Kerry O'Neill

Several weeks ago I was fortunate to spend four uninterrupted days painting on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The results are posted here. Click on each thumbnail to see a larger image.

Recently I “discovered” this spot on the Long Island Sound up the road from my parent’s home. The shifting tides expose rich green seaweed clinging to sunbleached rocks. The color effect this creates is amazing; material I could mine for many paintings.
All of which I will post here.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sketch at the American Museum of Natural History. Here is the result. Click the link and explore the diorama this was sketched from online.

This small painting is actually a study for a much larger painting that will be placed next to the front door of my brother’s home in Holderness, NH. The final painting will be 31″x45″. This study is 11″x15″. Ordinarily I do all of my painting in oil: the initial drawing or rub out, the underpainting and then the final glazes. In this case I am doing the underpainting in acrylic and will finish with oil glazes on top. What we are looking at here is the acrylic underpainting of the study. My next step will be to grid out both panels and transfer everything to the larger panel. When that is done I will go into the study with oils and then repeat (sans mistakes) on the larger panel.
Once the oil has dried on the study I will make another post and show the results. I am hoping to have the large panel painted and in NH by early summer. Till then click on the study to see a larger image.
I needed the large panel to be a specific size and be as sturdy as possible so I special ordered it from Prospect Heights’s own, Simon Liu Inc. Fine Painting Supports. The panel was not cheap but the expense was worth it. Simon Liu produces incredibly high quaility painting supports and my panel is no exception. Simon Liu also has a well stocked art supply store in the back of his workshop. If you are in the neighborhood stop by.

Above is a detail of a recently completed oil painting depicting my cousin Christopher and his wife Jill’s wedding bouquet. I had a local New York florist recreate the bouquet using a photograph taken at the ceremony and a list of flowers provided by the original New Hampshire florist. This new bouquet was placed in the sconce that held them on the dock the day they were married. The flowers were thus painted from life. The background I slipped in later using photos, sketches and memory as reference. It depicts the view one would see from the dock on Cotton Cove, Squam Lake, Holderness, NH. This painting is a belated wedding present to them. Click on the detail to view the entire image.

Another small painting done on the North Fork. This one is of a sod farm in Mattituck. I scouted out (sketched) the location this summer. Doing so allowed me to complete the painting in an afternoon. The painting is oil on canvas board, 8×16 inches.

Over Thanksgiving I was able to pick up two paintings I’d left drying at my parent’s home on the North Fork of Long Island. Both paintings were done on the same September day, at same New Suffolk Road location on Peconic Bay. The smaller one I did rather swiftly while facing south west as the sun shifted and illuminated the south easterly view seen in the wider painting. That painting took several hours to complete as I was attempting to capture a very specfic view that included the house on the left and the osprey nest on the right.
The wider painting is 8×16 inches. The smaller is 7×8 inches. Both are oil on canvas board. Click on either for a larger view.

Many of you may already be aware of Steve Mumford. Lately he has been getting a TON of press, both on TV and in print. Until this week I’d never heard of him.
As the Boston Globe reported:
“During 2003 and 2004, Mumford traveled on his own to occupied Iraq four times to chronicle military and civilian life. He made hundreds of sketches and kept a journal; entries were posted at Artnet.com, an online magazine. Now his writings and paintings have been collected in a book, Baghdad Journal, from Drawn and Quarterly publishers.”
I am VERY impressed. The skill Mr. Mumford displays across a diversity of mediums and scale of imagery is staggering. I long to see his work in person. Until then I’d happily settle for getting the “Baghdad Journal : An Artist in Occupied Iraq” for Christmas. Anyone feeling generous?

New York Magazine has published a holiday shopping map of Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue carefully compiled and playfully penned by MY invisibile woman, Corrie Pikul. The map is accompanied with wonderful illustrations by Steve Murray. Although his website does not reveal much (or even confirm that it’s the same guy) it appears that this Steve Murray contributes to a illustration and design blog very similar to our own. Check out the shopping then check out the sites. If you do end up buying gifts in the stores mentioned, please say you saw the piece in NY Magazine. Then maybe they’ll give Corrie some free stuff!

Above is a cityscape I am currently working on. Like my landscapes, all work has been done on site using my travel easel. Weather permitting I hope to enjoy (at least) one more session outdoors before having to head into the studio. Once inside I’ll rely on digital photographs in order to put final touches on the painting. I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress and post a final pic once I am through.