Across those mountains free (Ar fud na sléibhte saor in aisce)

There’s a great sense of freedom when walking across the top of a Donegal hill, or mountain that filters through your body and into your bones.  It resonates within your mind and gives you a sense of belonging to the land in a very magical, ancient way.

I think this oil painting captures this by embracing the immensity of the sky, the feeling you get when you’re almost at the top, the expectation of a view on discovering there’s just a little more way to go and the building excitement of what awaits just over the next ridge.

In this painting I wanted to gather some of my thoughts on the ever-changing colours in our Donegal hills.  How the sky can brighten towards the horizon and how, even though they bloom all year round, the whin does have a subtle change in hue from it’s light cadmium yellow blossoms in early Spring, to a deeper, darker graduation towards orange, what some might call Cadmium yellow deep hue, in Summer.

The title of this painting is inspired by the song ‘Hills of Donegal’, a traditional Irish song which seems to have several versions where the lyrics have moved around a little.  Not to be confused with ‘(Las Vagas) The Hills of Donegal’, by Goats Don’t Shave, which is also a wonderful song, especially for a good ‘auld knees-up.

Versions of this song, that I’ve come across, have been sung by Boys of the Lough on their album ‘Sweet Rural Shade’ – this haunting version speaks of Moville which is about 15 minutes’ drive from my studio, and Donal O’ Shaughnessy – who sings of ‘those mountains wild and free’.