This is my latest Trio of Paintings entitled "Bringing home the Sheep". It is from the series "Ireland in the 1950s" drawn from my memories of Mayo and Galway. If you have any suggestions for improvement of the blog, please email me at mpjoyce@talk21.com. Thanks, Slán, Mícheál.

Happy New Year to all.

Here are the finished Triple Paintings I have been working on. They take their inspiration from my memories of my Grandmother waiting at the door of her cottage. The nearest house was about half a mile away and in my mind's eye I can still have the same emotions as we both awaited either a visitor or possibly the weekly travelling shop or the crowd of men arriving to help with the harvest.

There is also a photo of my painting a commission of three paintings based on previous scenes. I can never reproduce exactly a previous painting as my style might be slightly different or the time of year may dictate a different colour and hue due to the light coming into the studio.

Here is my Triptych I am working on at present. It is based on my memories of my Grandmother waiting at the door on a busy day of the Meitheal, where the local community come together to help with harvest, sheep shearing or whatever needs to be done.

I have decided to maintain the smaller canvases as it fits in with "Miniature Memories".

This is an example of my alternative art form in an Abstract format. I have entitled it "Focussed". It helps me to get inspiration and further ideas for my paintings and also is an excellent method of simply 'Expressing myself'. Hope you enjoy it.

(You can publish your thoughts in the comment link below).

This is a painting showing a rural town of Ireland in the 1950's. The slow and 'easy-going' pace is in contrast with the modern, affluent and confident Ireland. Many people regret the passing of the 'old Ireland' and the challenge is to retain the positive attributes of the past as we advance into the Global village. This was a departure from my previous style as the colours are more muted and earthy.

This is one of my latest workings inspired by Ciarán McDonald of the Winning Semi Final Mayo team. It is a large size canvas which aptly demonstrates the vigour and dynamism of the "Western Spirit".

(I am still working on getting the layout to be reader friendly. But enjoy it anyway).

One of my recent paintings I am working on is "Western Spirit" showing the determination and guts of the Mayo Team as demonstrated by "The Man" himself. Reading about him has been an inspiration to me particularly the specific point of getting that score from an awkward position in the Semi Final.