Flamboyant, unrestrained and jubilant, Baroque is among the most exuberant works in Kenneth’s Lyrical Series. It captures that rare moment when landscape and floral grandeur meet in joyful defiance of restraint. The foreground is ablaze with an abundance of irises, saffron yellow, violet, ruby and alabaster, each standing tall and sculptural like dancers awaiting their cue. These ornate blooms, so characteristic of Kenneth’s artistic imagination, form a vibrant, animated border, a floral theatre curtain drawn open to reveal the wetlands beyond.

Unlike other works in the series, in which reflective water and floating waterlilies occupy the foreground, Baroque reverses the composition. Here, the lake and reeds stretch toward the horizon, bathed in the golden light of a glowing sunset. The water is flecked with hints of white, green and blue, echoing the vast Connemara boglands Kenneth has returned to in his memory and art. A low expanse of green reaches out to the sea, while the sky is painted in rich, warm hues of rose, ochre and apricot, inspiring a sense of abundance and serenity.

Though this composition departs from the quiet stillness found in others of the series, its spirit is of the same mood and mind. Kenneth refers to it as an expression of the “eternal optimism of the artist,” and that sentiment pulses through every brushstroke. The exuberant forms of the irises, sculptural yet free, hold their own against the luminous background. Their presence is not merely decorative, but symbolic - representing beauty, resilience and the vivacity of the natural world.

In Baroque, Kenneth achieves a rare fusion: a deeply personal landscape filtered through botanical splendour. It is a composition alive with rhythm, colour and light, where irises sing and the sky listens. An invitation to joy, and a reminder that nature, at its most abundant, offers us both sanctuary and celebration.