Katie O'Neill's Fine Art Studio

Katie O'Neill's Fine Art Studio Welcome to our page! Here you'll find information about classes, upcoming events and examples of students' and my own artwork.

This might not be the most iconic view of the Palisades, but it is certainly one of the most special places to me. I’m ...
08/26/2026

This might not be the most iconic view of the Palisades, but it is certainly one of the most special places to me. I’m not sure if this meadow even has an official name. It’s one of the ways you could have meandered back to the hiking trails of Temescal pre-fire. It’s the way I almost always took - past the YMCA Christmas tree lot and up to the right. It certainly wasn’t a neatly manicured lawn. It was filled with holes from gophers and voles. I think the park workers occasionally tried to keep people on the trail to the left with some red cones and caution tape but inevitably hikers would cut across the grass. Every time I trudged up the thick uneven crabgrass, I could feel the stress just melt out of my body. And every time I came back down from the hiking trails I would pass by a little collection of bushes and flowers that created my favorite smell in the world in one particular spot. I could breathe that in and know I could handle whatever the day had in store.

I’m sure the Army Core of Engineers didn’t realize what a special place this was. It probably looked even less inspiring with burnt bushes and singed trees. I know decisions had to be made and they had to find somewhere to start sorting through what was left of our town. And we fire survivors certainly weren’t in any position to advocate for protecting this little unnamed meadow. So they graded it.

But this area is still gated off and set to become a construction lot for the LADWP. This decision was made without public comment, with votes from just a few people, behind closed doors. And, frankly, I don’t feel so okay about that.

I think one of the things fire survivors are still reeling over is the loss of control over our lives. We didn’t have any say in how the fire department and the State Parks handled the original fire. We didn’t have any say in how no one warned us about the eminent danger looming over our heads (literally.) We didn’t have any say in the lack of coordinated evacuation plans. And even though this park belongs to all of us Californians, we didn’t get any say if one of the parties potentially liable for the spread of the fire has an indefinite lease in one of our State Parks.

And so this painting is a remembrance, a protest and a call to bring back a messy, scraggly, beautiful meadow. Perfect in its imperfection.

“Gateway” 24x36, oil on canvas
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"After Glow Study" 11x14 - oil on canvas
08/18/2026

"After Glow Study" 11x14 - oil on canvas

Maybe I'm a little biased - having spent a part of my childhood up off Lachman Lane - but I think the Marquez Knolls ra...
07/24/2026

Maybe I'm a little biased - having spent a part of my childhood up off Lachman Lane - but I think the Marquez Knolls ranks near the top of quintessentially Palisades neighborhoods. With its mid-century modern homes tucked into the hillside, each having its own stunning views of the Santa Monica Bay and the city lights down bellow - where else could you match it?

"View from Glynn Drive" Oil on Canvas
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I’ve had a lot of time to let my mind wander while working on this painting of Skull Rock. After many years of honing my...
07/03/2026

I’ve had a lot of time to let my mind wander while working on this painting of Skull Rock. After many years of honing my craft I find there are hours of work that go by when I’m not consciously making decisions. The colors mix themselves while my brain gets to make all sorts of interesting connections.

The dozens of times I’ve hiked in to visit Skull Rock (or Ms. Skully as I’ve come to think of her*) since the fire have also afforded me opportunities to zone out and see where my thoughts meander to.

What initially inspired me to paint her was just how remarkably she looks like a skull! Before the fire just the top half of her dome peeked out above chaparral. But now, from certain parts of the trail, you can see her in all her cranial glory! And that got me to thinking about the two wondrous possibilities - either the indigenous tribes actually chipped away at the rock to emphasize the likeness or we human being are just amazing in our ability to see the human form in just about anything.

And then that got me thinking about just how long Ms Skully has sat there, gazing to the sea, watching sunset after sunset, season after season. During that time, plants have evolved, invasive species have invaded and become native. Generations of children have scrambled up her sides to climb into her eye socket . Hundred of lovers have sat on top of her head, thinking that their love would last forever. Teenagers being teenagers have tried to leave their mark on her face ever since teenager have existed. She has seen countless fires, floods, famines. Rattlesnakes have found shelter near her base. Eagles have perched on her nose. And she just sits there with aplomb.

And unless she is demolished in the future to make room for a new housing development, she will probably outlast us all. And weirdly enough, that thought has given me solace after the fire destroyed so much. We are all just here for a blip of time relative to a … rock. And even she will be worn down by wind and rain (hopefully not developers.)

And so, I thought she deserved a portrait on a throne of wildflowers and crowned with yucca blooms.
“Skull Rock, a Portrait” 30x30 oil on canvas

*No mind altering substances were used in the creation of this artwork, I promise

Most days, especially in the fall and winter, I find myself occasionally peeking up at the sky, gauging what the clouds ...
05/20/2026

Most days, especially in the fall and winter, I find myself occasionally peeking up at the sky, gauging what the clouds might do in the late afternoon - deciding if this is a good day to drop everything and head to shoreline and hunt for reference photos. There's always a little nervous excitement - will I make it to just the right spot, at just the right time to catch the light?

