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Moira Donohoe

Submitted by the artist

Moira Donohoe
Sierra Art Trails 2013 Catalog # 3

My inspiration comes from the land, especially the Sierra Nevada.

It’s like a bridge to me, between the world you see, and the world that is felt, and whispered to us, in the big and in the small.

When I was a child, much time was spent along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

It was a close and intimate world, and like the poet says, worlds were in a grain of sand. Painting helps me remember what I knew then.

Life, like the river, has its twists and bends, its rough water, and calm pools, incredibly rich and layered passages, and lulls that seem dull and uninteresting. All of this is grist for the mill, and as I get older, the lulls are a welcome break for reflection.

Wawona JuneI was raised in Yosemite by a large and loving Irish family who had been in the area since the 1840’s. We ran like wild things through the woods and meadows, learning about nature first hand. My elders encouraged expression through art and music, and provided means for all the children to draw, paint, play music and sing. I have been making Yosemite impressions in paint for a long time.

Painting in oil with thick luscious strokes, and the sculptural effects achieved with knife and brush, give the dimensions and layers physically present in a landscape, and hint at the layers wrought by time, such as the slow breaking down of granite to sand, ice to water, and a person who was honed by these forces.

Early Summer on the MercedSo, I believe we are shaped by the land we live and grow in. Those things I like to paint; the poetic sweep of windswept trees, the deep glacial canyons, or the blur of the dragonfly on its way, are different aspects of the same thing. I guess it’s the journey I am on, and the best way for me to arrive, is through everything and anything nature has to offer.

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Sierra Art Trails Open Studio Tour is October 4, 5 and 6, 2013.

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