Léas mheangadh na gréine — Original

Acrylic on canvas. Original, 1 of 1. 76 × 61 cm (30 × 24 in), landscape, unframed.

Delivery: this painting hangs in the Safe Home exhibition on 11 September 2026, so it is delivered after the show closes. You buy it now, it stays on the wall for the night, and it comes to you the following week. Insured courier, £25 UK, or collect in London for free.

"Léas mheangadh na gréine" is an Irish phrase, loosely translated as "a ray of the sun's smile."

The inspiration came from walking past the Plimsoll pub in North London. If you know it, you'll recognise how, on a sunny day, its patrons sit and stand on the street outside. It is lucky enough to catch the evening sunlight, and the scene is one of pure joy.

Last spring, on the first sunny day of the season, I was sitting outside the pub and felt the warm sun hit my skin for what felt like the first time in years. The happiness it brought was something I couldn't describe. Then, reading the works of the late Manchán Magan, I came to understand the power of the Irish language in describing feelings tied to the natural world around us. Finally I could put words to what I was feeling, all the more special being my native language.

So the work tries to capture it all: the sun, the happiness, the patrons of the Plimsoll pub, and the beginning of spring.