Celtic Art and Song - St. Patrick's Day

 all images and audio c. Kevin SproulsIt's approaching St. Patricks Day, an occasion for Celtic Art and Song. My family and I have enjoyed visiting the Emerald Isle many, many times. This post will be a collection of sounds and images in celebration of Celtic culture...Many times we have visited the quaint town of Quin, in County Clare. Here is a fantasy illustration featuring Quin Abbey. The face belongs to Maureen O'Hara -- I photographed it from a television screen.My wife and I have bought a lot of Waterford crystal during our visits to Ireland. I thought it would be fun to create an illustration featuring a candlestick. Here it is:A close friend we made lives outside of Dublin. He once made a rather dramatic trip to England for the purpose of buying an antique automobile. He is very satisfied with his 1938 Alvis. I made him a picture of it...We can't resist including a couple of hedcuts, a la my signature portrait style for the Wall Street Journal...I created the above for an Irish yacht club. The client dressed up members in various nautically themed costumes. This one is masquerading as Grace O'Malley, the famed 'Pirate Queen' of Ireland. I took an image of St. Patrick from a stained glass window for the same client. Here is his hedcut:My immersion in celtic culture led me into the world of bagpiping. I have often played at sunset on the bayside in Long Beach Island, NJ...The above shot was taken by Philadelphia photographer, Rebecca Barger. Just for fun, here are a couple of songs to commemorate the day... Hope you enjoy them:[audio mp3="https://www.sprouls.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Paddys-Green-Shamrock-Shores-01-Start-Track-1.mp3"][/audio][audio mp3="https://www.sprouls.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Highland-Cathedral-01-Start-Track-1.mp3"][/audio]Paddy's Green Shamrock Shores, and Highland Cathedral are the names of these lovely tunes.Let us raise a glass to Celtic Culture, and all beautiful artistic treasure it offers!