Red sky at night (Spéir dearg san oíche)

"Red sky at night, shepherds delight" (or sailors delight) can often be proven true, since red sky at night means fair weather is generally headed towards you. A red sky appears when dust and small particles are trapped in the atmosphere by high pressure, hopefully bringing good weather.

This painting is a view towards the west on the way to Banba’s Crown at Malin Head. It overlooks Glashedy Island and Lenan Head across the way.

I suppose it has an otherworldly appearance, perhaps the Star Wars influence of Episode 8: The last Jedi, being filmed here… but more likely it’s just my take on how I see the world around me.  There’s even a road called R2D2, which is a must for all Jedi warriors to visit on their journey!

It’s actually a recycled trap door that I couldn’t part with as its smooth red surface was calling out to be painted on and no better subject than Glashedy Island, which originally comes from ‘glas éadach’ meaning green cloth as when the sunlight hits the top of the island it looks like a green tablecloth.

Many a time this island has a shroud of mist that always reminds me of the stories of Hy Brasil (Beg-Ara), a mythical island off the southwest coast of Ireland that appears once every seven years and has been charted in La Naviation l'Inde Orientale, printed at Amsterdam in the year 1609.