Tony O’Malley
Self-Portraits Tony O’Malley, Centenary Exhibition 2013
Over the last five years I have been working for Jane O’malley, a local artist and wife of the late Tony O’Malley , photographing all of Tony’s archive work along with some of Janes own paintings.
Tony is a very well know artist in Ireland and it has been a great pleasure to work with Jane and record and see most of Tony’s Career through his paintings and sketch books.
Some of these photographs of tony’s self portraits have just been used in a new book and exhibition being held in the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny.
The below images taken this weekend are from the exhibition.
The Exhibition, held in the Butler Gallery Kilkenny
“Tony O’Malley holds an important and distinguished position in the history of twentieth century Irish art. A highly respected and beloved artist, his works are represented in all major Irish museums and included in the most significant public and private collections of Irish art. Throughout O’Malley’s working life he made self-portraits. They became a way for the viewer to know him. O’Malley taught himself to draw and paint, and in the early days the self-portrait was a convenient immediate means in which to put marks to paper whenever a mirror was available. The mirror was a non-judgmental, reliable ally.
Through the diversity of his self-portraits, we see O’Malley’s practice evolve. The self-portraits stare back at us, mostly unexpressive and unsmiling, sometimes severe, sometimes with one eye closed. Always we see O’Malley’s distinctive strong nose, bearded face, and a bald head at times dressed with skull cap, in later years with sunhat, protection from the hot Bahamian rays. From time to time, we see O’Malley viewed from only the side of a mirror, with the studio or the garden taking prominence in the remainder of the frame. The monochromatic self-portraits are stark and economical and echo the words of the artist himself, ‘The more I paint the less of myself is there’. O’Malley has left us a great gift: a wealth of self-portraits by which to remember him.”
As the Sky Touches the Earth, by Robert Stephen Herrick
Nikon D7000, 24mm f2.8 lens
Lough Conn, County Mayo
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
As the Sky Touches the Earth,
by Robert Stephen Herrick
Wild whisps of torn clouds swirl
rising in energy from wicked winds
and create a surge in the speed
of spinning in succession
slowly at first, yet the terror
turns into an ominous element
yearning and beginning
to take its path.
Forces of nature may often seem
to be manageable to the untrained eye,
though the might and horrifying height
sets its sight and it towers
from the heavens down to the low earth,
terror fills the most hardened heart
as the deadly dread devours
living souls with its suprelative speed.
Unconditional surrender to this fear
is a forced humbling indeed
as homes are flattened like sheet metal
from the turbulent courses
descending in an enormous twisting,
spiraling and ripping of the world
within pieces apart and yet
waiting for no reply.
Croaghaul, Achill Island, Ireland
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
As the sky touches the earth,
danger is eminent and to be found
in gigantic proportions
tearing apart homes and localities,
shreading living beings and lives
then showering down dirt and debris
across a wide landscape
like a wicked child at play.
Tumultuous and catastrophic with its
destruction, this titanic giant of air
collectively rushed together
breathed in its peril by inhaling
that which once covered
the surface of the earth then
exhaled all it had, but miles away,
staying solid on its path
with determinded disruption,
on its way with its
whirling winds.
A Fellow Man , A Humanist Poem : Tom White
Nikon D700, 35mm f2.8 lens
The doors of, Santa Maria Degli Angeli, Rome.
Photography by : Nigel Borrington
A Fellow Man
A Humanist Poem : Tom White
I have no prayers or charms of faith
If God there be, He’ll know my weight
If God be nought, I’ll still do good
And practice justice as I should
We should not seek reward to do
What decency expects us to
Should Heaven be a kingly court
I’ll go elsewhere to prove my worth
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve sought belief
But lust for faith brought no relief
Mere logic leaves me where I stand
I am not blest, nor am I damned
I seek to do what good I can
I am your friend, a fellow man.
A Slow Morning at the lake : three 30 second exposures
Nikon D700, 18-200mm lens
30 second exposures of Derryhick lake, County Mayo
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
A Slow Afternoon at the lake
Last year I stayed at Derryhick lake, county Mayo for a weeks holiday.
One very slow morning while taking some pictures of the lake, the time was moving by very slowly and by the afternoon I decided that I wanted to attempt to capture the feeling of these moments. I placed the camera onto a tripod and put an ND filter on the lens and took some 30 second exposures of which these are just three.
I was very please with the effect of the slow shutter speed on the surface of the lake as it captured exactly the feeling of this very windy but wonderful day.
The Jackdaw, by : William Cowper
Jackdoors at Kells Priory, County Kilkenny
Irish Wildlife Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Jackdaw
by : William Cowper
There is a bird who, by his coat
And by the hoarseness of his note,
Might be supposed a crow;
A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishop-like, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too.
Above the steeple shines a plate,
That turns and turns, to indicate
From what point blows the weather.
