Irish Boglands and Peatlands
Back In 2004 I attended an art exhibition held in our local friary hall. The exhibition titled Currents was being shown in many locations in the republic of Ireland and The North of Ireland during that year. I was taken by many of the artists ( I will come back to some of them in future posts) but for me one stood out above the others, this being Sam Mateer and his paintings of the Irish Bog-lands.
Over the last few years I have visited and photographed these areas of the country and aim to continue doing so.
Since the start of the year I have also been considering returning to some landscape painting and drawing, so what better subject areas can you find that these unique and magical places.
The set of images below are just some of the many photographs I have taken in order to start to get to grips of this project.
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Nigel Borrington 
Hard manual labour of the ‘good old days’ ….. 🙂
May 27, 2013 at 11:39 am
Hello Gc, Yes absolutly 🙂
Still plenty of turf cutting going on though……
May 27, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Nigel, beautiful set of images. I really like the first black and white image.
May 27, 2013 at 11:40 am
Hello Noel, Thank you. I love these areas of the country 🙂
May 27, 2013 at 12:07 pm
Beautiful photos Nigel. Oddly enough I was taking photos of clouds reflected in water myself today. Nothing as stunning as your shots, needless to say!: )))
May 27, 2013 at 11:49 am
Hello Anne,
Thank you, that’s great and cannot wait to see them – No composition going on here just image sharing 🙂
Nigel
May 27, 2013 at 12:09 pm
I like the textures in the last couple of B & W. You can almost smell and feel the peat.
May 27, 2013 at 1:06 pm
Hello Victoria,
Thank you, 🙂
The heat and small from a real peat fire on a cold winters night – just something else 🙂
May 27, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Nigel, your pictures are stunningly beautiful and thank you for sharing the link to Sam Mateer. Wow! I’ve been doing a few pastel paintings recently and to see his work and what can be achieved in this medium really is an inspiration.
May 27, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Hello Ws 🙂
Thank you !
Its a long time since I was in-front of his actual painting’s Must see if he is exhibiting again some place.
I do remember being amazed with the medium 🙂
May 27, 2013 at 8:32 pm
I really enjoy your photos, Nigel , and have nominated you for the BEST MOMENT AWARD. See my post tomorrow, May 28th, for details: homethoughtsfromabroad626.wordpress.com
Martha
May 27, 2013 at 7:40 pm
Hello Martha Thank you 🙂 🙂
May 27, 2013 at 8:30 pm
I do love a bit of black and white. Verra nice.
May 28, 2013 at 1:21 am
Hello Elen, Thanks and very happy you like these images 🙂 Nigel
May 28, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Hello Elen,
Thank you, and me also I love the tones that can be captured in these areas 🙂
May 29, 2013 at 11:04 pm
These are beautiful images, Nigel. I see this bog is being harvested. Interesting series of the ‘stages’.
May 29, 2013 at 5:01 am
Hello 🙂
Thank you, yes I don’t think it should be as most has been stopped. That could only apply to areas of special interest or protection but a lot of family areas are still being cut.
I am trying to get a demo arranged of the full process !
Thank for commenting
Nigel
May 29, 2013 at 11:03 pm
What a beautiful set of photos for reference Nigel . Would love to see your work in the future ..
No pressure 😉
May 29, 2013 at 8:38 am
Hello Poppy 🙂
Thank you !
I love these areas so plan to start soon, sketch book ready so Saturday I hope to get a few hours. I will let you know how it goes 🙂
Thank you poppy 🙂
May 29, 2013 at 9:59 am
Good luck …..and looking forward to getting a look see before too long.
May 30, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Well done. All your sets show a beautiful eye to detail and composition. To coin a phrase, I’d say the photographs are poetic in their detail and your ability to capture something special in the ordinary. Really love the black and whites in this set and the macros.
May 31, 2013 at 12:02 am
Hello 🙂
Thank you !
I am very pleased to get your comments and happy that you enjoyed the post – many thanks
May 31, 2013 at 10:36 am