Tag: Beara Peninsula

Bringing Simplicity into Life and Design

“There are two ways to live: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle” Albert Einstein

Last Summer I took a course on Abstract Painting at the Burren College of Art. Set in Ireland’s famous Burren you can’t help but absorb all its natural beauty.

While there I had a time of both personal and creative growth. 

The campus contains centuries of architectural grandeur including a castle as its center axis and fields with rows and rows of stonewalls carefully stacked by generations prior. Each wall has its own little micro-garden growing on, in and over it. They were each and every one of them exploding with colors that would fill a rainbow.

While walking the lanes and narrow roads around the college I had times of great peace and contemplation which resulted in a harvesting of a wealth of creative research.

My abstract painting instructor, Rita Wobble challenged us to think of our world in a more simplified manner. I’m talking circles, rectangles, triangles and flat colors. I found it to be an interesting but yet a tall challenge to a realist painter. However, by the middle of the week I realized I was starting to get the hang of it.

One morning middle of the week I was eating my breakfast while watching birds on a wire only to find myself creating those simple lines and colors just as we had talked about several days earlier.

I found it to be both relaxing and peaceful to not need to include every detail and leave a bit to be interpreted later. I no longer had the demand of many little feathers to draw but a circle with two triangles coming off of it that now represented my small bird.

Could life really be this easy?

Part of simplifying life for me includes working on myself. One of my favorite places to collect my thoughts, create and write is Dzogchen Beara, a Buddhist meditation center in Ireland. I can’t think of any place more peaceful for reflection, contemplation and strengthening of my inner-soul. In order to make changes in my life I must be strong and at peace in myself.  Where is your favorite place to recharge and collect yourself?

In order to give the best of yourself, you need to be the best of yourself!

Prints Available!

Little reminders I like to have around the studio and my home are quotes. I find having a few simple wise words to be just that meaningful or funny message I need as I’m going through a tough time or just having a cup of coffee trying to decide how to proceed with my day.

Combining the ordinary (weeds) and the extraordinary (favorite quotes) is such a great juxtaposition! By combining the ordinary with the more refined I think allows you to realize that life isn’t perfect and that we can meet it where it is at and transform it into the simple life it was meant to be. This series of work is one I really enjoy working on so I’m continually adding to it. Do you have a favorite quote I should use? I’d LOVE to hear it! Leave it in the comments below.

During my creative adventures I rejoice in finding the ordinary, that which is passed by, and turning it into a work of art in an attempt to show people that there is beauty all around them. Some of my favorite “flowers” to paint are those “weeds”. They are wild, not planned and still they evoke a life lived to their fullest.

The world has so much to offer if we will open our hearts and minds to the love, beauty and kindness of who and what is around us.

Way too often we magnify the differences and conflicts of this world are brought out.  I challenge you to look more closely for the similarities next time and what can inspire you to be a better person. Which can in turn inspire you to be the best, whether that is more simplified or not, person you can be.

Prints Available!
Prints Available!

Over the next week look for the beauty in this world so love and kindness can win!

Prints of the two inspirational designs with quotes above are available in my etsy shop MargaretDukeman.etsy.com

My Adventure to an Abandoned Fishing Village on Cod’s Head

Take the time to get out of your car & walk the countryside or you will miss the best of the “Céad Míle Fáilte”

Today  I’m  reminiscing about a beautiful sunny day in Ireland a year ago full of big puffy clouds.  This hike took me to Claonach, an old abandoned fishing village at the end of  Cod’s Head, County Cork.  This hidden gem is a short walk along the coastline out by Gortahig, on the wonderful R575, which I spoke about in my last post.  This is yet another reason to make this lovely road part of your trip to experience the countryside of Ireland.

Let me stress again if you are planning a trip to Ireland don’t over schedule your time.  Take the time to get out of your car and walk the countryside while you’re there.  If not you will miss far too much of what you came to this beautiful country of a “Céad Míle Fáilte” or “Hundred Thousand Welcomes” to see.  Trust me when I say, SLOW DOWN…drop your technology…experience the people…notice the landscape around you and the culture.  You simply won’t regret it as it will grab your heart and never let go!

This walk  along the coast out to Claonach allows you to spend meditative quiet time as you lose yourself looking across Coulagh Bay to the Kerry Mountains.  On a clear day the mountains simply echo each other and fade one into another and pull you towards them.  As you walk along the narrow road the coastline appears to fall away to the wilds of the bright blues of the Atlantic crashing the rocks below.  If you feel like you’re being spied on during this walk of amazing scenery you would be right!  There is sure to be sheep around the corner or gazing at your from every corner.  This would be another one of the reasons I love this walk.  You are sure to have a natural zoo built in of animals that look so at home in their environment.  Make sure to take your camera as you will have many opportunities to click away!

After a nearly two mile walk you will crest a hill and see the remnants of the old village with its ruins of old stone cottages and very protected inlet for the boats of the once active fishing village.  You can see walkways and a lone road that makes its way between remaining cottages up the side of the mountain.  From what I understand there are only two part-time residents now as the village doesn’t have electricity.  Even with the lack of electricity, I felt a real draw to spend a day or two in the old village collecting images and spending time in an area that used to be vibrant and active all those years ago.  This village’s claim to fame is the filming of the movie “Falling For A Dancer” in 1998.

Claonach is just one of the many hidden gems that Ireland has to offer if  you lose the car and walk the land.  Take the time to sit and talk to the locals of the area and discover the places that only they know that history has left behind.  They can share what the walls of the ruins would love to speak if they could.  You won’t regret the time spent having just one more pint with a friend either old or new!

Don’t forget to collect all your “Céad Míle Fáilte”