Wheat Fields began on the road between Westport and Dublin, during the late summer harvest. As farmers moved through the landscape cutting their crops. I have always been fascinated by the striking contrast between neighbouring fields during this time, deep greens sitting alongside wheat, cream and gold. Without realising it, those journeys were building a colour palette in my mind.

This small work became my first exploration of that harvest landscape. Layers of rich green are broken by warm, sweeping tones of wheat and cream, capturing the changing fields at that brief moment between summer and autumn. Applied with palette knives and brushes, the textured acrylic gives the piece movement and depth, reflecting the marks, lines and changing colours of the working Irish landscape.

Wheat Fields would later become the starting point for Lughnasadh, where I explored the harvest beyond the physical landscape and into the folklore, celebration and magic associated with this ancient time of year.