Look up — your brains begin to swim,
‘Tis in the clouds — that pleases him,
He chooses it the rather.
.
Fond of the speculative height,
Thither he wings his airy flight,
And thence securely sees
The bustle and the rareeshow,
That occupy mankind below,
Secure and at his ease.
.
You think, no doubt, he sits and muses
On future broken bones and bruises,
If he should chance to fall.
No; not a single thought like that
Employs his philosophic pate,
Or troubles it at all.
.
He sees that this great roundabout,
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army, physic, law,
Its customs and its businesses,
Is no concern at all of his,
And says — what says he? — Caw.
.
Thrice happy bird! I too have seen
Much of the vanities of men;
And, sick of having seen ’em,
Would cheerfully these limbs resign
For such a pair of wings as thine
And such a head between ’em.
Beyond the Sea, Poem by Thomas Peacock.
Fujifilm X100
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Beyond the Sea
Thomas Peacock
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
My heart is gone, far, far from me;
And ever on its track will flee
My thoughts, my dreams, beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
The swallow wanders fast and free:
Oh, happy bird! were I like thee,
I, too, would fly beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
Are kindly hearts and social glee:
But here for me they may not be;
My heart is gone beyond the sea.
Its the weekend so …..
The Landscape of County Kerry
Reen, Ballinskelligs, Ring of Kerry
Irish Landscape photography ; Nigel Borrington
It’s the weekend so why not take yourself out for the day, find some wonderful landscape to look at.
Sit down for as long as you need to clear your mind and relax ….
Harbour Lighthouse, Crinan, Scotland, (Harbour Lights) Poem by Ernestine Northover.
Harbour Lighthouse, Crinan, Argyll, Scotland
Landscape photography: Nigel Borrington
Harbour Lights
By: Ernestine Northover
The harbour lights are beckoning,
Our stout boat is riding high,
By the distant view, we’re reckoning,
We are nearly home and dry.
We’ve travelled many an ocean,
And weathered storms so wild,
Of the seas, we have a notion,
By it all, we’ve been beguiled.
There’ve been times when we have wavered,
And times when concern was rife,
Many moments we have savoured,
And pondered upon this life.
But seafaring days are our days,
And when all is said and done,
These seas attract, in such special ways,
And conquering them can be fun.
But, like now, we’re to base returning,
Friends and family to meet and greet,
There’s a rest from the sea’s endless churning,
Somewhere solid to plant our feet.
Now the harbour lights are gleaming,
And the sails relax their strain,
Our faces begin their beaming,
For we’re safely back home again.
© Ernestine Northover
Sunrise from the Mountains, By : Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935)
Sigma x3 slr camera, 18-50mm f3.5 – f4.5 lens
Slievenamon, county Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunrise from the Mountains, By : Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935)
Hung thick with jets of burning gold, the sky
Crowns with its glorious dome the sleeping earth,
Illuminating hill and vale. O’erhead,
The nebulous splendor of the milky way
Stretches afar; while, crowding up the heavens,
The planets worship ‘fore the thrones of God,
Casting their crowns of gold beneath His feet.
It is a scene refulgent! and the very stars
Tremble above, as though the voice divine
Reverberated through the dread expanse.
But soft! a change!
A timid creeping up of gray in east–
A loss of stars on the horizon’s verge–
Gray fades to pearl and spreads up zenithward,
The while a wind runs low from hill to hill,
As if to stir the birds awake, rouse up
The nodding trees, and draw off silence like
A garment from the drowsy earth. The heavens
Are full of points of light that go and come
And go, and leave a tender ashy sky.
The pearl has pushed its way to north and south,
Save where a line spun ‘tween two peaks at east,
Gleams like a cobweb silvered by the sun.
It grows–a gilded cable binding hill
To hill! it widens to a dazzling belt
Half circling earth, then stretches up on high–
A golden cloth laid down ‘fore kingly feet.
Thus spreads the light upon the heavens above,
While earth hails each advancing step, and lifts
Clear into view her rich empurpled hills,
To keep at even beauty with the sky.
The neutral tints are deeply saffroned now;
In streaks, auroral beams of colored light
Shoot up and play about the long straight clouds
And flood the earth in seas of crimson. Ah,
A thrill of light in serpentine, quick waves,
A stooping of the eager clouds, and lo,
Majestic, lordly, blinding bright, the sun
Spans the horizon with its rim of fire!
Kilkenny photography
Autumn view through the trees, county Kilkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Autumn through Kilkenny’s trees
Autumn is in full flight here in Kilkenny, I took these images yesterday while on a walk through one of our local woods.
The Gold of the Beach trees is just Wonderful.
Gallery
Culzean Castle, Adopt a deer .
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm VR2 lens
Culzean Castle, Maybole, Carrick, Ayrshire,Scotland.
