Waterford Trip and Painter’s FOMO

Ok so It’s the summer, with a promise of some fine weather so thought to myself why not book a trip to Waterford same as last year? So booked myself into a hotel in Waterford, felt like it would be a good base and the views weren’t bad either. So locked and loaded I set sail on the Saturday evening and I was ready for action on Sunday morning in Dunmore East.
The day was gorgeous, I set up on Lawlor’s Beach and the nothing flew by as I finished my first painting. Time for lunch then so up to the strand inn, where I set up my painting box at a lovely table on the balcony looking towards Councilors Beach. After the cliff walk and a short break I decided to paint my last offering of the day and again set up on the councilors beach but this time towards the village. The light was amazing and I felt I was on a roll! 3 paintings in a day, I’ve never painted as much in one day and felt so alive!! Life is good and so beautiful!

Sadly my jubilant mood wasn’t too last. The next morning I woke up with awful sunburn and a scratchy feeling in my throat. Not a good start but I was still feeling positive so packed and headed for Tramore albeit a little more sluggish meaning it was 11am before I arrived and was at up. It felt a little forced but I double down and said look your on holiday, paint!! But as time dragged on with my skin hurting and my head pounding i had to give in and call it a day. I headed back to the hotel for a lie down with the hope of some miracle recovery. Sadly not to come so next mooring I pointed the car for wexford and said a hoarse goodbye to Waterford.

The trip was only the start of it and the following week I was forced to stay home and get better while it felt like the whole of Ireland enjoyed the best weather in centuries. But my isolation did give me time to think and forced me to slow down when otherwise I’d be sprinting, painting all my favorite locations in the best possible conditions. FOMO does not apply only to the fear of missing parties and fun and whatnot but in my case it can mean the fear of missing out on painting a spectacular views that change with each passing hour. Thanks to this feeling I keep finding time to paint outdoors, not only when I’m on my painting trip, but throughout the year on my nearby beaches and in towns.

But I still need to work on letting go sometimes.

I hope you like the paintings that I did manage to paint!