Fish, Fish I Got My Wish

Stained Glass Study - watercolor on paper, 4" x 10"

St. John's II - watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"

The second beautiful day in a row here.  It was paint o'clock at 8 am.  Perfect light, but we chose a street corner which was a bit busy.  Farm tractors and big trucks barreling around the corner just six inches from the end of the sidewalk. Who knew painting could be so perilous?  This morning's painting wasn't great (and I am blaming it on the hazardous conditions!) and so I am posting these two pieces instead.  "Stained Glass Study" was inspired by a window in the church we visited in Dingle.  "St John's II" is my second time painting one of the blue doors of the local church, whose shadows dazzle and enchant us each morning.

Yesterday I threatened to beg for wood in the town square.  And guess what? The local wood angel, Ann, appeared with more reclaimed wood!  Huzzah!  It's like Christmas every day here!  I am busy disassembling and sanding the wood, preparing the pieces for magic.

Not every day can be a touring day...so we got busy with the business of art.  Preparing for Olive's big exhibition this Friday evening (and it is so lovely!  I cannot gush enough about her new body of work.  It is gorgeous!), and also beginning the plans for our own little show, which will take place next Wednesday.  Yes, it is already time to think about the end of our time here (cue loud sobbing and gnashing of teeth).

The Twisted Chickens workshop will make its Irish debut this Saturday, and Tangled Botanicals next Tuesday.  I am so excited to start a band of Irish rebel doodlers! 

We ended a very productive day with our favorite pub theater at John B Keane's.  It is the anniversary of Mary Keane's passing, but the show went on, "shop face" for everyone.  Mickey MacConnell played a song new to us, "The Leaving."  Here in Listowel, young men and women receive results of exams today which will determine their futures, many of them leaving to pursue higher education or apprenticeships. Today, my son moves into his dormitory at the University of Florida, and Mickey's song had me in tears from the first line.

But there were many lighthearted moments as well, including a gregarious Australian whose accent was lovely but a bit confusing amidst all the brogue, a muralist from New York who was enjoying her first taste of Guinness, and a fantastic performance from "The Field" in which the actor, playing the bishop, had Diane and I nearly confessing to a fictional murder.

I've rambled on a bit in this blog today.  But let me leave you with this:  we've been to pub theater time and again, sometimes to hear the same bits and songs.  And with each telling, the stories get better, the jokes are funnier and the songs more moving.  Because we are changing - becoming a part of the landscape, a part of the story, and because we now know (almost) all the words.  This place has changed me, and I am so grateful.