Hello bloggers!

Rose and I are here in Ireland.  The two of us are basically nomads.  We flit from Ireland to Florida, Florida to Wisconsin to Chicago to Spain and on and on, so I’m at home wherever I am.  But because of my Irish heritage, I always seem to feel the spirit of my ancestors here.

In Ireland we live in the country, which is so foreign from the hustle and bustle of Chicago, the quiet but sophisticated culture of the Florida Keys, and the history all over the city in Paris.  Ireland is really a state of mind.  Anyone who comes here for the weather should have their head examined.  We can have 20 days of rain in a row.

But it’s the peace and tranquility of the place that are special for me.  I always have a lot of work waiting when I get here, and it’s a great adventure to pull it all out and see what I’m going to do with it this year, to decide what needs finishing and what’s finished...

The biggest difference in Ireland in terms of how I work, is that a lot of my painting here is done outside.  It’s not unusual to be painting in the rain.  Luckily my oils don’t run in the rain, and if they do, then that becomes part of the process.  There’s always the danger of the wind picking them up and taking them on an unexpected ride...

It’s a different lifestyle, but we find that no matter where we go, we feel we’re home.  So this is home for awhile.

Talk to you later,
Matt