Red Deer, Stag
Scottish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Nation trust through Culzean Castle, estate let you adopt a deer for a year :
An exciting Animal Adoption Scheme is now available, providing the opportunity to help support the Deer Park at Culzean Castle & Country Park by adopting one of there deer herd. This could be purchased for yourself and /or could also make an excellent gift for a family member or a friend.
All monies from your adoption go towards the upkeep of your chosen animal, which include feeding, veterinary care etc and lasts for a period of one year.
The is Cost Per Year = £40.00
Culzean Castle, Maybole, Carrick, Ayrshire,Scotland.
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm VR2 lens
Culzean Castle, Maybole, Carrick, Ayrshire,Scotland.
Scottish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Culzean Castle
Culzean is one of Scotland’s best loved Castles, offering something for everyone to enjoy. Situated on the South Ayrshire coast, just off the A719, Culzean Castle is located 12 miles south of Ayr and 4 miles west of Maybole.
Culzean Castle was constructed as an L-plan castle by order of the 10th Earl of Cassilis. He instructed the architect Robert Adam to rebuild a previous, but more basic, structure into a fine country house to be the seat of his earldom. The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. It incorporates a large drum tower with a circular saloon inside (which overlooks the sea), a grand oval staircase and a suite of well-appointed apartments.
In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland (thus avoiding inheritance tax). In doing so, they stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. The General first visited Culzean Castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States. An Eisenhower exhibition occupies one of the rooms, with mementoes of his lifetime.
For opening hours, admission prices and directions to reach the Castle please see ‘General Information’
Culzean has a long tradition of welcoming local people, members of The National Trust for Scotland and holiday makers from all around the world.
During the Summer Season, the Castle, gardens, Visitor Centre, shops and restaurants will be open daily from Thursday 28 March to Sunday 28 October 2013 (inclusive). Please see ‘General Information’ for more details and opening hours.
During the Winter season our Visitor Centre Shops and Restaurant are open each Saturday and Sunday (with the exception of the Christmas and New Year period) from 11.00am until 4.00pm. However, please see ‘Events at Culzean’ for further details.
The 600 acre Estate offers many spectacular features. We look forward to welcoming you soon.
Morning rain on Loch Lomand
Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8 lens
Rain falling on Lock Lomand, Scotland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Last week I stayed in Luss on the banks of loch lomond, Scotland.
I got up early and walked down the the water front, it was a very wet morning so I took a large brolly with me and my Nikon. The rain was so heavy that it gave the entire surface of the loch take on a matt look. I took lots of images as you can see below.
The water level in the Loch is very high at the moment as you can see from the pier, used for local boat trips, as it was flooded and about two inches below the surface.
Rain on Loch Lomand : Gallery
5 solo images for the week (Friday).
Nikon F90x
Ilford XP2
Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens
Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland,
On the western shore of Loch Fyne.
Landscape photography : Nigel borrington
Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Inveraray sits on the A83 between Glasgow and Oban/Argyll, I have driven this route many times and stopping to look at the boat, Artic Penguin and loch Fyne was something I do every time, just a fantastic view.
The morning I took this image was cold and very still, the pier was empty and it was a few moments of magic in the air, of peace and silence.
5 solo images for the week (Wednesday).
Puffins on skellig michael
Irish landscape and wild-life photography :
Nigel Borrington
Puffins on skellig michael
I will post fully very soon on the Skellig Islands, a visit to both Islands is just Magical.
Each year the Islands are home to one of the worlds biggest colonies of Puffins and the above image is just one from many I got on a Visit back in July. The cliff top slopes on Skellig Michael are just breathtaking and you have to be very careful not to slip.
I really enjoyed getting these images as these wonderful bird are just magical to be around.
5 solo images for the week (Tuesday).
Lighthouse on Valencia point, County Kerry
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Lighthouse on Valencia point, County Kerry
Valencia island is a wonderful part of county Kerry and just a wonderful place to visit, the light house on the island has been open to the the public for about two years and is well work a visiting for the tour.
I was very pleased with this image as a sail boat was just passing the moment I got the view of the lighthouse that I wanted.
5 solo images for the week (Monday).
Nikon slr, 50mm f1.4 lens
Curracloe beach, County Wexford
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
This week I am working on selecting some single images in order to update my web site and put an exhibition together.
I have been posting on my Blog now since May 2011 and really enjoy every moment of it. In this time I have posted some 1500 images here.
Also what I love the most about blogging and word-press is viewing and reading other peoples blogs, so over the following week I am going to give myself sometime to do more reading than posting.
So I am going to post some single images each day. Along with a quick comment as to how I got the image and why I enjoyed it so much !
Mondays Image..
Curracloe beach, County Wexford
The above image is from Curracloe beach in county Wexford taken one Christmas time about four years ago, It’s the first time I have see snow on a beach like this and it could be the last as the climate here is not usually as cold over the winter months, the temperature was -12oc at the time the image was taken. The image was taken at about 4pm just as the sun was starting to set and the reds and yellow from the sun were being reflected by the snow.
