On Holy Ground
These paintings are from the ‘On Holy Ground’ series, which was part of a larger series entitled ‘Better to Have Loved And Lost’
Title: When I Was Woven Together (watercolour painting)
Title: Driving Force (watercolour painting)
The abandoned fishing boat, known locally in Bunbeg, Co. Donegal, Ireland as Bad Eddie has been a feature of the local landscape for around fifty years. The bad element of the name doesn’t mean that the locals are making a value judgement about it’s behaviour… simply put Bad is the Irish word for boat, thus the name is just Eddie’s Boat.
Title: to lie down in green pastures (watercolour painting)
Possibly the most unusual feature of this series isn’t actually the boat itself, but that there is a pair of shoes in two of them, not to mention that the same pair of shoes deposited in a fish tank were also exhibited alongside the paintings.
This hints at an explanation for the series title: On Holy Ground. The biblical instruction from God to Moses as he encounters the burning bush, “take off thy shoes, for thou art standing on holy ground” is central to understanding the work.
For several decades, friends and colleagues had been encouraging Fleming that he ‘must’ go and visit the boat stranded in a shallow bay at Bunbeg in Donegal. Ian had been pursuing the Better to have Loved and Lost series for many years and these injunctions to visit the boat had made it almost certain that he would do no such thing!
However, when circumstances conspired to make it happen, the experience had a profound impact.
A fuller account of the experience will appear on the website at a later date.
This montage includes two other paintings from the series and an installation that was exhibited in the BankOne Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky.
These paintings/installation were Ian Fleming’s contribution to a group show entitled East Goes West.
Above (L) are artists Christine Bowen, Susan Gorsen, Ian Fleming, Colin McGookin, William Artt and Deirdre Robb. The 2nd and 3rd top images include artist/designer Tim Maloney and his bare feet. His feet became bare, because he took off his own shoes in the gallery and added them to Ian Fleming’s installation.
The centre image which includes the rudder and missing propellor of the BadEddie boat, also features Ian’s own shoes and reflects the title: On Holy Ground.
