Iona North Beach
It is amazing how an awareness of the beauty of our world can change the circumstances of our lives. The story on my blog today about the fire tries to make this point. I chose to include this painting, which I am aware has many faults, because it is a painting of a place I hold very dear. I keep thinking I will paint over it but when it comes to doing it I stop and look and I take it off the easel and tell myself I will do it another day.
I lived on Iona for almost a full year. For those who do not know Iona, it is a small Island in Scotland off the coast of Mull. Very small only three miles long and one and a half miles wide. I had been working as a butcher and playing music in a band. Life had been hectic but in one way and another also becoming destructive and heading for disaster. I had decided it was time to change and get my act together. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay and work on the restoration of the Abbey on Iona. The first few months there were only about eight of us living in the Abbey, during the summer this rose considerably. I was the youngest of the eight by a long way. So I had time to think and study. When I got down, and I did frequently, I used to go to this beach and have a swim, the water was always freezing, and then I would sit and just take in this breathtaking vista. Without fail it always renewed my desire to do something more with life.
The painting was done from memory painted in acrylic on canvas. Maybe what I should do as I look at it again this morning is do the same painting but this time make a better job of it.
This blog is linked to my other blog where this artwork is used. it can be read at :-The Fire