This was a wonderful moment to be out taking pictures, one I will never forget.
Sunday Evenings
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Sunday evening, River Suir, Tipperary
Landscape photography by : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evenings are my most favourite time of the week, the weekends light is fading fast and we have a new week ahead of us, new chances to grow and reach our aims.
The view from the tower, Inistioge, county Kilkenny
Fujifilm x100s, 35mm and 28mm focus lenghts
17th century Viewing tower, Woodstock estate,
Inistioge, county Kilkenny
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sitting above the River Nore and located on the edge of a hill that looks over the town of Inistioge, county Kilkenny is a 17th Century viewing tower.
The building would have been a family home when built, with its main living and sleeping area and outer rooms. It also has a cattle stable at the front of the building for wintering the family livestock.
The hill down to the river has been forested in modern times but before this would have offered full views of the town and the river Nore as it flows towards New Ross.
If you do visit Woodstock, Kilkenny, this little building is well worth a visit.
Sunday evening at the gate …. Poem by : John Montague
Images of the Galtee Mountains
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evening and it’s time for one final walk of the weekend.
I love to find a long lane to walk down then stop for a while, rest against a gate and just take in some views of the Irish country side.
These images are of the Galtee Mountains in counties Limerick and South Tipperary, just before the sun set.
I have included a poem below.
WINDHARP
By John Montague
The sounds of Ireland,
that restless whispering
you never get away
from, seeping out of
low bushes and grass,
heatherbells and fern,
wrinkling bog pools,
scraping tree branches,
.
light hunting cloud,
sound hounding sight,
a hand ceaselessly
combing and stroking
the landscape, till
the valley gleams
like the pile upon
a mountain pony’s coat..
Images from a walk in the setting Autumn sun and a Poem by Rebecca Dobson .
Nikon D700
Sleivenamon, country Tipperary
Under the setting Autumn sun
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
On an Autumn evening as I was out walking with our dog , I watched the sunset over the mountaim of Slievenamon, county Tipperary in the distance.
My mind was clear as I was just enjoying the view.
I have been looking for a way to describe the feeling I had and found the following Poem .
The Aftermath
Rebecca Dobson
The final fragments of my shattered
mind slip into place
alongside
Random thoughts and jagged
edges
I disintegrate from the outside inwards
slightly blurred
edges
and I flutter inside
(excited child) , I feel hollow and empty and a
warmth, and my nose is raw
and crystals gather at my nostrils
Electric, almost static
I float and fumble
and agitations tickle my spine and my scalp
Sniff and cough, they grate against my brain
and scratch discomfort into my buzz;
I float on higher plane
and feel conscious, feel able.
.
I talk with a wired mouth
and words are laborious and stick to my lips
Suspended in wakefulness I skip work
and relish in my openness of mind
and free thought
and I think I am happy
Killamery High Cross, county Kilkenny
Fujifilm X100
Killamery High Cross,
Kilamery grave yard and old church.
Killamery – High Cross
The Killamery High Cross is one of Ireland iconic early Christian symbols.
It is situated in an old graveyard in county Kilkenny, the location is just below the mountain area of Slievenamon on the other side of the Kilkenny, Tipperary border.
The cross is one of the western Ossory group of crosses. The cross stands at 3.65 metres high and the west face of the cross bears most of the figure sculpture. The east face pictured right, is decorated with three marigolds on the shaft and has a boss in the centre of the head surrounded by intertwining serpents with an open mouthed dragon above the boss. The cross is known as the Snake-Dragon cross. The cross has a gabled cap-stone and the narrow sides have double mouldings. At the end of the southern arm of the cross there is a panel depicting Noah in the Ark and the end of the northern arm features four scenes centered around John the Baptist.
There is also a worn inscription on the base of the western side of the cross which is said to read as ‘OR DO MAELSECHNAILL’ a prayer for Maelsechnaill. Maelsechnaill was the High King of Ireland from 846 to 862.
The Lighthouse – by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Sigma Sd15, 15-30mm lens
Dungarvan Lighthouse, County Waterford
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Lighthouse
By, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!
Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.
And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.
Slievenamon – Walking to the top.
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens
The Walk up Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The mountain of Slievenamon is about 15km from home, in Tipperary and just across the county border from county Kilkenny. Its Elevation is 721 meters and on a clear day offers good views of a large part of the south east of Ireland, including down to Hook-head on the Wexford coastline.
The pictures below are taken on a walk up to the top two weekends ago, it was a very foggy Sunday morning at the top as you can see. The mist only added to the wonderful feeling of being up there even though none of the best views where possible.
The Walk up Slievenamon a Gallery
Nigel Borrington 
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