|
|
|
All over the Cape and Islands,
artisans are producing one-of-a-kind wares, and many of them invite the
public into their studios. Here are four of these talented individuals. If
you plan to visit, it’s a good idea to call in advance to make sure
they’ll be working when you come.
Julia O'Malley-Keyes grew up in what she calls a "very Bohemian" family. Her
mother was a weaver, her Father, a writer, who traveled a great deal and brought
the family with him. Julia O’Malley-Keyes, now 55 and the owner of Day Hill
Studio Fine Art in North Falmouth, has always painted, but no one knew it until she was
22, since she tucked most of her early work away in a closet. |
|
|
|
"Growing up around art and
artists, it just seemed natural to paint," says Julia, as she likes everyone to
call her. "Painting has always been a necessity in my life." Yet, for a long
time, she painted only for herself. In the early 1980s, Julia was Vice President
of Sales and Marketing for an apparel company. She lived in
Cambridge, Massachusetts and traveled all the time, never without her art
supplies. She would whip up paintings in her hotel rooms, then give them to her
colleagues and family. Once on a whim, during a buying trip to New York City, she stopped
into a Soho gallery with a couple of paintings to see if they thought she had
any talent – the owner asked if she had more! Julia wasted no time leaving
her high-pressure job, and she has never looked back.
Day Hill Studio Fine Art
was born out of love–a love for art but also a husband’s love for his wife
and his understanding of her need to paint. Bob Day had the studio
built 5 years ago simply because his wife craved a proper venue in which
to create. "I was chasing light around the house," says Julia. "The next
thing I knew, Bob went to the bank, took out every dime he’d ever saved
and put it into this room."
Come here and you are apt to find visitors seated on the sofa
watching Julia or another artist paint. She says it is not uncommon for people
to return later to see the transformation from blank canvas to finished work of
art. This is a Gallery with good karma. Julia understands that art
is subjective, so she show-cases a variety of painting styles, as well as
hand-woven shawls and hammocks and hand-crafted jewelry. All this began because
Julia understood – and still does – how important light is to an artist, and
with a space as magical as this, it wouldn’t be right not to share it with
the world.–M.T.
Ms. O'Malley-Keyes was featured in
Cape Cod Life Publications August issue of Cape Cod Arts and has been
voted by an independent survey as one of Cape Cod's most influential
people. Julia was selected from over 800 celebrated painters as the
featured artist for the Tanglewood Jazz Festival 2004 publications and
again in 2005. Ms. O'Malley-Keyes resides in North Falmouth,
Massachusetts, where she maintains her studio and art gallery. Her
luminous paintings and fine prints are collected extensively by private
and corporate admirers of her work, throughout the United States, Europe
and Canada.
Cape Cod Times article by Patrick Ian Clark
Boston Globe on
Tanglewood by David Rattigan
Cape Cod Life Arts Edition Summer/Fall 2004
Article by Mindy Todd
Fine Living
Network-Television Program
Falmouth Enterprise Articles
Article by Gerree Hogan Trudeau
Article by William J. Adelman Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr. Press
|
|
