Omalley 

13 creative works found

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  "The Question Begs the Answer"
  by Leith O'Malley

  A recent charcoal diptych..

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  Draw from the ink in your veins..
  by Leith O'Malley

  A reproduction of the prose I wrote for the “The Question Begs the Answer” charcoal.

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  "Out on Loan"
  by Leith O'Malley

  I recently exhibited this collage at a local gallery as part of a small group exhibition. / It was almost a last minute decision but I was keen to show something a little different from my usual oil paintings and with a degree of spontaneity or stream of consciousness about it. / I decided to collage a lot of old book stub receipts from a local university library where I have been going for years (not the uni, just the library) for inspirational books by artists and writers. / There’s a montage of those stubs here along with collaged parts of my paintings (canvas) and prints, quotes, mistakes, ink, charcoal, pastel, spilled wine, newspaper, part of a letter from artist George Gittoes, a photo of my dad when he was singing in circuses, poetry, Kandinsky’s theory on art and my own theory (an American dollar note). / I must say I was inspired by redbubbles very own Herkissable and the recent postings from her journal to actually publish this (it’s been a while :) / Anyway, enough of my rambling.. here it is.. my mixed media collage and a few close ups for good measure.. / Thanks for dropping by! / -Leith / www.leithomalley.com / /

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  "Apparition on Hummock Hill"
  by Leith O'Malley

  This is a fairly recent work on paper. / It is actually a small (60cm X 50cm – oil on collaged pages). / I have allowed some of the text to remain uncovered by the paint. Those of you who know my work may recognise the reference here to my Red Dust Girl and Caffeine Girl works. Maybe this is the moment. The moment of inspiration for those works. The vision. The apparition. Maybe this is it. / Maybe.

• An Interview with Leith O'Malley
  by Marilyn Brown

  I think my first memory was sitting at the kitchen table when I was nine or ten years old and drawing TV cartoon characters.

  In a quest to continue the mission here is my second interview with the creative and incomparable Leith O’Malley.

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  "Return of the Red Dust Girl"
  by Leith O'Malley

  oil on canvas 120×90cm Part of an on going series of large works. It’s open for interpretation but like most of the paintings from this series, I guess I am trying to convey the feeling or expression of living in a regional area or a situation far from the influence of a metropolitan city. / I wanted it to reflect a celebration of outback Australia, of the people living there each day of their lives and of the purity or innocence that can be found in such a seemingly baron and harsh landscape. Painting can sometimes be a very individual pursuit or in my case an infatuation, so I also want the work to express the joy of being alone or separated.. and of the contentment in that individualism. How change or at least as metaphor can be a good thing, and doesn’t necessarily need to change us as individuals. / / I knew that having a young girl or woman in the picture would be the perfect vehicle to present this idea. I decided early on that nothing in each of the paintings would touch the ground. / I come from a circus family so the umbrella stripes are a reference to circus tents. / It’s just something that resonates with me. A strange attraction I suppose. / My Dad was a traveling musician in the circus and although I was too young to know, I traveled to every state in Australia with Mum, Dad and my brothers and sister. So maybe it’s a subliminal thing. / To this day I love being around any visiting circus.. that carnival spirit.. it really fascinates me, and naturally comes back to town in my work from time to time. Anyway, thought I would post this recent painting here and hope you all enjoy it! - Leith :) www.leithomalley.com /

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  Girt By Sea
  by Leith O'Malley

  Oil on Canvas 120×90 cm / Francis Keevil Gallery / Double Bay Sydney / Dec 11 – 25th 2008. You may have recognised the title. / Taken from the lines of the Australian national anthem “Advance Australia Fair”. / The painting is part of a continuing series “The Red Dust Girl” which amongst other things celebrates isolation, solitude, landscape and the Australian spirit. “We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil, / Our home is girt by sea” This was my first real use of gold leaf which you can see here in the coat sleeves, buttons and edging around the coat. Usually I just work in oil and the occassional collaged piece here and there. / I sketched this one out about a year ago whilst thinking about that line “Girt By Sea” which I scratched down in my sketch book. I have had a fascination with Colonial Australia for some time now and even painted a large portrait of Edward John Eyre once. So here I got to finally combine my early explorer imagery with the series I am most keen on continuing. “When gallant Cook from Albion sail’d, / To trace wide oceans o’er, / True British courage bore him on, / Till he landed on our shore” Some of you may notice a recurring motif in my work. The “stick man” in the sleeve design makes another appearance. For me it represents the real beginning of drawing or the first marks, certainly for myself. It is never far from my mind “this beginning”. / We have all been there.. way back as small children trying to draw.. pure, innocent line. / It still attracts me. That very same sense of wanting to interpret my surroundings, my environment, my self and my place within it. It’s still as exciting as those first marks, those first stick man figures. / I try to never forget that. A closer look:

