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Sometimes a coffee break can give you inspiration for painting. All you need to do is be aware. This green plate against a lovely hot cherry bun just caught my eye.

While watching horses parading in the ring before a race one is always looking out for the smallest hint of the winner for the next race.

There are many characters at a race meeting, some of them have been following horse racing their entire lives and have gained a great knowledge of the runners, riders, owners and trainers. They would have memory of races going back decades and be able to recount it in great detail.

Even in this day of constant social media contact there is still nothing as enjoyable as meeting someone in a coffee shop and simply sitting down opposite each other and having a chat. This is one of the reasons coffee shops have become so incredibly popular.

Watching people as well as the horses is something I enjoy very much when attending a race meeting. People intently looking at the horses in the parade ring and studying the form all add to the enjoyment of a day out at the Bellewstown races.

This was the scene I came upon while at the Bloom garden festival in the Phoenix Park last year. It is the classic scene of the child not wanting to go home at the end of a great day and the mother trying to get the shoes on her feet.

Watching paint dry ? down at the Kilkenny Arts festival as Mick O’Dea paints a portrait of actor Simon Callow

  Read about the Thomas Ashe 2017 Centenary Sculpture

Painting among the Rush sand dunes on the south beach. Great fun and some times a bit windy but that’s all part of the fun of painting outdoors!