For our third and final interview with the award-winning artists in May’s juried group exhibit, we turn to Susan O’Neill, whose oil painting Thomas’s Gift was awarded second place. (The juror, contemporary art curator Lauren Dickens, awarded best-in-show and third place to two other still life paintings — those interviews are here (with Leigh Culver) and here (with Paul Zapatka.)
Susan O’Neill was also recognized last spring for a collage in our “Earth” exhibit (you can read our earlier interview here), and last fall, her proposal for an exhibit of work on the human figure was selected by a panel of jurors for a 2014 solo show at The Art League.
Susan told us more about that exhibit, her influences, and the gift that spawned the still life — it’s all in our Q&A, below.
How did Thomas’s Gift start?
Susan O’Neill: This particular still life was inspired by my seven-year-old son, who brought me some daffodils that he picked in our garden. I was so touched that I told him that I would paint them. I could not let him down and wanted to keep my promise, so I had to quickly capture them in paint before they lost their vitality and sparkle. He put them into a vase and I wanted to paint them just as he arranged them, without any alteration.
What’s your goal with a still life, and with this one in particular? Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Susan O’Neill