I grew up in Leucadia, California surrounded by the artwork of Thomas “Sean” O’Farrell. His paintings hung on the walls of my childhood home, quietly present in my life. My mom had been friends with Sean in the late 1970’s, and when he passed away he left much of his artwork and personal belongings to her. As a kid, I would spend hours staring at those paintings, dissecting them and studying how he painted them, while wondering about the person who created them and the life he must have lived.

My mom used to tell me stories about Sean when I was younger, but I didn’t really believe them at the time. His life sounded too fantastical, made up. Last month I started going through the newspaper clippings, documents, and other things he left behind, and trying to connect the dots with anything I could find online, I’ve started to realize that those stories might actually have been true.

I tried searching for Sean online, expecting to find at least a small trace about him. Nothing came up. No articles, no galleries, no history. That discovery is the reason this blog exists.

Sean O’Farrell lived an extraordinary and fascinating life, and he played a role in local artistic communities that helped shape the culture around him. It felt like a shame that someone with such an interesting story and body of work had no presence in the modern world.

I plan to share everything my mom still has from Sean’s life. That includes his paintings, wood sculptures, newspaper clippings, patents he created, books, and other personal items. I’ll also be sharing things that belonged to his wife Betty, along with photographs and documents that help tell their story.
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This blog is my attempt to give Sean a place in the historical record. I want to share his artwork, the stories I’ve heard about him, and anything else I can find about his life. I’m also hoping that if anyone else out there knew him, owns his work, or has information about him, they might come across this and reach out.

Thank you.

This timeline is being updated as new documents and information are discovered. Much of the information comes from undated newspaper clippings and documents that Sean left behind, which makes it difficult to place everything in exact chronological order. Some details also come from stories my mother remembers from knowing Sean personally.


Sean O’Farrell grew up in San Francisco in a well-known family. His grandfather, Jasper O’Farrell (1817–1875), was an Irish-American politician and the first official surveyor of San Francisco. He is credited with designing the city’s “grand promenade,” which later became Market Street, and O’Farrell Street in San Francisco was named after him.

As a young man, Sean’s family wanted him to become an artist, but he had other ideas. At fourteen years old he ran away from home and stowed away on a freighter bound for Argentina. While in South America he signed on as a seaman aboard the brigantine Angela out of Montevideo and sailed on ships of Uruguay and Argentina. His time at sea lasted for several years before he finally retired from sailing at the age of twenty-two.

After returning to civilian life, Sean eventually followed the artistic path his family had encouraged. He studied architecture and later worked as an architect, designing several buildings including the architecture of the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California.

During World War I, Sean served with the 25th Calcutta Motor Machine Gun Battery. He also spent time in India, where he studied metaphysical philosophy extensively. Sean quoted “The only reason he isn’t able to walk on water is because he doesn’t believe he can.”

Sean later became deeply involved in the Southern California art community. He was one of the originators of the Laguna Festival of Arts when it was established in 1933. He ran an art studio in Laguna Beach where he taught oil painting and etching for many years before closing the studio in the early 1970s.

Throughout his career he exhibited with several local art groups, including the Carlsbad-Oceanside Art League and with the Hotel Del Mar art group.

Sean married actress Buela Fooker, who later became known as Elizabeth B. O’Farrell. She had worked as a child actress in early films, appearing alongside Buster Keaton and serving as a stand-in for Mary Pickford.