Author: Barbara Seymour, GLA’82
[The author and artist, Barbara Seymour, traveled on a Penn Alumni Travel trip to the “Celtic Lands” this past spring. Some people take photographs on tours. Others write in journals. Barbara decided to record the tour in watercolors. Below is a snapshot of her beautiful memories.]
My travel watercolor kit.
As a watercolor painter, I was so inspired by the Scottish landscapes we saw on the Celtic Lands trip. Since I live in the woods in the Philadelphia area, the open sky, sea and mountains were a new and challenging subject. I found myself looking for subjects with all these elements to photograph and paint.
In the Hebrides.
I also loved the changing light and how it affected the landscape, casting shadows over hills and sea. Clouds became an obsession!
Old ruins and castles make marvelous subjects.
The ruins of an old monastery on the Isle of Iona. (with iris in bloom and shepherd and sheep!)
Duart Castle, Isle of Mull (with yellow Gorse blooming in the foreground).
I found a spot on Iona that almost reminded me of home: A tiny little path between fields, with a stone wall.
I found this image of an abandoned fishing boat poignant, suggestive of the ravages of time.
Celtic Crosses were everywhere, ancient and new. I also got a chance to paint the little white flowers blooming everywhere in the grass.
Finally, I chose this old stone bridge, with a very challenging stoney river flowing underneath.
Scotland is wonderfully inspiring for a watercolor painter. I am not finished with it yet!
[Barbara will be having two Open Houses showing and selling these and other paintings this fall. All are welcome! View her website here. The dates are Sunday, November 16th, 2014, 1-5 pm and Sunday, December 7th, 2014, 1-5 pm. The address is:
Headlong House
307 Moylan Avenue
Media, PA 19063
( 2 blocks from the Moylan-Rose Valley SEPTA train station).]
Frankly Penn 