Lucy Ann O’Donnell

I have always loved art since I was a little girl and whenever asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, it was always, “Artist!”. It always felt like a dream career when I was younger, so I feel especially lucky now that art is a huge part of my daily life and that I followed through with my childhood passion.

It became just a casual thing for me though through my teens and twenties, and I have so many notebooks and scrap bits of paper from these times where I’ve written notes to myself: “start drawing”, “paint more”, or “start an art career”. Nothing much ever came of it, as I always said I was “too busy”.

In my mid-twenties, I went to Berlin for the weekend with my partner and a series of very unfortunate and stressful events led me to experiencing a severe anxiety attack. Due to this, I stayed in the hotel for the entire trip. One afternoon when my partner was out, I picked up the hotel notepad and pencil, sat in the window and drew the view. It wasn’t particularly picturesque – it was the back of a supermarket and a busy road with a few trees – but sitting there, focusing on all the details and drawing, was the calmest I had felt since I had been there. I realised the positive power that art could have on my mental health – the calm without the storm! When I returned home, I used drawing as a tool for calming myself down from anxiety attacks, but I still didn’t really take it anywhere beyond this at the time.

When my daughter was eight months old, I decided to draw her portrait – little did I know this would be the beginning of my incredible journey! I shared it with family and friends and on social media, and incredibly, it snowballed from there. I began being offered money to draw people’s families, friends, pets and special memories. I felt truly honoured to be trusted with these commissions and couldn’t believe at the time that people were actually paying for my work!

I spent the next four years drawing full-time, and as much as I was creating special portraits for other people, it was helping my own wellbeing more than anyone ever knew. Hyper-focusing on the tiniest details for long periods of time was healing my anxiety, and the huge amount of time I spent on them was also developing my skills.

After feeling like I had gotten as much as I could out of drawing, I decided to learn how to paint. I went straight in at the deep end with oils because they seemed complex and I really wanted the challenge of mastering a new medium. At the same time, I was learning to navigate colour, so this was an incredibly exciting and pivotal moment in my artistic journey.

I completely fell in love with oil painting. There was something about the richness of the colour, the possibilities of light, and the almost endless scope for learning that made me want to understand painting on a much deeper level. Even though I had already established my career as a professional artist, I felt there was still so much more I wanted to explore. That curiosity ultimately led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Fine Art. I wanted the opportunity to immerse myself in fine art, challenge my practice, develop my ideas and delve more deeply into the professional and academic world of art. Completing my Master’s feels particularly special because, in many ways, it brings me right back to that little girl who always answered the same question with absolute certainty: “I want to be an artist.”

Social media has played a huge role in my artistic journey. It has allowed me to connect with so many artists and art lovers around the world and build a wonderful network of inspiring, genuinely curious people – many of whom I now consider art friends. I love sharing finished paintings, works in progress and anything I learn along the way, but I equally love seeing other artists develop, sharing their work and cheer them on.

It can be very easy on social media to compare yourself to other artists, but I try not to do that. Everyone is at a different stage of their journey, with their own story and reasons for creating. I celebrate other artists and their achievements publicly, allow myself to be inspired by them, and then return to my own work. The only artist I really compare myself to is my past self – I judge my progress by the work I made yesterday, not by somebody else’s work today.

Embrace unexpected change! Happy accidents sometimes end up being pivotal moments. Experiment, and always be true to yourself and what lights up your soul! I get excited about details, but I still appreciate abstract art. You don’t have to be amazing with all mediums, follow your heart and you’ll find your place.

I’m a fan of the simple life, the small moments, and I love noticing things that people often overlook and bringing them back to the foreground. There is so much beauty in the mundane and I think it is more important than ever to slow down, look around and really appreciate what we have around us. I hope that my audience feel that same sense of calm and gratitude when they see my work. My favourite moments are when I’m told I’ve inspired someone to pick up a paintbrush again! Absolutely yes to that forever.

To trust my own intuition. I rely on it a lot, and I’ve learned that when something – a creative decision, a change in direction, or an opportunity – instinctively feels right, it usually is.

I’ve always loved the Dutch Masters, particularly Willem Kalf, Pieter Claesz and Johannes Vermeer. I’m drawn to their incredible attention to detail and the way they use light and shadow to make ordinary subjects feel special. I especially love the dark backgrounds, rich colours and beautiful reflections in Kalf and Claesz’s still lifes, while Vermeer’s quiet, thoughtful use of light has always fascinated me.

Most of my inspiration comes from my own surroundings. I’m a very sentimental person and love holding onto, both physically and figuratively, beautiful little moments I encounter or things I find interesting. Sometimes I’ll see something – a particular light, reflection, colour or ordinary object – and instantly imagine it as a painting. I’ll quickly scribble the idea down before I forget it and get excited about bringing it to life. My house is full of little notes and painting ideas waiting for their turn!

