In Ireland there is this idea one might sense the presence of Tír na nÓg ( an Irish word for a kind of earthly heaven) A land scattered into ours but veiled. A visit to a stone circle can evoke feelings of it or to a holy well. I have found these places to deeply inspire my work. In life transitions I’ve also found what feels like gateways, the thin veil between our world and the next. The passing of loved ones or the arrival of new life brings me a heightened awareness of the cyclical nature of existence, where Tír na nOg feels particularly close. In such times, the idea of a Earthly paradise woven into our everyday lives becomes almost palpable.

This story is also found in England and Sömmerlands is a word for this in old Middle English. On the south west coast of England, magical islands are sometimes seen in the air, out to sea or above lakes. They are thought to be this kind of heavenly Avalon like Tír na nÓg an everlasting land of beautiful summer

I love how these stories have traveled and changed with their landscapes and wanted to make a painting that might be found nestled into these places, the painting an altar or icon to this idea or indeed a window through the veil. I like to imagine that Sömmerlands is a fully healed relationship between humans and Earth, a completed understanding of a reciprocal relationship, ever flowing, ever turning………everlasting summer