By Kathi Stearns, Staff Writer

ATLANTA – After graduation from Emory University in 1990 Brendan O’Connell moved to France where he began work on a novel about a group of painters. After a year immersed in writing O’Connell exchanged his pen for a paintbrush and began living the life of the characters in his novel.

Four years later O’Connell, a 1986 graduate of St. Pius X High School, will host his first art exhibit from Sunday, Nov. 27 through Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 699 11th Street in Atlanta.

His oil paintings on canvas have already captured the attention of Hollywood celebrities Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger who “have been very supportive of the work,” according to O’Connell.

O’Connell started drawing as a means of relaxing during the time he was writing in France. He taught English to earn a living, continued to improve his French and worked on his novel. “Everything was words, words and more words,” O’Connell said. “I began drawing as a sort of meditation exercise. I started looking forward to that half-hour of the day and recognized it as the time when I was the happiest. That half hour became six-hours in a very short period of time.”

“I had reached a point where I could paint 10 hours a day but I couldn’t write nearly that long,” O’Connell said. “Writing had begun to seem kind of hopeless. I knew I had to make a choice.”

O’Connell put his teaching and his novel aside and began drawing portraits in Carcassonne, a French town frequented by tourists, in the hope of developing his drawing skills while providing him with a way to pay his bills. He usually earned $10 per day.

One month $300 in rent was due in three days. “It seemed rather unlikely that there was any way I could earn this money in time,” O’Connell said. “I remember saying a prayer seeking affirmation that I had made the right choice. I knew if I was supposed to do this, things would open up.”

The next day he went into Carcassonne to commission portraits to generate the money necessary for his rent. To get things started he offered to draw a young American girl’s portrait for half price. She was so impressed with O’Connell’s caricature that she told a friend who decided to have one done too. As Brendan drew he learned that the girls were touring France with a Catholic school group from Tennessee. The first girl brought back a busload of her friends who wanted their pictures done. “I worked until midnight.” O’Connell recalled, and earned the money necessary to pay the rent. It was unbelievable. When something like that happens one has to keep going.”

As his work has progressed, O’Connell has received some financial assistance and guidance from leading local painters and agents in Europe who have seen his work. “Many serendipitous things happened to me,” he said. “Everything seems to have fallen into place. I’ve been very lucky.”

After O’Connell’s exhibit this month he plans to spend the winter traveling and painting in Central America. For complete exhibit information call 873-4477.