Inspired by his grandmother’s passion to create, Irish-born artist Christopher O’Connor explores the natural world through his art.
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| Irish-born artist Christopher O'Connor, a former Windham resident, captures the beauty of Maine's environment, including a series highlighting the state's rugged coastline called 'Coastal Waters' and 'River Reflections' which shows scenes along rivers and waterways. He displays his artwork exhibitions at the Portland Art Gallery and the Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Some of the pieces in the “Coastal Waters” series are clear enough to be mistaken for photographs, but as a viewer approaches the work, the perspective shifts and more details expose that it’s created by a human hand.
“From a certain distance it does look photographic, but the closer you get, all of the sudden it starts to break down to just paint,” O’Connor explained. “Before you know it, if you’re up next to it, it’s just scribbles. It looks like nonsense.”
“I love that juxtaposition,” he added.
Working on one piece in the continuing series over the summer was a rare chance for the artist to devote time solely to one work until it was complete.
“I had that wonderful experience where I had the time to pour myself into it until it was finished,” he said. “That was lovely but doesn’t happen all the time.”
O’Connor, who has exhibitions at the Portland Art Gallery and the Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor, looks for opportunities to display his work in ways that allows for the change in perspective.
“I love if I can have my piece hung in such a way that you can see it from a distance and you have that first experience,” he said. “Then as you progressively get closer, it’s confounding you because it keeps breaking down.”
Another series focuses on magnolia trees and their large while flowers. The composition appears layered and graphic, reaching from the canvas to show the individual blooms. The artist used lower quality brushes to help force himself to slow down to develop the intricate details.
“Because I am very detail oriented and process oriented, I try to find the quickest way to something sometimes,” O’Connor explained. “Ruining your brush to a degree, buying cheaper brushes so you can’t get the detail you want straight away slowed me down.”
“You have to build it up slowly, and I’ve been enjoying that,” he continued. “It pulls you out of yourself.”
The self-taught artist tends to focus on one subject for a period, creating eight to 10 works to add to a series solely relating to that subject.
“Then I get too familiar with it and need to break off and do something else,” he explained.
O’Connor’s love of creating began through experiences with his grandmother, Margaret Moran, in Dingle, County Kerry, who made dolls from her home, later selling those dolls to tourists passing by when the movie industry blossomed in the area.
“My grandma was wonderful, and she was always creative,” he said. “She had a beautiful, old yellow cottage outside of town. Inside, she painted it all different colors.”
“She was jolly and fun to hang out with, and part of my job as a kid was to hang out with her so she didn’t fall,” O’Connor continued. “We would go to the beach a lot and collect shells, and she would make dolls from the shells.”
In 1970, the area around the Irish town was used to shoot David Lean’s “Ryan’s Daughter,” and tourists began to explore, which gave Moran the opportunity to offer her creations.
“She spun up a little stall to sell her little shell dolls,” O’Connor said. “Every morning she would bring them out, and after a few hours they would all be sold out.”
“She had a joy in making things,” he continued. “Being around that gave me a different perspective on what you could do.”
While O’Connor’s preferred medium is oil, the complicated process related to curing and allowing the piece to fully harden means that acrylics have been his most frequent medium due to their convenience.
“My favorite is oil, but I’ve worked with acrylics for the last 14 years, because they dry fast,” he said. “With oil, each painting is six months before it dries fully so those considerations are challenging sometimes. It gets a skin in 7-10 days but takes six months to fully harden and then you can varnish it.”
“It’s lovely but a pain,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor left Ireland to pursue love across the ocean. He moved to Portland to join his now-wife, Sonia Cook-Broen, an engineer and artist, 14 years ago. After living in Westbrook, the family moved to Windham at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s really beautiful. I love Ireland very much, but the weather can get to you after a bit. The rain and the rain and the rain,” he said. “I was having memories of Ireland over the weekend with the nor’easter. The weather is hard, but the reason I came over 14 years ago was my fiancé.”
The family moved to Portland around Christmas last year, where O’Connor has a studio on the Eastern Promenade.
“I have no commute,” he said. “I can get up in the morning and just start painting if I feel like.”