It’s always tricky to decide when a painting is finished, and for me it’s more of a feeling than visually thinking, “yes, that’s done”. I’ll know when I’m getting close, and sometimes it can be a single brushstroke that suddenly makes me step back and feel that it’s finished. Other times, I’ll leave it for a day or two and notice it naturally as I’m passing it in the house. If something gives me that little niggling feeling that it needs more, I’ll go back to it. If I can walk past without wanting to change a thing, I know it’s done.

I’m very lucky in that I don’t really experience creative blocks – I’m usually bursting at the seams with ideas! However, if I’ve spent a few months painting similar subjects, I’ll sometimes intentionally step away from the easel, put the paints away and spend a week or two doing other things I love, like reading or playing the piano. Inevitably, new ideas start creeping in during that time, and I’ll suddenly feel excited to paint something completely different. I love that feeling of returning to the easel with fresh eyes and a new direction.

Definitely Georgian Oil Colour! Titanium White is the one colour I always make sure I have plenty of – I use it constantly for mixing, adjusting values and capturing those little highlights that bring a painting to life. I’d be very nervous if I got to the easel and realised I was running out!

I’d love to experiment properly with impasto. My paintings are usually very smooth, meticulous and highly detailed, so I’m fascinated by the idea of doing almost the opposite – allowing thick paint and visible brushstrokes to become part of the image. I think relinquishing some of that control and exploring the physical texture of oil paint would be really exciting.

Meticulous, calm, radiant

I think I’d create something for my younger self. I was the little girl who always answered “Artist!” whenever anyone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, but for a long time that felt like a dream rather than something that could actually become my life. I’d love to give her one of my paintings and tell her that one day she really does become an artist.

One commission I’ll never forget was requested by a bridesmaid as a gift for the bride on the morning of her wedding. Her father had recently passed away, so I was asked to create a portrait of them together, with him beside her as though he were there on the day. I was sent photographs of the bride and her wedding dress and also the groomsmen’s suits, so I could dress her father in one, and even a list of flowers she had chosen so I could create a bouquet that didn’t yet exist.

Knowing the emotional significance that portrait would hold for her made it incredibly special to create. Being trusted to capture moments and memories that otherwise couldn’t exist has always been one of the most meaningful parts of being an artist.

One of my most memorable experiences was painting live at OXO Gallery in London as part of The British Art Prize, while my shortlisted painting was exhibited in the same space. Painting in the gallery overlooking the Thames, surrounded by incredible artwork and having the opportunity to connect with the public as I worked was incredibly special and quite surreal!

More recently, my solo exhibition for the Final Major Project of my Master’s degree was particularly meaningful. It brought together my painting and research in a way that felt like the culmination of an important chapter in my development as an artist.

There have been so many moments I’m incredibly proud of – being shortlisted twice for The British Art Prize, exhibiting in London, seeing my work on the cover of a magazine and completing my Master’s degree. I began my career as a self-taught artist, and knowing that I have built all of this through passion, extremely hard work, resilience, perseverance and an unrelenting dedication to becoming the best artist I can be makes me incredibly proud.

Above all, I love knowing that my daughter is watching. She is 7 years old, intelligent and incredibly creative. Not only does she watch me paint, she also watches me learn, she watches me make mistakes and she sees me being resilient. She watches me cheer on others and share my skills, and she has seen directly that dreams really can come true. That’s the best thing, and I am so proud of that.

It usually starts with something catching my attention – a particular light on an object, reflection, colour or composition – and I’ll quickly make a note of the idea. But I rarely start painting straight away. I’ll sit with it for a while, resisting the urge to begin until it feels just right. It has to be something I can really visualise in my head, something that gives me butterflies and makes me think, “I NEED to paint that!”

From there, I’ll carefully consider the composition and lighting, gather or photograph references and think about how I want the finished painting to feel. Once I finally begin, my process is very slow and focused. I work methodically, building up colour, values and detail over many hours, often becoming completely absorbed in the smallest areas. There’s usually a lot of anticipation before I ever put brush to canvas, which makes finally bringing that idea to life even more exciting.

Probably something involving psychology or counselling. I’m fascinated by human behaviour and have always had a strong desire to understand and help people, so I think I would have found my way into something along those lines. That said, I’ve also always been fascinated by meteorology and space, so in another life I’d quite happily be studying storms or working somewhere at NASA – although I think that might require a slightly bigger career change!

Having recently completed my Master’s degree in Fine Art, I feel like I’m at the beginning of a really exciting new chapter. I want to take my practice to the next level – developing my skills, exhibiting more widely, building new connections and continuing to learn. I never want to feel that I’ve mastered painting; one of the things I love most about art is knowing there will always be another technique to explore or something new to discover.

I’d also love to collaborate with other creatives and explore what can happen when different disciplines and ideas come together. Most importantly, I want to keep looking for opportunities to use my art for something positive – whether through collaborations, partnerships, community projects or simply creating work that connects with people. I’m excited to see where it all leads!