Landing on Great Blasket Irish and English earths

The Blaskets are a group of tiny islands off Dingle in western Ireland. Great Blasket was home to a community of now internationally famous simple fishermen and farmers who wrote of their lives in their native language. It was a lifestyle virtually unaltered since medieval times. In translation I have read a lot of their books and have been inspired by their survival in such harsh conditions, close to nature and an ancient culture. This very simple track is the only landing place and the island – which is pervaded by a strangely beautiful and peaceful spirit – is now a deserted but conserved landscape. The painting was created for an exhibition at the Irish Government’s magnificent Great Blasket Visitor Centre on the mainland coast.