22. Padraig McCaul

The Art 
 

“Waiting Under Minaun” © Padraig McCaul
100 x 80cms Oil on Canvas ( SOLD)

padraigmccaul.com
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Padraig McCaul :

"This painting is one my own personal favourites. It is based on an old farmhouse in Keel, Achill, which looks out over the Minaun Cliffs. The light in Achill changes every minute of the day and you could paint the Minaun Cliffs every day and make a new, fresh painting of it. They are dramatic cliffs that meet the end of Keel beach and close in the bay. 

What I tried to get across in the painting is not the scene or the picture, but that feeling of going for a walk at 6am on a summer morning, when the haze and the light can make the colours look so unreal, when there is hardly a sound and hardly a breeze."

The Music
 

Under Minaun

Helen Davey

"Under Minaun" (for x5 voices, garklein recorder, lap-harp, frame drum and accordion) is in response to a painting by Padraig McCaul. It is part of the project "52 Sound-Paintings". More info here: https://helendavey.com/blog/week-22-padraig-mccaul/
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  1. Under Minaun

Helen:

I was drawn to Padraig’s colours and the details that he doesn’t include in his artworks. During our discussion, he said he feels that old houses have earned a right to be a part of the landscape. I tend to agree. Describing Padraig’s windowless houses, Jan Erik Rekdal wrote “… For us they are embedded with layers of time and lives past…” 
 
I was thinking about all that this old house must have witnessed. In researching some of the history of this rugged, majestic island, I was struck by the hardship communities of Achill Island must have faced as I read about their migration, political issues and famine. One tragic seafaring incident – the Clew Bay Drowning in 1894 - was prominant. The names of those 32 young people (and some Gaelic) have found their way into my sound-painting.

Grave of the 32 lost in Clew Bay, 1894

hackbrett - hammered dulcimer

Thank you Helen for creating such a beautiful piece of music, it is the perfect musical response and I feel privileged that my painting has been the source of inspiration for it.

Padraig McCaul