LEFT, “Coral Casino Tower,” 22” x 28”, oil. ABOVE, “Seaweed,” 22” x 28”, oil. LOWER, “Coral Casino,” 9” x 12”, oil.
Notecards of O’Neill’s paintings are available at Porch.
A MBER O’N EILL Carpinteria artist Amber O’Neill
merges opposites in the realistic landscapes of her oil paintings. Light and shadow meet when a slant of afternoon sunshine bends through the fleshy leaves of an agave plant. The manmade and natural coincide in her coastal scenes—a chair interacts with the coastline, a stairway or a wall throws an abrupt straight line in front of a rolling coast and colorful horizon. She calls the subjects of her paint-
ings “local spots with a bit of a story.” Most of them have a story for O’Neill who has spent a majority of her life in Carpinteria. Rincon County Park and the beach below are ideal spots for O’Neill to work. “I’ve painted Rincon from every angle,” O’Neill says. “Looking up towards the bluffs at the eucalyptus, you can’t even tell I’m on the beach. I’ve even done the bathrooms, and that painting’s one
68 carpinteriaMAGAZINE
Art teacher and artist Amber O’Neill sharing her passion with a student.
of my favorites.” O’Neill’s training started at a young
age under the tutelage of her father, Richard Wilke, and her mother’s sis- ter. “They were artists, so that’s what I did when I was with them,” she says. Now she’s instilling knowledge and
love of art to another generation as an art instructor at Laguna Blanca Lower and Middle Schools. Being around kids and art teaches O’Neill, too, and keeps her perspective fresh, she says. “Art done by students is just as inspir- ing as going to a gallery,” says O’Neill. “Young kids are not intimidated, not self conscious.” O’Neill’s most recent solo exhibit
was at Porch home and garden store. As a mother and teacher, she had not painted specifically for putting together an exhibit for a while. The project motivated her to produce dozens of paintings and to begin to
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