Process: painting an Irish bog

Durlough Bog, Donegal

I read Lawrence Gowing’s Turner: imagination and reality, a catalogue on an exhibition of Turner’s late work. By this point he was painting in a very abstracted way, using little more than colour to paint landscapes.

I’ve been wondering how to paint the gorgeous Donegal boglands which in late August are full of heather with the grasses beginning to yellow and brown. They’re huge and majestic from afar, but walking through them offers a different perspective, up and down over the lumpy ground, the strong scent of the heather, and frequent slips into the squelchy bog holes.

I thought I’d try working just with the colours of the landscape and see what emerged. I painted on a series of old slate tiles which provided a bog-like deep colour as a foundation.

I think the result goes some way to describing what it’s like to be in the middle of the bog. You don’t get the shape of the landscape, but more a sense of its ups and downs, and textures.