Summer Fields, Colligan (Oil on canvas diptych 100x152cm) is about honouring a sense of place. Driving to Colligan near Dungarvan, I kept stopping at this newly discovered panoramic viewpoint, mesmerised by the wide-open countryside beneath an immense sky in front of me.

I wanted to share the joy of it and the wonder of nature and make a painting that could bring the energy of the outside, inside, and infuse tranquillity in the vastness of the sky, creating a sense of space and light. The nuances of the passing clouds, a gesture to field patterns, leaving a vagueness for the viewer to inhabit. To have fun with colour, soft blues, sunset pinks playing with the subdued purple and earthy mountains. In the foreground a sunlit field in luminous greens and yellows. The round hay bales punctuating the stubble field. A celebration of summer.

A native of Dungarvan, Mary Foley began her art education at MTU Crawford College of Art & Design followed by a Diploma from NCAD and a Higher Diploma in Art & Design Education from Limerick School of Art & Design.

Nurturing creativity and developing artistic sensibilities, she taught at Árd Scoil na nDéise, Dungarvan CBS and Scoil San Nicholas An Rinn. Recently retired, Mary hopes to make more paintings when she’s not travelling.