Each day on St. Patrick's Day, I again resolve to visit Ireland some time soon. I hope to go there within the next 10 years. I want to go to
Bagenalstown in County
Carlow, which is where my Dad's father's family emigrated from. His grandparents were Edward
Fenlon and Mary Murphy. When I was teaching, there was free access to genealogy websites through the library and I thought that it would be a simple thing to find these two. Alas, in that town in the 1880s there were a bazillion
Fenlons and
Murphys. So far I can trace no further back. I have been much more fortunate on my Dad's mother's side and can trace her father's family back to the late 1500s. At one time, I was totally absorbed in the puzzle of my forbears, and have my family on
Geni. If you are not aware of the
Geni website, you should check it out. It is a free family tree site online in which you can input your tree and invite living members to join and add their information. One of the members of my Dad's mother's side of the family has the first name
Eliphalet. When I first saw this, I thought he would be easy to find - I mean how many
Eliphalets could there be. Honestly, in the late 1700s there were a large number of men with this first name. Go figure!!
I am diligently working on my third assignment for the Faces class. I am not totally happy with the eyes yet, but each time I put on another layer and reinforce them, they are getting better.
Today I will mix up my skin tones and begin the
underlayer with shadows and highlights. I am a little nervous about this, but plan to take my time and do my best. I have two older canvases with faces on them, both of which really need some shading. Hopefully, I will be able to improve them with my new knowledge.
It is supposed to be in the 60s today and partly sunny. I am hoping to spend some time out of doors, perhaps finishing my novel. I need to do a bit of a workout. I am a little sore from Cathe's muscle max from the day before yesterday. I think I will go through it again today, but just use my body and not my weights. That way I will still get some stretching and reinforcement, but not hurt my already sore muscles. I will also do my uphill walk on the treadmill. I can't wait to weigh in and measure again at the end of the month. I sure hope I see more progress.
I've got a lot to do today, so better get started........
I love how your portrait is progressing. My family is into genealogy too, my brother has visited Ireland to do some and got lots of information.
ReplyDeleteI'm liking how your portrait is progressing too!
ReplyDeleteThank you to both of you. I didn't get any more done on my portrait yesterday. It was 70 degrees and the outdoors was calling to me. I am hoping to get the skintones and shadows and highlights done this afternoon and will post an update later today.
ReplyDeleteFabulous background and the face is looking wonderful too! What a great class that must be!
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to visit Ireland with my Mom and sister some years ago. I did not want to leave, it's a magical mystical land and so beautiful. I hope you get to visit!
We share the same grandparents. I found your blog while searching for Edward Fenlon and Mary Murphy. They settled in Hessel, MI after leaving Co. Carlow. Their son was Edward P. Fenlon who married Effie Obeshaw and produced Terrance Fenlon. Terrance and his wife in turn produced James D. Fenlon I, my grandfather. I'll be moving to Europe in November and will hopefully be able to track our lineage further. If you've come across any additional information in the last two years, could you send it to me? Jamesdfenlon@gmail.com Or just drop me a line and I'll share my findings when I make it to Carlow. Cheers!
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