This is watercolor and collage. The church was on a high ridge on Achill Island in Ireland. I love the island. It was hit hard by the Irish famine. Many of the deserted and ruined cottages are still there. Only sheep are present in many areas.  If you look carefully you can see the trenches in the land where the potatoes were planted.

 My family was hit hard by the famine. My great grandfather Paddy came to America and worked for awhile. Eventually he returned to Ireland. In 1912 my grandmother bought a ticket on the Titanic but traded it in for one on the Ivernia that sailed a month earlier. An Irish gypsy told her she didn't feel good about the Titanic.  Needless to say we are all happy that she made the decision to take the other boat!!!

Wet on Wet Paintings

This proves that it  doesn't take days to have fun painting. I did this small painting in about 20  minutes working wet in wet.  I caught the essence of a snow scene but certainly not the details. Timing is everything. The more you work in this manner the easier it gets. If the paper is too wet the tree shapes will melt into the background. If the paper is too dry you won't have the lost edges that make this technique so lovely.