A WellPainted World

Susan O’Neill is a mainly self-trained painter whose whimsical portraits of the world exude all the depth and grace of a Grandma Moses Americana canvas.

At first glance, one cannot help but be captivated by O’Neill’s vibrancy of colors and fun perspectives that suggest those luscious worlds that grace the pages of children’s picture books. Although O’Neill has not yet illustrated a children’s book, her paintings are known and admired by fans stretching from Florida to her beloved Milford.

Susan O’Neill’s bright paintings immediately suggest children’s picture book illustration. O’Neill often includes animals in her whimsical paintings to reflect the abundant wildlife in Milford.

O’Neill was formally educated in architecture, first at the University of Pennsylvania before transferring to the Rhode Island School of Design in their five-year program. “I got right into the architectural program and that’s all I did when I was there. I did not take one fine arts course the entire time,” says O’Neill.

In the back of her mind, however, she thought about being a painter, yet the need for a reliable career took center stage in her life. So, with degree in-hand, O’Neill worked as an architectural designer. “I was in the remodeling industry most of the time in Norwalk, and I was on Nantucket for about four years,” says O’Neill. “I designed houses out there, but most of the time I was in the remodeling industry, and I wanted to be a painter.”

With that ever-growing desire to paint tugging at the back of her mind, it wasn’t until O’Neill reached the age of 40 that the fear of a lifetime of unfulfilled creative desires made her realize that if she was ever going to be a painter, she had better start soon.

“I took a night course in 2007 and that’s when I started painting,” says O’Neill. “Then I just kind of started painting on my own and I decided that I really wanted to go for it. The economy crashed in 2009 and that helped me make my decision because pretty soon there was no work left in my field.”

With her old career on ice, O’Neill thought, “Well, I’ll just move to Key West and see if I can make a living painting.” That decision worked out splendidly.

For the next seven years—from 2011 to 2018—O’Neill painted in Key West, where she began painting plein air, which means outside in the open air, because of the balmy weather. She even formed and led a group called the Key West Plein Air Painters.

“I did that for about four years, and we painted on the streets and on the beaches every single Wednesday all year round,” she recalls. “I had a pretty big group in the winter. We had almost 20 people. And in the summer, it was really only a couple of us because it was so hot. We’d sit in the shade, have a beer, paint, and have a good time. It was really, really fun.”

During her time in Key West—in Ernest Hemingway country—O’Neill became a member of a co-op gallery and sold many paintings, including prints of her works at the