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ARTIST PROFILE
Julia O'Malley-Keyes
Having lived on a ranch in New
Mexico, subsequently moving down to Mexico, over to La Joya, back to the East
Coast and northern New Hampshire, down to Camden, Maine, and off to Prince
Edward Island, among other places, artist Julia O'Malley-Keyes notes that her
childhood was never boring.
"My father met my mother at a
coming-out party, and both were very interesting people. My father was a
European socialite, a writer, and an avid traveler. My mother was a weaver and
also a world-champion polo player. They had lots of bohemian friends. As a
child, I'd meet many artists, diplomats and writers. It was very different to be
brought up in such an environment," says O'Malley-Keyes.
Surrounded as she was in childhood
by creative people, it didn't seem all that strange for her to pick up a
paintbrush at the age of eight. "I told my parents that I wanted to paint and
they bought me an easel and oil paints," she recalls. "Art was all around me. I
was like a sponge sucking it all in."
Over the years, O'Malley-Keyes
nurtured her lifelong passion for art in the '60s and '70s by spending a great
deal of time in the thriving artist colonies of Provincetown and Greenwich
Village. Over the course of eight years summering in Provincetown, she worked as
a model and posed for famed painter Henry Hensche, picking up a treasure trove
of valuable advice from him. "Being there at that time gave me huge exposure to
lots of great people. At the time all my friends were artists, including my
husband," says O'Malley-Keyes, who reveals that the success of her first husband
-- also a painter -- was so intimidating to her that she hid her own paintings
from him.
"The next segment of her life was
filled with the pressures of corporate America. As the senior vice president of
sales and marketing for an apparel corporation, O'Malley-Keyes traveled all over
the Middle East, Asia, South America, and most of Europe. Because of the
demanding travel schedule, she was able to paint only in her hotel room at
night, an activity that "kept me sane," she says. It was not until she
encountered her current husband that things changed again for O'Malley-Keyes.
"When I met him, he asked me what I
wanted to do with my life--I was 50 mind you--and I told him I wanted my own
gallery. He gave me every dime he had to open this gallery, all of the money he
had been saving for 40 years. He's such a wonderful man. We've long since
replaced that investment money," says the artist, adding that just the presence
of her husband inspires her to do calming pieces.
Today, she is the owner and one of
the resident artists of Day Hill Studio Fine Art in North Falmouth, where her
often peaceful depictions of Cape Cod line the walls. To capture these scenes,
O'Malley-Keyes paints oil on linen using a technique that infuses each landscape
with a soft, luminous quality. To maintain her focus, she travels from Cape Cod
to China, Moscow, and Antwerp, where she studies with master painters. "Every
fall I spend two weeks in each place, studying one-on-one with a master for up
to ten hours a day," says O'Malley-Keyes, who is planning another trip this
coming fall. Her willingness to learn from other successful painters combined
with her own creative gifts has resulted in many positive career dividends.
Numerous works by O'Malley-Keyes
presently hang in private and corporate collections in the United States,
Europe, Canada and the Dominican Republic. Recently, she signed on as the
signature artist for Willowbend Properties in Mashpee. This upcoming Labor Day
weekend, one of her paintings will appear on all of the promotional pieces for
The Tanglewood Jazz Festival. "The Boston Symphony Orchestra was kind enough to
commission me as the festival's signature artist," says O'Malley-Keyes, who will
be on hand all weekend (September 3 - 5) for signings.
A firm believer in the adage "What
goes around comes around," the artist gives a great deal to the local community.
She donates at least 25 original paintings and 50 Giclées a year to charities
such as the Falmouth Free Clinic, Falmouth Hospital, Falmouth Service Center,
and Home for Little Wanderers. "I give about $40,000 - 45,000 worth of art
away every year," she says. "I just love doing it." - AD (Amy DuFault)
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