My Bio
Artist’s BIO
Jackie O’Hara is a visual artist who paints coastal scenes near where she lives in Newcastle County Down. She uses oils, acrylics or watercolour to paint grasses and plantlife along the walkways, with glints of sea and light a constrant source of inspiration which she never tires of.
Jackie can source the beginning of this passion to a print of her mother's in her childhood home in Belfast.
It was a scene of grasses against a sunset sky which evoked peace.
Even as a child she noticed how art could change the atmosphere of a room.
Jackie’s process begins with a walk and intense and acute observation.
She then creates thumbnail sketches whilst also researching the work of landscape artists such as Albala, McCarthy, Kroyer, Sargent, Stein and van Gogh. The main piece is a larger version of a strong thumbnail that works compositionally.
After the underpainting the main values are blocked in and a palette is selected using the colour wheel and some experimentation in sketchbooks.
She then stands back and returns later to review values and colour to get more clarity.
Jackie has a unique method when painting plants for example red hot pokers. She has benefitted from studying the Fibonacci sequence to better understand how the light bathes the plant.
The most challenging part of making a piece of work is knowing when to stop. Jackie's rule of thumb is to finish when she feels she has achieved an ambient and dynamic atmosphere.