Brian O’Neill

"Passion for Peonies," 30" x 40" oil. Brian’s reputation has grown steadily beyond his Rochester, NY, home base. His work has been shown in galleries across the U.S., Canada, England, and Japan. He’s currently working on a collection for a gallery in Scottsdale, Ariz., that will exhibit his work this fall. In Rochester, Brian’s paintings can be seen at the Nan Miller Gallery.He’s always been happiest when playing with paint. Good thing Brian got started early.

“I’ve been painting and drawing since my earliest memories,” he says.

Yet, had he first picked up a pen instead of a brush, Brian might have been a writer. Because for him, art is all about telling stories.

“What gave me my start was the need to express what I saw around me,” he says. “What I found beautiful. What was in my head.”

So what’s in there? The gentle glow and lush texture of his hyper-realistic art suggest it’s a rather romantic place. But while he’s drawn to the serene, Brian also has his restless moments.

He paints “not because I want to but because I have to.”

Brian“It stems from the continual quest for peace and fulfillment through beauty,” he says. “It’s as natural to me as breathing.”

"Peaceful Journey," 24" x 12" acrylic. Brian works primarily with organic subject matter and is best known for his floral paintings and drawings. But he also creates abstract works that deal in shape, mood, color and texture. “All of these elements can be found in my realistic work when you break them down in the micro,” he says. “They are the energy, mineral, and fire that fuel the realistic work.” Through most of his profession, Brian breathed life into his canvases with little more than instinct, talent and practice. That changed in 2009.

“Until then, I was entirely self-taught. That’s when I began apprenticing with The Waichulis Studio in Pennsylvania,” Brian says, referring to Tromp L’Oeil painter Anthony Waichulis.

The apprenticeship has opened up a new world of artistic expression to him.

“It’s one of the greatest gifts I could have ever given myself,” he says.

Brian finds inspiration everywhere he looks and listens, a hundred times a day. But his formal influences come into play as well. He admires the Pre-Raphaelite artists.

“Their obsession with allegorical and literary subject matter was always so beautiful yet tragically romantic,” he says.

He also mentions William Harnett and Norman Rockwell among his influences. John Singer Sargent, too.

“His portraits give me goose bumps and have brought tears to my eyes,” he says of Sargent.

Great stories often do.

See more: www.brianoneillstudio.com 

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