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James O’Neil stands outside his gallery on
North Lubec Road in Lubec.
Clamming with Basil, 28” x 24”, acrylic on panel, by James O’Neil
James O’Neil: A landscape of his own

By Kate O’Hall ran Phot s courtesy of the artist, James O’Neil

Artist James O’Neil, who opened the eponymous James O’Neil Gallery in 2017, says, “I always wanted to have an outlet where I
could talk to people for more than a minute or two. At openings in galleries, you talk to a lot of people, but it’s always very quick.”
Having his own gallery space gives James the opportunity to connect with the people who come in to see his work.

Originally from the Boston area, James studied at the Massachusetts College of Art. He then worked with contemporary artist Wil-
liam Maynard and spent a year at the Gloucester Academy of Fine Art under the direction of American Impressionist John Terelak.

James was drawn to the meeting of sea and land that he saw on Cape Cod. He was also drawn to the Maine landscape that he saw in
other artists’ work. While training as an illustrator, he studied Robert McCloskey’s picture book Blueberries for Sal, set in a town on
Penobscot Bay. James was also inspired by Andrew Wyeth, whose best-known paintings were set in Cushing, Maine. James traveled
to Cushing and was struck by the way the landscape was both expressed and transformed by Wyeth’s vision.

James first came to Downeast Maine in the early 1980s when he house-sat on Campobello Island, Canada, which can be reached by
a bridge from Lubec. Throughout that winter, James explored the Lubec area and was captivated by what he saw. He returned to
Cape Cod with enough paintings for two hugely successful one-man shows, one in Cape Cod and one at the Miller Gallery in Cincin-
nati, Ohio, which still represents him today. The shows provided James with the means to buy his own place in Maine. Since then,
he has lived and worked in Lubec.

Back Shore Study, 4” x 8”, acrylic on panel, by James O’Neil
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