John O’Neill
Guild Member Salon Show
John O’Neill ABOUT: Raised and educated in Motown, I’ve served soup on the Bowery, cooked in Mom’s speakeasy (which became LaBecasse), married Linda, helped raise our Erin, and survived icy river plunges. Twice! I paint as I live—with passion. Good art must be true and beautiful, but not necessarily pretty. With a strong painting, you can develop an ongoing relationship. It will continue to reveal itself over time. It will invite you to live more fully. Henri Matisse trained as a lawyer and then painted. Skipping law school, I argued an environmental case for five years before discovering oil paint. Working with accomplished painters and studying masters old and new and has been my schooling. Bring provisions if you visit a museum with me. My apprenticeship has been to observe and paint. And paint. And paint. A famous painter among a small and ultra-sophisticated circle of admirers, I now struggle to cultivate humility. May you delight in the gift of sight, in the beauty of creation, and the power of art to awaken compassion for neighbors, Earth, and life itself. Enough talk! Let the images shimmer for themselves. THIS YEAR: I’m still in love with painting. GALLERIES: Leelanau Studios, Traverse
“Cloudscape,” Oil on canvas, 2019, 36 x 24 in, $725 One afternoon near the Maple City Lions Club, I looked up to behold this astonishing sight. I painted it from memory while standing in another day’s brilliant sunshine. “Cloudscape” was juried into the 2020 Michigan Fine Arts Competition at the Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center. Ten of my works have been in that show over time.
“Impending Storm,” Palette knife oil painting on canvas, 2019, 24 x 18 in, $400. At the end of a painting session, I often scoop up with my palette knife, the remaining paint and attempt something new and spontaneous. The results are sometimes awful. This is not one of the disasters. William Mallard Turner often paired his astonishing paintings with poetry he wrote. This haiku follows his tradition: “Impending Storm” Dread above. Against wind, roiling waves, struggle to retrieve utter light.
City, MI; Leelanau Country Inn, MI CONTACT: CTAC Artist Directory, Facebook.
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