Beyond the Horizon #eoinlane #blackstonepublishing #ireland #artist #1950s #love #passion @absltmom

If you are at all in the mood for a beautifully written book evocative of the art and the artist it depicts, I would recommend you pick up a copy of this story. It is one where the words paint a picture of a picture of the life a person leads who is consumed with a passion that seems to blot out all other things. It’s a story that’s brooding, a tale of Ireland and its moodiness that at times descends on those who live there. It’s a tale of a young man influenced by the sea and a loss that seems to propel his life forward.

What does lie beyond the horizon?

Expecting a day of happiness, Colin, his mom and dad go to the ocean, but then poor Colin is subjected to a tragedy. The drowning of his father, seemingly before his young eyes, occurs. It is a trauma so enormous that Colin becomes mute and this tragedy effects and runs through the rest of his life.

Colin’s mother recognizes the inner turmoil her young boy is experiencing and so she shares with him his father’s art and gives him a print of a Paul Henry landscape, awakening in Colin a wonderful desire to paint, to create, to capture the sea that took so much from him.

Years later, Colin meets a woman and through her he relates the story of his life. This is a story of love and loss, loss of the ones he loved, loss of friendship, loss of a way forward at times being so consumed by his art that he forgets about being human. It is a sad and brooding tale of a young boy grown to adulthood being drawn to the sea and its power over what he sees and wants to ultimately capture.

Colin seems always adrift and it is only the sea that seems in its way to bring comfort and solace. It is only through his art that Colin feels fulfilled and even though he finds love through the enigmatic Aisling, a troubled soul herself, it’s just not enough. For Colin seeks the sea and the place where the sea meets the horizon. He wants to capture it, to paint it, to feel that there is more beyond that place. It is his ultimate goal, it will be the one painting that matters. His life will be dedicated to that destination.

Beautifully told with a keen eye on what it is like being someone who truly sees the world before him, Eoin Lane has created in his first book, a beautiful yet tragic look at what a passion in life can be. He creates a tragic figure in Colin and yet in the end we do see the hope that does come when one is able to see beyond the horizon.

Thank you to Eoin Lane, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for a copy of the book due to be released in June of 2020

and here’s the author:

Eoin Lane is an Irish Landscape Artist and Writer based in County Down, Northern Ireland.

My paintings can be seen in Henry Gilmore Fine Art, Holywood, County Down, The Trinity Gallery, Dublin, The Lavelle Gallery, Clifden, Connemara and Caffrey’s Gallery, Ballina, County Mayo.