was one of the most breathtaking weeks of my life. When I envisage possibility and space, the bog road where we were staying is what I see!

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    1. Thanks, Catherine. Yes, I live just at the gateway to Connemara. I love how you use the image of that bog road.

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