"Lúnasa is the Gaelic festival marking the beginning of autumn in Ireland. The painting refers to an ancient ritual called 'oak and mistletoe' where druidesses would climb up sacred oak trees to cut down mistletoe, sacrifice two white bulls, and use the mistletoe to make an elixir to cure infertility.
In this painting I wished to show a unity between human, animal and land, fusing the three elements in the soft dusk light while expressing the timeless, intangible clarity that comes from this reinstating of a connection between human and nature. I wanted to express the quiet, intense solitude felt while walking amongst the cattle as they settle to sleep and the day comes to an end.
As spring and morning represent the awakening of new life, autumn or dusk, depicted in this painting, mark the end of summer and the approaching melancholic reality of winter and darkness.” – MOLLY JUDD
"Lúnasa is the Gaelic festival marking the beginning of autumn in Ireland. The painting refers to an ancient ritual called 'oak and mistletoe' where druidesses would climb up sacred oak trees to cut down mistletoe, sacrifice two white bulls, and use the mistletoe to make an elixir to cure infertility.
In this painting I wished to show a unity between human, animal and land, fusing the three elements in the soft dusk light while expressing the timeless, intangible clarity that comes from this reinstating of a connection between human and nature. I wanted to express the quiet, intense solitude felt while walking amongst the cattle as they settle to sleep and the day comes to an end.
As spring and morning represent the awakening of new life, autumn or dusk, depicted in this painting, mark the end of summer and the approaching melancholic reality of winter and darkness.” – MOLLY JUDD