"Art is the expression of a personal connection with a place or a particular moment in time. In my paintings I try to make the viewer feel as if he could step into the scene and experience the landscape the same way I did when I painted it. I am fascinated by the play of light at different times of the day, in different seasons, and under different atmospheric conditions. I am primarily a plein air painter because I feel that is the best way to capture the spirit of the place I am painting. From getting caught in a sudden storm and almost getting blown off a cliff, to having a curious elk looking over my shoulder while I paint, painting outside is always an adventure."

Rae O’Shea is a self-taught, plein air, impressionist painter who works primarily in oils. Her work is in private collections in the United States, Great Britain and Japan and has been featured in numerous art publications.

"When you are basically self-taught, you absorb any available information like a sponge. It doesn't always translate immediately but eventually what you learn does show up in your work. Books by John Carlson, Edgar Payne and Richard Schmid form a strong foundation for any artist. I was fortunate to have been introduced to plein air painting by Stapleton Kearns, to have had the benefit of Scott Christensen’s large fund of knowledge, and to have enjoyed watching and learning from Tim Thies and Calvin Liang. It is always instructive to watch another artist paint, but in the end it is in painting yourself, continuously and over a long period of time, that you really learn."

Galleries:
Veranda Gallery, Fair Haven, NJ
Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, VT

Awards:
"Jury's Top 50" Salon International 2011 Honorable Mention for Artistic      Excellence, Salon International 2011
First Place, Bayonet Farms Juried Show, 2010
Third Place, Bayonet Farms Plein Air Competition, 2010
First Place, PAAC National Juried Show, 2010
Honorable Mention, Lambertville Juried Show, 2009
First Place, Plein Air Artists National Juried Show, 2006
First Place, Edison Arts Society, 2006
Poster Award, Edison Arts Juried Show, 2005 & 2004

Associations:
American Impressionist Society (Signature Member)
Plein Air Painters of Colorado
Oil Painters of America (Artist member)
Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club
Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association
Allied Artists of America
Plein Air Painters of the Jersey Coast (Signature Member)
Landscape Painters of America

Collections:
Citibank World Headquarters, NY
Dr. and Mrs. S. Kita, Tokyo, Japan
S.Reid and Associates
NJ, Mechanical Contractors of N.J
Williams and Associates, UK
Edison Township Arts Center