Morning on the Boyne | John O'Grady

Morning on the Boyne, ©John O’Grady
12″ x 6″ x 1.25″, oil on deep edged wooden panel, ready to hang.

Not For Sale (NFS)

Sometimes, I use thin washes of acrylic paint I let flow on the board and move around till it triggers a memory or a feeling of a place.

This little painting started life with an underpainting of cool grey blues in acrylic.

The back lit stately trees reminded me of a photo taken many years ago along the Boyne river.

The photo was somewhere but I was content to tap into what I remembered of that day, the low light, the mist on the water,…

In this painting, I wanted to emphasise the water and reflections so I placed a high horizon line.

The colours are muted and restrained to befit the first morning light but also to follow on from the cool acrylic layer underneath.

Once the painting was finished and I started this blogpost, I realised the palette resembled a painting made over two years ago called ‘Morning across the Boyne’.

Perhaps this first painting was subconsciously informing the new one.

Memory is a funny thing, don’t you think?