December 27, 2009

The Road to O'Casey

A few weeks ago I finished my 11th Irish Writer painting. And a long, tortured, trail it was. Began it in November of '08 after reading and re-reading O'Casey's Three Dublin Plays, The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, and The Plough and the Stars. I was fascinated in his portrayal of Dubliners during the Rising of 1916, and his use of language just amazed me.

Here's an example:

FLUTHER: (unable to stand the slight) Fight fair! A few hundred scrawls o' chaps with a couple o' guns an' rosary beads, again' a hundred thousand throned men with horse, fut, an' artillery… an' he wants us to fight fair! (To Sergeant) D'ye want us to come out in our skins an' throw stones!


I finally settled on this passage from The Plough and the Stars for the text to place within the painting:

"You couldn't feel anyway else at a time like this when the spirit of a man is pulsing to be out fighting for th' truth with his feet trembling on the way, maybe to th' gallows, and his ears tingling with the faint, far-away sound of bursting rifle-shots that'll maybe whip th' last little shock of life out of him that's left lingerin' in his body!" (gulp!)


Some steps (and false starts) along the way...











November 30, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Galway

November 28, 2009

November 27, 2009

Today's Calendar page: F.R. Higgins

November 26, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Tipperary

November 25, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Cork

November 24, 2009

November 23, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Connemara

November 21, 2009

November 20, 2009

November 19, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Roscommon

November 18, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Connemara

November 17, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Padraic Colum

November 14, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Clare

November 13, 2009

November 12, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Clare

November 11, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Dublin

November 10, 2009

Today's Calendar page: W.B. Yeats

November 9, 2009

November 7, 2009

November 6, 2009

November 5, 2009

November 4, 2009

November 3, 2009

November 2, 2009

October 31, 2009

October 30, 2009

October 29, 2009

October 28, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Co. Donegal

October 27, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Columcille

October 26, 2009

October 23, 2009

Today's Calendar page: John B. Keane

October 22, 2009

October 21, 2009

October 20, 2009

Today's Calendar page: Thomas Moore

October 19, 2009

October 16, 2009

October 15, 2009

October 13, 2009

October 12, 2009

October 10, 2009

October 9, 2009