Who is Hugh O'Connor?
My background
I was raised along the shores of Lake St. Clair, Michigan. I spent my summers swimming, fishing and sailing, and winters skating and ice fishing on the lake. I always had a fascination for the endless parade of freighters passing by. I convinced my Father and Mother to take me to different places along the shores of all the Great Lakes so that I could take photos of the boats with my Instamatic. As I grew older I began using my talents to create paintings and drawings of the boats. This in turn led to scratch building models of the various boats since none were available commercially. My desired scale turned out to be 1/1200. As time went by I soon began expanding my artwork to include murals, portraits, posters and silkscreening. Really just about anything! I hope you enjoy seeing my work, perhaps order a poster or mug, or commission a one of a kind work of art.
My Style
Almost all my work tends to have a photo-realistic quality to it. My palate of colors are the vibrant colors of real life, not a washed out post card look. I work in watercolors, acrylics, colored pencils, gouache and digital drawing.
What you may have seen
As a Coast Guard Artist, some of my work is on permanent display in U.S. Coast Guard facilities, nationwide. I have also done paintings and portraits for the U.S. Marines and the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. Many of my murals are in restaurants and homes in Michigan, and my boat models have been shipped to collectors worldwide.
