The panels I make in this series are all unique, but are loosely based on the view from my bedroom window. My neighbour, John Conneely, keeps sheep in two fields separated by a low stone wall topped with wire. Whichever field they start off in, the crafty sheep seem to spend their entire lives trying to get into the other one – sometimes succeeding. So, in ‘John Conneely’s Sheep’, his sheep are depicted in their separate fields – but they are clearly conspiring to change that!
Apart from rolling green fields and the stone wall, the panel also features the colourful, little thin houses so often found in Connemara’s seaside villages, as well as a Galway Hooker sailing boat. The Hooker, characterised by its single mast and three deep red sails, was the traditional working boat of Galway and Connemara. It transported people, livestock, turf and supplies to, from and between the islands. Of late, the Hooker is experiencing a revival, and superbly renovated examples are frequently seen taking part in regattas here.