On this particular day, I had already caught my quarry, so to speak, with some beautiful sunset views from Castellammare (paintings to come!) I was winding my way back home along Sunset, passing the burnt out apartments and condos near Marquez when something made me pull into the abandoned parking lot. I walked through the open chain link fence and over the grassy knolls and - Holy macaroni - I had never seen this view !(Okay - there may have been a few Edgewater Tower residents over the years who had suggested it...)

How can I still be surprised and left in awe at the beauty of my hometown?

"Magic Hour" 24x36, oil on canvas 🐬💙

"Life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans" I've been going through loads of old photos (thank you...
04/09/2026

"Life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans"

I've been going through loads of old photos (thank you iCloud,)looking for painting subjects. It was impossible to know how important these images would become to me when I snapped them. None more so than the series of shots I used to create this latest painting.

For six straight years I woke up before dawn to drive my sons to Paul Revere Middles school - trying to wrangle them out the door so we could beat the kafkaesque traffic jam on Allenford at drop off time. Kid safely through the school gates, I would usually stop off at Will Rogers for a hike, often just as the sun was breaking through the tree line.

None of the photos I used for this painting would win any awards. I was trying to get pictures of the deer grazing and eventually running off across the field. The house, the oak, the eucalyptus in the distance were just slightly blurry background.

The year I captured these deer on "film" was a particularly stressful time in my life. So many different worries on my mind that I was basically in survival mode. These early morning hikes were my solace, a little stolen time to connect with beauty before the troubles of the day lined up.

Will Rogers's home is no longer there. But the oak still stands, singed and battered but with new growth emerging. The stresses that consumed my life at that time are distant memories. Yes, replaced by new stresses (loss of all my worldly possessions for one!) but I attribute those hikes for helping me learn how to handle the challenges that inevitably fall on us all, to keep an eye on all the beauty in the background.

"Oak at Will Rogers" 12x24, oil on canvas (not for sale - I'm keeping this one)

I've been visiting Will Rogers at least twice a week recently. It's heartening to see rangers at work and people taking ...
03/21/2026

I've been visiting Will Rogers at least twice a week recently. It's heartening to see rangers at work and people taking their dogs on the fire road. The Santa Monica mountains are now green and filled with wildflowers and the views from Inspiration point certainly earn its name. What a happy surprise earlier this week to see the polo field filled with young kids practicing La Crosse and not so young people playing recreational soccer.

We will never have what it was. The ranch house is gone. The stables are gone. But people (and dogs!) are still finding joy here. The legacy of Will lives on. Walking by the site of the former stables I could see that the pepper trees are coming back. Small but mighty.

And the rangers have posted a poster of one of Will's many (many) wise remarks. "The best way out of a difficulty is through it." Hoping you are all finding your way.

"Pepper Tree, Will Rogers Stable"
18x18, oil on canvas
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The assignment of this commission was to paint the view my client, a retired physician, had driving back to the Palisade...
03/10/2026

The assignment of this commission was to paint the view my client, a retired physician, had driving back to the Palisades after work for over 50 years. And before I even started laying out the composition of this painting, I knew the title.

Anyone who has been lucky enough to live in the Palisades knows this feeling. Whether it's after a long day of battling L.A. traffic or returning from a dream vacation, there's something about getting closer and closer to those bluffs. The ocean breeze drops the inland heat to a perfect 70 degrees. The golden hour light that lifts just a wee bit of the pressure of life off your shoulders. We'll get there again.

"Coming Home" 24x36, oil on canvas 🐬💙

I don't always share photos of my paintings in collectors' homes, but when they're this cute, I just can't help myself! ...
03/02/2026

I don't always share photos of my paintings in collectors' homes, but when they're this cute, I just can't help myself! Here's to dreaming of walks in Will Rogers State Park. 🐶🐬💙

If you've followed my work, you may have noticed - sometimes my paintings can get a little... detailed 😁 Maybe it can be...
02/18/2026

If you've followed my work, you may have noticed - sometimes my paintings can get a little... detailed 😁 Maybe it can be attributed to my love of Richard Scarry books as a kid. Oh, the hours I spent studying what all the busy animals in his busy busy towns were busy doing!

Though I don't think I qualify as a photo-realist painter. I mean look up close and you'll see a big ole mess of blobs of pigment. I don't have a particularly steady hand. All those classes in the remedial handwriting trailer in fourth grade were for naught.

I don't have a philosophy that my way is the "right" way to paint. It's just painting any other way would feel like I was putting on someone else's costume. This way brings me peace and joy.

My love of detail has served me well this last year as I try to remember our beautiful, busy busy town and all the beautiful busy people in it. It's easy to get overwhelmed by how many lives were forever changed by the fire. So many stories of profound loss. So many stories of recovery and resilience.

As I was painting this view of the Palisades Bowl and Tahitian Terrace, the concept from Judaism of "every person is a universe" kept coming to mind. In each of these mobile homes tucked between the bluffs and the ocean, was someone's life of memories and hopes - their connections to family and friends, their unique traditions and beliefs.

My little blobs of pigment, can't bring any of that back. But they are my humble way to honor its memory.

"View from the Las Casas Loop", 24x36, oil on canvas
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Pacific Palisades, CA

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Wednesday 10am - 9pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm

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