Getting there

Me at CillRialaig in August 2020
Cottage 5 CillRiallaig studio area
Picnic bench overlooking the sea

I’m booked into the wonderful artist retreat (cottage 5 again woohoo) at CillRialaig in County Kerry for 8th January for two weeks. It will take me two days getting there on public transport, and I need to ship most of my materials in advance. I wish I found the planning stage easier, but once I’m there I’ll be there

Getting there

does the swallow

prepare for

her long flight

the night before

is the bear

aware of tomorrow

as she wakes

my brain leaps

in consternation

with calculations

of timetables

connections

arrivals departures

online booking apps

websites for overnights

advance preparations

ephemera

of getting there

from here

but once there

I’ll be there

with all of me

being simply

human

I can only

hope so

St Stephen’s Day

Watching the sky from our ‘sun room’ where we overwinter our geraniums. Nursing a sore back.

sudden gusts

of black dust

motes of

starlings

or small

songbirds

burst forth

from spidery

sycamore skeletons

waving bony

branch fingers

across the

gentle soft

grey sky

with luminous

liminal spaces

watched from

inside a

hazy cloud

of codeine

and caffeine

by bright globes

of whitest

geraniums

startling

against

these winter

hibernating

greens

Fingers Crossed

This is me at Hambly and Hambly gallery with my painting ‘Fermanagh Days’

This is my submission piece for the John Richardson French Residency Award 2021

The decision of the judges will be announced this evening.

I am so thrilled to be on the shortlist of 40 finalists for the award of a 10 day residency in France in April 2022

I wish all the shortlisted artists the very best of luck 🍀 There are 3 places available, and the winning artists will be hosted by Ciara and Nick Hambly and mentored by the Aosdana artist Eamon Colman

I’ll let you know 🤞🍀

PS. Not me! Congratulations to painters Katarzyna Gajewska and Gary Robinson 🙌

And Musician Clara Marie

Aspiration (draft)

Like the kite my sight
Is sharp and on the air
With flair I soar
And shift and twist to show
My colours caught by
The golden glow from far below

And like the otter in cold water
I roll and glide
Down slippery lime green slimy slide
Between two elements
With natural ease
No one else to need to please

And the haunting oyster catcher’s call
That fills the wide blue sky
From wall to wall with tuneless song
Where I belong
Between the sea and pebbled beach and sky
A painted brushstroked flock
Behind, within me, my ear and hand and eye

https://www.facebook.com/liz.doyle.96

Old stick backs

These old chairs handed down

‘Old stick backs’

Monday morning, nearly Christmas
Sitting reading and drinking a first coffee by the stove
Just retrieved the hyacinths ‘forcing’, from the cupboard, in the yellow bowl
They always hold so much promise
At this, their etiolated stage
Like us, searching for the light
All the blue and yellow
Like a painting, perhaps I haven’t painted yet

💙💛

(Little painting above the door by Heidi Nguyen)

Tree

Undressed tree

I am quite tempted to leave this year’s tree in its ‘naked’ state, a symbol of Winter’s rest and retreat rather than an allusion to all that glitter and gluttony of our often over-done festival time

But I expect in a few hours I will relent and look for the tangle of wires and bulbs and the dusty box of baubles in the store room

A more indulgent bigger glittery one our first Christmas in this house – probably 10 years ago!

The swimmer

The Swimmer (r) in my studio at the start of 2021

As we wind down to the end of this year I am starting to review my works, and think about shows and placements for next year

These two in the image above were part of a large series of about 20 paintings, still ongoing, called ‘Who’s Watching’

It’s still possible that some of them might end up in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, as it was Mark of Mark Borghi Fine Art who encouraged me to make these large paintings, and had originally asked for them for his gallery for March this year, but with the ongoing difficulties with the Covid pandemic, that still hasn’t happened

They might go to Hambly&Hambly for a solo show in 2022, but again, I haven’t got dates for that either.

I have an art residency at CillRialaig in County Kerry starting on 8th January and another residency at Tyrone Guthrie in County Monaghan in June

View of the cottages at CillRialaig
Tyrone Guthrie (Annaghmakerrig) in County Monaghan

Hark!

Tide (c. 100x170cm)

My gallery, Hambly&Hambly in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, has a fabulous exhibition, HARK!

Celebrating the season with a beautiful selection of new works from me and of course many other brilliant artists from across the island of Ireland and further afield

To celebrate the season and to thank all my great followers, collectors and friends at Hambly&Hambly there is a very special offer available on these new works

Breathe (c. 110x160cm)

The offer is to buy one of these two big pieces shown above (‘Tide’ and ‘Breathe’) at a special reduced seasonal price, and receive TWO of these smaller works below FREE as a gift and a thank you from us to you 🎄

Clockwise from top left: ‘shoal’ ‘weir’ ‘flagella’ and ‘b-valve’ these are 10” and 12” square (c. 30 & 25cm)

Please contact Ciara Hambly at the gallery on

+44 7808 010327

Or email Ciara@hamblyandhambly.com