Old Lyme, Connecticut
Things keep getting better for me with my art. The following press release about me was released before the Lyme Art Association 17th Annual Associate Artist Exhibition: “John O’Keefe Jr. is Featured Artist at Lyme Art Gallery.” WOW!!!
Featured Artist at Lyme Art Gallery – Press Release
LYME ART ASSOCIATION, 90 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, 06371
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Publicity Contact: Susan Cornell
Phone: [removed]
Email: [removed]
Image Attached: John O’Keefe, Big Cork Tree, Oil, 8″ x 10″
LAA’s Feature Artist, John O’Keefe
Landscape oil painting specialist John O’Keefe is Lyme Art Association’s feature artist. O’Keefe is showing at LAA’s current exhibition, the 17th Annual Associate Artist Exhibition, on view through February 28.
Early LIfe
O’Keefe has loved viewing and creating art for as long as he can remember. “Growing up, I was always drawing with pencils, colored pencils, watercolors, and I tried just about everything I could get my hands on,” he said. He received formal art training during his primary school years and placed within the top five at a state-level student art competition. He studied watercolor painting privately with Connecticut artist Cathy Singer and received training at the Paier College of Art in New Haven, Connecticut, all before graduating high school.
O’Keefe’s love for art led him to seek a career in mechanical drafting. As new technologies emerged, he advanced from manual drafting to more sophisticated 3D CAD modeling systems, project management, and new product development. The work was very technical, but an artistic element was also involved in the design and documentation.
He pursued musical arts and ran a small recording studio out of his home while playing guitar in a few bands.
Currently, O’Keefe is leading a video game project to develop a sophisticated DC-9-41 cockpit add-on package for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This project focused on the Scandinavian Airline Service (SAS) DC-9 airplane OY-KGR.
Currently
More recently, his wife Jennifer rekindled his zeal for drawing and painting. “It was her encouragement and support that motivated me to take up oil painting as a full-time artist in 2007, and now we are working together to promote my paintings,” he said.
Their daughter’s health problems were also significant in his becoming a full-time artist. Danielle O’Keefe suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as Epidermolysis Bullosa, which affects the skin and surface areas of the body. Like her father, Danielle has loved painting, drawing, and creating art since she was a little child.
O’Keefe specializes in Landscape Oil Painting in style similar to the famous Hudson River School and Victorian-era artists. He sells original works and a variety of high-quality pigment print reproductions.
“I love the early American painters from the Hudson River School and Victorian era. Most of my landscape oil paintings are directed toward the styles of those early artists. I hope to one day produce comparable works to such masters of landscape as Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and John Kennsett,” said the artist. “My paintings have been displayed at prestigious exhibitions at the Lyme Art Gallery and Mystic Arts Center in Connecticut. I have won awards, and the future only seems brighter as I work to promote my art,” he added.
Big Cork Tree Painting
O’Keefe’s Big Cork Tree is on view at the Lyme Art Association’s current show, the 17th Annual Artist Exhibition. The painting started as a tree study as he has been working to improve his skills in painting trees in preparation for some larger paintings in the works. “The sky, as with most of my skies, is painted from photographs my wife Jennifer takes. We may drive to look for beautiful skies and local landscape scenery to photograph. An old Victorian engraving of a cork tree inspired the tree itself. The land and distant hills are done to capture an African landscape,” he explains.
“Some other details on the painting are that it’s mounted on medium textured canvas and I used Winsor & Newton ‘Artist Oil Colors.’ Also, as with most of my paintings, they are only complete once I get the ok from Jennifer. She has an excellent eye for spotting something that looks off or is missing,” he says, adding, “We hang my works that are in process in our living room. Sometimes after a few days or weeks, we decide a particular painting needs something more added, so it goes back on the easel for some touch-up work. I like being surrounded by reproductions of my previous works to gauge my progress as a landscape painter. Most original works are for sale.”
Lyme Art Gallery – About Lyme Art Association
LAA is located at 90 Lyme Street in Old Lyme. Admission is free, with contributions greatly appreciated. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 1 to 5 pm. For more information on exhibitions, purchase of art, art classes, or becoming a member, call 860-434-7802.
Founded in 1914 by the American Impressionists, the Lyme Art Association continues the tradition of exhibiting and selling representational artwork by its members, inviting artists, and offering art instruction and lectures to the community. The Lyme Art Association is located at 90 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT, in a building designed by Charles Adams Platt and located within a historic district. Admission is free, with contributions appreciated. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 1 to 5 pm. For more information on the exhibition
Also, check out the exhibition.