TOM O'HARA STUDIO
About the Artist
I was born in Schenectady, New York. My grandfather worked at the locomotive works there; we lived near Cobleskill on the NY Central Line. I remember my grandmother making plates of dinner for hobos who'd come around to the back "stoop". Whatever happened to back stoops?
I have studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and at the Royal Academy in London; but I learned much more from fellow artists, and on my own.
As you can see, people are my subject. I've worked in bronze, and will again. But working in clay, I can do the entire process myself -- start to finish, right in my studio.
I get the ideas of these pieces from various sources; old photos I've found, new ones I've taken, suggestions from friends and museums, my imagination.
Some of the characters are modeled from life, some are total fabrications. Perhaps I shouldn't say total fabrications -- they do seem to take on personality and character beyond what I put into them.
My work is also available at the California State Railroad Museum, where I demonstrated my sculpture techniques during Railfair 99.