"It's a Wonderful Life" by Sandy O'Connor
Biography
Sandy O’Connor is an American visual artist best known for her watercolors and the exquisite realism she achieves. She is often drawn to subjects that are overlooked or evoke feelings of nostalgia. Her award-winning work has appeared in over 150 regional, national and international juried exhibitions, numerous magazine articles and hardbound books.
“Sandy’s entries are of high quality, popular acclaim and pieces about which viewers come away with feelings about the subject matter, thoughts about her viewpoint and her emotions. She reaches the standard of excellence that other painters hope to emulate. Her ability to capture everyday objects, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a Cotuit oyster or her grandmother’s Irish soda bread, in a realistic way that brings the viewer into her story and makes them soak up every part of the scene and feel like they are there. She is always learning and trying new techniques, but many who have seen her exhibits and one person shows feel that she handles her artwork in a style that cannot be improved.”
– Roberta Miller, Executive Director, Cape Cod Art Center
Sandy O’Connor is an American visual artist best known for her watercolors and the exquisite realism she achieves. She is often drawn to subjects that are overlooked or evoke feelings of nostalgia. Her award-winning work has appeared in over 150 regional, national and international juried exhibitions, numerous magazine articles and hardbound books.
“Sandy’s entries are of high quality, popular acclaim and pieces about which viewers come away with feelings about the subject matter, thoughts about her viewpoint and her emotions. She reaches the standard of excellence that other painters hope to emulate. Her ability to capture everyday objects, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a Cotuit oyster or her grandmother’s Irish soda bread, in a realistic way that brings the viewer into her story and makes them soak up every part of the scene and feel like they are there. She is always learning and trying new techniques, but many who have seen her exhibits and one person shows feel that she handles her artwork in a style that cannot be improved.”
– Roberta Miller, Executive Director, Cape Cod Art Center
Artist's Statement
Growing up on a small farm in northern New Jersey I was surrounded by nature and changing seasons which inspired a life-long interest in the environment, art and design. My affinity for these disciplines led instinctively to a degree in landscape architecture which I practiced early on in my professional career. Eventually I switched gears, studied commercial art, and worked entry-level jobs in advertising as a graphic designer and eventually as an art director. The highlight of my corporate career was helping to establish the international media brand of Bloomberg, LP as the first Managing Art Director of Bloomberg magazine and subsequently developing the company’s in-house, full-service marketing department as Director of Creative Services. It is this combination of an amateur naturalist’s eye and the discipline of a professional design career that shapes my representational style as a fine artist today.
I’ve had the good fortune to live in many places within the United States from Seattle to Cape Cod, and now central Pennsylvania. I’m proud to be a juried Artist Member of the Copley Society of Art, a Signature Member of the Hudson Valley Art Association and a member of the first class inducted as a Master Artist of the Cape Cod Art Center. I've been honored with national and international recognition including a Silver Medal award from the Northwest Watercolor Society.
In 2019 I was awarded a Copley Society Visual Artist Fellowship and residency at the historic Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. During that time, I researched the impact of climate change on vulnerable landscapes within the Outer Cape and in turn used my art and social media platform to draw attention to their ecological significance. The resulting exhibition is a series of watercolor paintings titled, “A Tipping Point – An Artist’s Response to Climate Change on the Outer Cape”. The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts produced a webinar, "How Art Can Document the Impacts of Climate Change". A recording is available here.
My work has been published in several issues of American Artist and Watercolor Artist magazines and appears in four issues of the hard cover series of Splash books, including Splash Retrospective – 20 Years of Contemporary Watercolor Excellence, a beautiful international showcase of the best in contemporary watercolors published by North Light Books. In 2020 Voyager Boston magazine published a comprehensive Q & A with me that provides insight into my unique artistic journey. Click the link here and enjoy the full interview. http://bostonvoyager.com/interview/check-sandy-oconnors-artwork/
Growing up on a small farm in northern New Jersey I was surrounded by nature and changing seasons which inspired a life-long interest in the environment, art and design. My affinity for these disciplines led instinctively to a degree in landscape architecture which I practiced early on in my professional career. Eventually I switched gears, studied commercial art, and worked entry-level jobs in advertising as a graphic designer and eventually as an art director. The highlight of my corporate career was helping to establish the international media brand of Bloomberg, LP as the first Managing Art Director of Bloomberg magazine and subsequently developing the company’s in-house, full-service marketing department as Director of Creative Services. It is this combination of an amateur naturalist’s eye and the discipline of a professional design career that shapes my representational style as a fine artist today.
I’ve had the good fortune to live in many places within the United States from Seattle to Cape Cod, and now central Pennsylvania. I’m proud to be a juried Artist Member of the Copley Society of Art, a Signature Member of the Hudson Valley Art Association and a member of the first class inducted as a Master Artist of the Cape Cod Art Center. I've been honored with national and international recognition including a Silver Medal award from the Northwest Watercolor Society.
In 2019 I was awarded a Copley Society Visual Artist Fellowship and residency at the historic Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. During that time, I researched the impact of climate change on vulnerable landscapes within the Outer Cape and in turn used my art and social media platform to draw attention to their ecological significance. The resulting exhibition is a series of watercolor paintings titled, “A Tipping Point – An Artist’s Response to Climate Change on the Outer Cape”. The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts produced a webinar, "How Art Can Document the Impacts of Climate Change". A recording is available here.
My work has been published in several issues of American Artist and Watercolor Artist magazines and appears in four issues of the hard cover series of Splash books, including Splash Retrospective – 20 Years of Contemporary Watercolor Excellence, a beautiful international showcase of the best in contemporary watercolors published by North Light Books. In 2020 Voyager Boston magazine published a comprehensive Q & A with me that provides insight into my unique artistic journey. Click the link here and enjoy the full interview. http://bostonvoyager.com/interview/check-sandy-oconnors-artwork/