O’Connor has two stepchildren, Matilda and Makai. Makai picked up art last year and O’Connor is excited to see his growth over time.
“He’s quite phenomenal and he’s working fast.,” he said.
Examples of O’Connor’s work can be seen at the Artemis Gallery or the Portland Art Gallery. More information can be found on his website https://www.christopheroconnorpainting.com/. <
“From a certain distance it does look photographic, but the closer you get, all of the sudden it starts to break down to just paint,” O’Connor explained. “Before you know it, if you’re up next to it, it’s just scribbles. It looks like nonsense.”
“I love that juxtaposition,” he added.
Working on one piece in the continuing series over the summer was a rare chance for the artist to devote time solely to one work until it was complete.
O’Connor, who has exhibitions at the Portland Art Gallery and the Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor, looks for opportunities to display his work in ways that allows for the change in perspective.
“I love if I can have my piece hung in such a way that you can see it from a distance and you have that first experience,” he said. “Then as you progressively get closer, it’s confounding you because it keeps breaking down.”
Another series focuses on magnolia trees and their large while flowers. The composition appears layered and graphic, reaching from the canvas to show the individual blooms. The artist used lower quality brushes to help force himself to slow down to develop the intricate details.
“Because I am very detail oriented and process oriented, I try to find the quickest way to something sometimes,” O’Connor explained. “Ruining your brush to a degree, buying cheaper brushes so you can’t get the detail you want straight away slowed me down.”
“You have to build it up slowly, and I’ve been enjoying that,” he continued. “It pulls you out of yourself.”
The self-taught artist tends to focus on one subject for a period, creating eight to 10 works to add to a series solely relating to that subject.
“Then I get too familiar with it and need to break off and do something else,” he explained.
O’Connor’s love of creating began through experiences with his grandmother, Margaret Moran, in Dingle, County Kerry, who made dolls from her home, later selling those dolls to tourists passing by when the movie industry blossomed in the area.
“My grandma was wonderful, and she was always creative,” he said. “She had a beautiful, old yellow cottage outside of town. Inside, she painted it all different colors.”
“She was jolly and fun to hang out with, and part of my job as a kid was to hang out with her so she didn’t fall,” O’Connor continued. “We would go to the beach a lot and collect shells, and she would make dolls from the shells.”
In 1970, the area around the Irish town was used to shoot David Lean’s “Ryan’s Daughter,” and tourists began to explore, which gave Moran the opportunity to offer her creations.
“She spun up a little stall to sell her little shell dolls,” O’Connor said. “Every morning she would bring them out, and after a few hours they would all be sold out.”
“She had a joy in making things,” he continued. “Being around that gave me a different perspective on what you could do.”
While O’Connor’s preferred medium is oil, the complicated process related to curing and allowing the piece to fully harden means that acrylics have been his most frequent medium due to their convenience.
“My favorite is oil, but I’ve worked with acrylics for the last 14 years, because they dry fast,” he said. “With oil, each painting is six months before it dries fully so those considerations are challenging sometimes. It gets a skin in 7-10 days but takes six months to fully harden and then you can varnish it.”
“It’s lovely but a pain,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor left Ireland to pursue love across the ocean. He moved to Portland to join his now-wife, Sonia Cook-Broen, an engineer and artist, 14 years ago. After living in Westbrook, the family moved to Windham at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s really beautiful. I love Ireland very much, but the weather can get to you after a bit. The rain and the rain and the rain,” he said. “I was having memories of Ireland over the weekend with the nor’easter. The weather is hard, but the reason I came over 14 years ago was my fiancé.”
The family moved to Portland around Christmas last year, where O’Connor has a studio on the Eastern Promenade.
“I have no commute,” he said. “I can get up in the morning and just start painting if I feel like.”
O’Connor has two stepchildren, Matilda and Makai. Makai picked up art last year and O’Connor is excited to see his growth over time.
“He’s quite phenomenal and he’s working fast.,” he said.
Examples of O’Connor’s work can be seen at the Artemis Gallery or the Portland Art Gallery. More information can be found on his website https://www.christopheroconnorpainting.com/. <
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