Ever since I first walked into kindergarten, I was determined to be an artist. That day I saw a painting on the wall decorating my classroom that inspired me. It was such a wonderful painting—to my five-year-old eyes—that I could barely look at it. I could hardly wait till we were able to paint so that I could make that same painting, but of course then I had to wait until “art” was scheduled.
I’ve been trying to figure out what painting means to me ever since. I’m sure that I am happiest when I’m putting paint on canvas, and I can lose myself in the process. I’ve come to realize that painting is always a learning experience, and that for me, painting relates directly to writing, my other passion. With written expression, the writer always adds, deletes, changes, ever so slightly, the words on the page to make the piece a reflection of meaning. In painting, the same process occurs. Especially when I am working on a portrait, I find myself adding just a little bit more paint, different value, slightly warmer, slightly cooler, etc. to capture the mood of the sitter. My concern is to sculpt the figure, face or object so that it lives.
One of my favorite ways of painting is to take the easel and palette outside. I have explored outdoor venues for plein air painting, including wonderful times on the coast of Massachusetts, Maine and Monhegan Island. I've painted in Pound Ridge Preseveration in New York, Waveny Park in New Canaan, CT, and my perennial favorite, Weir Farm in Ridgefield, CT. Weir is my hometown's best kept artist's secret, and it is the only National Historic Site devoted to an artist, J. Aldus Weir, one of the American Impressionists.
I have participated in several group shows over the years and have been accepted in several juried shows in Ridgefield and New Haven. I exhibited my work in my very first one-person show in 2009. Over 25 pieces were installed in the Upstairs Gallery at the Ridgefield Guild of Artists.
At the beginning of 2010, I put the finishing touches on a new portrait. My subject is my parents, Joe and Irene O'Connell. The portrait describes them in the last year of my mother's life, 2005. My parents were married in 1938 and had five children. They had a huge influence not only on me and my siblings, but also on the 13 grandchildren who adored them. This painting was accepted in the 2011 exhibition, "Gender Identities," curated by artist Nancy Moore at the Ridgefield Guild of Artists.
In 2011, I completed 3 large landscapes based on trips to North and South Carolina. In 2012, I plan to continue my plein air work and to complete a series of portraits of some very young family members.