Carol O’Malia

I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was 13, but I didn’t tell anyone because I knew that they (the “grown-ups!”) would ruin my dream, so I hid it.

Was there a pivotal moment for you?

At age 39, I had my first and only child. One day I noticed a strange, slightly opaque halo in my eye. I went to the opthamologist and learned that I had aggressively growing cataracts. I had to wait 6 months for surgery, and in that time I lost 80% of the vision in my right eye and my left eye started to deteriorate.

So I quit everything to figure out how to cope with this and a newborn. I went into my studio and painted very large snow paintings. After I finished them, still waiting for surgery, I met with the director of the Fitchburg Art Museum. My work ended up in their triennial show, was reviewed in the Boston Globe, and I got picked up by a gallery in Utah. I had an “aha” moment when I realized people actually liked my work!

Where do you find inspiration?

Initially it was in nature. I’d walk around the woods to calm myself, but that became harder to do with an infant, as the solitary part was gone. I then realized that my inspiration was in my daughter and her changes. She is the female in most of my paintings. I have never done a full portrait of her, rather, I see her as “every girl.” I tried to record the feeling of just that moment in time, the ephemerality of it.

I never felt they were sweet paintings just because they had kids in them. I actually felt like I had to paint them to make sure the kids were safe, because the world is so fraught with unknowns. My kids are always alone, with no adults in sight, but they are safe.

What is your favorite medium?

Oil paints. There is no competition.

Can you describe your process?

A lot of thinking. A lot of planning. All my imagery is based on photos that I take. I set up the models, the pillows, etc. I jump into the pool with my beachballs. I saved my parents’ vintage lawn chairs when my brothers threw them into a dumpster after my parents died. The chairs ended up in a series of paintings.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your work?

The fabric paintings are new. I could use a lot of artspeak about composition and color, but really something in there is about my mother who passed away 10 years ago. She sewed everything. I won’t really know what they mean for a while, and I just accept the process.

Read about other artists on the Meet the Artists page.