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  Waiting For Your (Ghost) Ship To Come In
  by CrimsonLotus

  Again I owe a debt of gratitude to DeviantARTIST cAnDiEsFoReVeRyOnE for use of her wonderful vintage stock images. You can view her gallery here Also to Marcus J Ranum for his wonderful stock of a galleon model. You can view Marcus’ s stock gallery here

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  Hats off, step lively..
  by Leith O'Malley

  Promotional flyer for my new work which forms part of a group (gallery stable) exhibition in Sydney. Opening Dec 12. / Runs till Dec 24th. Frances Keevil Gallery / Double Bay, Sydney / NSW More info here: From Australian Art Review!

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  Grace O'Malley's Tower with Yew Tree
  by Alice McMahon White

  Achill Island, Co. Mayo Ireland September 2008

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  Caffeine Girl 6
  by Leith O'Malley

  Looking back I found I hadn’t previously posted this painting. / It’s from a few years ago.. part of the “Caffeine Girl” series. Come to think of it, two of these works are currently hanging in Smart Artz Gallery in South Melbourne if you’re in the neighborhood. Actually, wait till after March 1st and you can catch The Wild Young Things there at the same time. All the paintings from the series were/are approx 120×90 cm (4ft x 3ft) oil on canvas. In regard to the Caffeine Girl series, I had a tentative title of “Café Girls” after the first two paintings were started but like most things, as it develops it takes on a life of it’s own. / The inclusion of the birds initially was to reflect or mirror the figures personality, but that’s not necessarily the case now in the later paintings. / Although it sounds a little strange, sometimes I feel like a painting is telling me what it wants rather than the other way around. It’s not always obvious even during the painting cycle what is going to reveal itself. You have a plan but a lot happens along the way. It’s an exciting part of the process of painting for me. I don’t want to bore you with some long winded philosophical explanation about these works below as I really like it to be up to the viewer to decide on what it is or might represent. / What I will say is that when I look at these pieces I see something between the girl and the bird… something…. some mystery or something unsaid. / / It may appear unsettling in one yet very subtle or innocent in another. This undercurrent appeals to me… creating something celebrating beauty but juxtaposing it with a darker subliminal element. However having said that, ascetically they are simply nice paintings to look at. /

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  Process
  by Leith O'Malley

  I was asked recently by a fellow redbbubbler how I start a painting and the process I use. He was keen on seeing the “beginnings” of a painting. / Apologies for taking a little while to get around to doing this John, but I hope this goes some way in answering your question or providing an insight for you.. / I might even take it further and document a few other stages of a work in progress for you John and to the other people here interested of course… if all goes to plan. / Bear with me :) What I have posted here is the initial rough drawing for one of my recent works. / I will try and update this as time goes on. It carrys on from other work I do notably the Red Dust Girl series or other paintings where the figure is lifted, floating or hovering in some way. / I will be introducing a little piece of my creative space to this one in the form of a beautiful gramophone which sits in my studio surrounded by brushes of all descriptions (see photo below). / / I love honesty and originality in art and enjoy weaving part or parts of my life throughout my work whether it be particular objects or little metaphors. I also like to include recurring icons from my earlier and recent work. Hence the stripes (in this case the striped hat) reappears along with the flat almost desert landscape indicative of the Red Dust Girl series and my immediate surroundings. The girls coat is the same one used in my painting Girt by Sea This drawing is from one of my sketchbooks and is rendered in pencil, although I also start ideas for paintings in ink or charcoal. / I may or may not do a colour study depending on how sure I am of the work. Sometimes it’s nice to save some decissions to happen during the painting stage.. leaving some things to chance adds mystery and excitement.. plus an element of risk – just to make the journey a little more interesting :) From here, the process is to redraw it all on canvas in charcoal and apply a sprayed coat of fixative so the paint doesn’t “dirty” when I start to paint over the charcoal underdrawing. But lets save the rest for next time ok..

• VALUABLE ADVICE FROM LEITH O'MALLEY
  by BLYTHART

  I’d like to draw your attention to Leith O’Malley. His work has a very original twist to it which is easily recognisable as his own styl…

  I’d like to draw your attention to Leith O’Malley. His work has a very original twist to it which is easily recognisable as his own style. Catherine Walker drew my attention to some written work of Leith’s today and I’d like you all to read it, as it contains some really inspiring advice. It is written on the wall of this painting (below) by him, but to read it properly CLICK HERE AND DON’T FORGET TO LOOK AT HIS FANTASTIC PORTFOLIO TOO WHILE YOU ARE THERE.