My friend the painter Jane O’Malley, who has died of cancer aged 79, was a still life painter of rare skill. Utilising a spare repertoire of daily objects, including bowls, vases, jugs and flowers, Jane could conjure up an alert, vibrant composition of colour, line and form. Recurrent backdrops were provided by St Ives in Cornwall, the stark lava fields of Lanzarote and her lush garden in Ireland.
It was in the little harbour town of St Ives, in the early 1970s, that Jane, then a student at the St Ives School of Painting, happened to meet the renowned Irish painter Tony O’Malley (who was more than 30 years her senior). Having settled there from his native Kilkenny in 1960, he was very much a part of the artistic community (though by then he was in frail health). The chemistry between the two was one of immediate and intense passion and devotion. They married in St Ives in 1973 and set up home in Seal Cottage, a few steps along from their Porthmeor studio, facing the Atlantic.
