Karen O’Halloran OCD Art

01/31/2026

These are the drawings I completed in 2025. Last year I was full of distress and fear about how our current administration ignores our U. S. Constitution.

01/10/2026

When profit becomes the primary organizing principle, most of that makes life worth living, the unmeasurable, the irreducible, the genuinely novel, gets either commodified or discarded. Creativity gets flattened into "content production."

The system doesn't just prefer quantity over quality, it structurally requires it, because quality is harder to scale, harder to control, and harder to extract predictable returns from.

01/10/2026

It survives crushing pressure in near freezing darkness, drifting silently where seasons and sunlight do not exist.

Feeding on tiny seafloor prey, this gentle flier remains one of the deep ocean’s most elusive lives.

01/09/2026

In the heart of Baghdad, along the historic Al-Mutanabbi Street, a remarkable tradition unfolds every evening that speaks volumes about the nation's deep-rooted respect for literature. As the sun sets, booksellers do not undergo the laborious process of packing away their inventory or locking it behind steel shutters. Instead, thousands of books are simply left out on the pavement, covered by nothing more than thin plastic sheets to protect them from the elements. This practice is born from a profound cultural proverb: "The reader does not steal, and the thief does not read." It reflects a societal consensus that those who value knowledge possess the integrity to respect it, while those who might commit a crime have no interest in the intellectual treasures found within the pages.

This open-air library serves as a powerful symbol of resilience and intellectual pride in a region that has faced decades of conflict. Al-Mutanabbi Street has long been the "lung" of Baghdad, where poets, philosophers, and students gather to breathe in the scent of old paper and ink. By leaving the books unguarded, Iraqis reclaim their public spaces and assert that culture is a collective sanctuary that transcends the need for locks and keys. It is a testament to the belief that even in the most challenging times, the pursuit of wisdom remains a sacred endeavor, shielded by a mutual trust that binds the community together.

12/07/2025

12/07/2025

12/07/2025

12/07/2025

12/07/2025