The Artist I Couldn’t Find Online

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.