Patricia O’Halloran, B.a. M.ed.

Artists Biography

I was born in Nairobi, Kenya…and had a childhood comprised of wilderness, animals and a marvelous people.

About one third of Nairobi’s inhabitants were the Africans who left their villages, finding work in homes and offices; building fires at night to make posho and gossip. Their laughter and language will never leave me.

The next third were a random bunch of Europeans: Italian prisoners of war who just never went back, a Russian ballet dancer fleeing the revolution, Irish missionaries, English looking for colonial life, to name a few; an incongruous group sharing enough spirit of adventure to move to Africa.

Lastly were the Asian and Arab communities. Our neighbors rolled out their prayer mats facing Mecca each evening. We shopped in the Indian “dukkas” where gorgeous rugs, fabrics and spices were sold. I loved the women, with jeweled noses, in their flowing saris of silk and golden threads. Sikhs in tight pointed turbans strode through town.

There were no manufactured entertainments, no toys, not too many stores. It was a wonderful life with herds of elephant, zebra and giraffe across the grasslands; flamingos on Lake Nyvasha. We would come across Masai tribesmen with their red blankets, beads and body paint.

There was no work for my Dad so we had to leave. We took a ship to Europe when I was 11. Genoa, Italy was the first stop. Here is where I first saw European Art and it captured my imagination with a ferocious awe. It was the passion and glory of Michelangelo’s sculpture, Moses, which woke me up. We bought a book of photographs and I would pore over them for years to come.

I quietly absorbed the shock of being thrown into an English suburban life. Children in schools in rows of desks filling in sheet work are deprived of real learning, a poor substitute for natural curiosity. I still consider it a crushing preparation for a mindless life as cog in industrialized society. But I had a wonderful nun who knew what was behind my shyness. “Patricia” she said “I know this is hard for you, but I can tell that you are very intelligent because of your Art”. NC Wyeth did not have his children go to school.

I lived in Ireland during both peaceful and troubled times. I have done many things but have always come back to Art. My life is full of beauty and wonder. I have seen so much, suffered too. Painting is the thing I do that takes time away. It refreshes and restores. I love my work. Through it I can explore ideas too ephemeral for language.