From Ireland to California, via Princeton

Melodee Hansen (from left) and Anna O'Hara kneel down for a look as Patrick O'Hara takes a closer look at some of the violets growing in the backyard of Hansen's Princeton home. Patrick O'Hara is a botanical artist, and the couple stopped to visit Hansen on their way to California, where Patrick has two exhibitions scheduled. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — If Patrick O’Hara’s career as an internationally-known artist doesn’t work out, he can always get a gig as a stand-up comedian.

“We have traveled all over the world, and everywhere we go, Japan, Africa, all over Europe, everybody says, ‘Have you been to Princeton?’” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Finally, we’ve made it to Princeton, Illinois.”

O’Hara, an Irish artist known for his porcelain sculptures and watercolor paintings of wildflowers, was in Princeton last week with his wife Anna, who is also an artist. The two were in town to visit longtime friend and Princeton resident Melodee Hansen.

The O’Haras were making their way from Ireland to California, where Patrick has exhibitions scheduled for Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

“We thought, well it’s an awfully long way to California, and as one gets older, traveling gets more and more of a hassle,” he said. “So really what we decided, just in case this was the last time we came to America — we hope it won’t be — was that we’d make the most of it and do a long trip.”

The O’Haras flew from Shannon, Ireland, to New York, and then to Chicago. There they joined up with Hansen, who brought them to Princeton.

“She’s going to show us around the area, and it sounds real nice,” O’Hara said. “Certainly when I looked up Princeton on the Internet, it sold itself very well.”

After a brief visit, the O’Haras are continuing on by train, first to Arizona and then to California.

“Until we get to Los Angeles and start doing the workee bit,” he said. “And then, after we’ve done the workee bit in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, we shall have about two weeks out in the wild studying the flowers in northern California.”

O’Hara started his career as a botanist, but for the last 40 years he’s been making life-size porcelain sculptures of wildflowers. About 10 years ago, he started doing watercolors of the wildflowers.

“To my utter astonishment, people actually want them, the watercolors,” he said with a laugh.

O’Hara was given a commission by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden to paint watercolors of the wildflowers of California.

“There are only 823 of them, and I’ve only done, so far, about 20, so it might take me a little while,” he said.

O’Hara, who has already made six expeditions to California, said he starts by seeking the advice of the local naturalists and botanists.

“I have an idea of the sort of flowers I want to see, and they will come with their ideas,” he said. “Mind you, most botanists’ favorite flowers tend to be sort of brown and green, not big striking blowzy flowers.”

Working out in the wild, O’Hara then begins to sketch.

“I draw in great detail, rather like engineering drawings,” he said. “I measure the distances between the leaves, how long the leaves are, how broad they are, how many petals they have, all that sort of information.”

O’Hara also notes the colors, working from a system with 4,500 different shades. He also takes photographs, and makes notes about other plants growing nearby.

“I don’t want to be like the more traditional botanical illustrators,” he said. “When I see a plant, it’s growing, it’s got little insects buzzing around, and that’s what I’m trying to convey.”

After making his notes and drawings in the field, he returns to his study, where he composes a painting.

O’Hara said critics have always talked about his work being a combination of science and art.

“What I’m trying to do is really to reach the ordinary person who has very little knowledge of nature, but if they have a professor of botany to dinner, he’s going to say, ‘He’s got it right,’” O’Hara said.

Although O’Hara does have a few years on the heir to the British throne, he bears a strong resemblance to Prince Charles. He said people in countries ranging from Japan to Switzerland have commented on the resemblance.

Recently O’Hara had the opportunity to see the prince in person, and he said Charles did sort of a double take when he saw him. Although Prince Charles didn’t comment on the resemblance, O’Hara, ever the comedian, was prepared.

“If he had said something, I’d have said, ‘Well, I was born in Windsor, and I grew up in Sandringham, but Mother says there’s nothing about it at all,’” O’Hara said, laughing one more time.

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