cmoorelife

Posts from the ‘Landscapes’ category

Ghost town

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The track to the deserted village on Achill Island is blinding white.

The sparkling Quartzite from the former stone quarry sits in stark contrast to the pitch black of the peat brick wigwams drying in the sun.The village itself is silent, save for the twitter of little brown bog birds and the odd ‘baa’ of the horny sheep.Around the bend, a little way on, we are faced with bus-loads of tourists in the not-so-deserted part of of the village.

I’m all sketched out so I make my way through the huffing puffing crowds.

If you are heading this way I definitely recommend setting off from the famous ‘lost beach‘, in Dooagh. Particularly since they’ve found it again now!

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Pirates on Pedalos

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Westport House was owned for centuries by the descendants of the pirate queen, Granuaile and is built on the site of her ancient castle.On the way down to Grace’s dungeon a young girl ran at me whispering in a loud hiss ‘this house is haunted!!’ I swear I saw the ghostly figure of the pirate queen in a swan pedalo.That was not as spooky as the fantastic ‘party waxwork room’ full of Irish artistic talent. Their eyes follow you everywhere to the sound of the fiddle… I wasn’t sticking around to add colour!I calmed down with coffee and cake in the tea room. Trying not to think about what those massive hooks on the ceiling were for. I’m sure that stag just winked at me!

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Ireland’s Pirate Queen

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Clare Island is home of the pirate queen Grace O’Malley (Granuaile). The ferry to the Island has a super quick turn around – 30 seconds and the car has disembarked via crane!Grace’s 16th Century castle looms over the harbour.It’s a gorgeous walk to the lighthouse at the North of the Island.Sadly, the lighthouse is gated off, so I have to peer over the wall. Grace is buried in the Abbey graveyard on the south of the Island. There is an eerie mist hanging on the hill behind. I can hear a crying child… but there is no one there. Exhausted, I manage one final quick sketch before the ferry arrives.I’ll dream of plunder and sketching tonight!

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In the shadow of The Reek

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The small chapel on the summit of Croagh Patrick (known locally at The Reek) was shrouded in mist this morning.By the time I’d managed a truly bracing dip in the Atlantic, it was just visible from the lovely Betra Beach.

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Inktober 2017: day three

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The University of Brighton Cockcroft and Watts buildings

I carry my sketching kit with me everywhere, so I usually keep things minimal. For Inktober I’ve gone deluxe and invested in a sack of Faber-Castell Pitt pens, they are a dream to use on a Moleskine sketchbook, super smooth!

Today I lugged my kit up the hill behind Moulsecoomb station, where there is a great view over Brighton and Hove. I managed to just squeeze in the i360 viewing tower on the far right.

A sample of the Inktober kit

 

My usual kit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Claire Moore and cmoorelife, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Claire Moore and cmoorelife with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Memories, Massacres and Muggles

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Vintage 2006

I last visited Coire Gabhail (The Lost Valley) on a tranquil day in May 2006.  Following directions my brother had scribbled on a scrap of paper, we arrived at a deserted car park as the mist silently lifted from the Glen.

Looking towards A’Chailleach

Up to that point, drawing was just something I did to pass time when I visited my parents at Christmas.  I had a small, slightly weird collection of pencil ‘still lives’ – odd shoes, misshapen candles, a Swedish Christmas gnome etc.  Sometimes I’d bring a sketch pad and pencil on holiday, but it generally stayed unused in my bag.  However, this time, it was so quiet that I plucked up courage, pulled out my pad and captured the view.

Eleven years later, I’ve overcome my shyness of sketching in public and discovered the joy of pen, watercolour and properly bound sketchbooks.  So, armed with Google maps, I was desperate to recreate this special moment.

Sadly, the first attempt had to be aborted, as all the car parks were full of tour buses, tripods and people flying drones.  The Lost Valley, it appeared, was no longer quite so lost.  Not a wasted journey though, we parked further up the pass and walked the path to Buachaille Etive Beag.  Time for a quick sketch looking towards A’Chailleach, shrouded in shadow, whilst we basked in the sunshine.

Castle Campbell, previously know as Castle Gloom

Oban

That evening, seduced by fish and chips in Oban, I persuaded my ever patient partner that it would be worth making a second attempt the next day.  With an early start from Dollar, a belly full of coffee and gorgeous weather, the mission was accomplished before lunch, I even managed a bracing dip in the icy stream below the valley.

The Lost Valley

 

Glenfinnan Viaduct

I found out later, that there is a grim irony in setting out from the shadows of Castle Campbell in Dollar to The Lost Valley.  In February 1692, this idyllic place provided one of the escape routes for the MacDonald clan during the brutal massacre of Glencoe by the Campbell soldiers, under the orders of William of Orange.

Finally (and slightly inappropriately after that serious note) in a blatant attempt to get more hits on my blog, the evening ended at the Glennfinnan viaduct, made famous in the Harry Potter films and now featured on the Scottish £10 note.

The Wallace Monument

To make up for that, I also sketched the Wallace monument.

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