Duilleog Bháite / Water-lily

Original Painting

Medium: A palette knife acrylic on canvas.
Size: 16”x  30”

Waterlilies are a common feature on our inland lakes, and it was both Lough Muckno in Castleblayney and Barhill Lake in Rossmore Forest Park, that were the inspiration behind this painting, where they were abundant on my last visit. In a sense they represent the idea that there is so much more than what we see on the surface, as their stems trail deep down into the depths of the lake. Indeed, the Irish name refers to this aspect, Duilleog being a leaf, and Báite meaning drowned or submerged, indicating something that goes deep beneath that outer layer of water. This concept has echoes throughout our landscape where so much of the undulating fields are filled with traces of our ancient past, stories that reach back to a time of our distant ancestors.