Tim O’Shea is an award-winning artist. He grew up in Adelaide and gained a B.Ed: Secondary Art Design from the University of SA in 1999. He has been a teacher of Visual Arts since and is a committed artist.
He held his first sell-out solo exhibition in 2005 and has been prolific with his arts practice ever since. Tim was announced a Finalist in the 2022 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, Australia’s richest portrait art prize. Only 30 Finalist paintings were selected from hundreds of entries submitted throughout Australia. He has been a finalist in one of Australia’s premier Landscape Art awards, The Fleurieu Art Prize on five occasions and a finalist in Australia’s leading Natural History Art award, The Waterhouse Prize. He has been a finalist in other art exhibitions including the Whyalla Art Prize, Watershed Prize and Gallery M Contemporary Art Prize.
Tim has been awarded first prize in the Walkerville Art Prize on two occasions and has also won the Gallery M Contemporary Art Prize. He has entered paintings in the Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, London and also The Archibald Prize (painting of actor – Nicholas Hope - 'Bad Boy Bubby').
Over the years he has been represented by Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, Art Images Gallery, Adelaide and Lacy Road Gallery, London. He has undertaken numerous commissions. His work has been shown in galleries in Adelaide and London, and he has held several successful solo exhibitions. He has exhibited his work in numerous group shows. He continues to exhibit widely.
His work is held in private collections in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Perth, United Kingdom, India, South Korea and Norway. His art is held in corporate collections including Flinders Medical Centre SA, University of South Australia, St Peter’s College, Town of Walkerville SA, Walkerville Chiropractic, Chapel Hill Winery SA and Zest Café Gallery. As a coastal dweller and keen sailor his paintings have often been inspired by the beach, sea and nature. Living in London for several years, travelling extensively and teaching art at the prestigious King’s College School, Wimbledon, provided life-changing experiences that added a new dimension to his work.
“My paintings and drawings are a tapestry of moments experienced, memories captured and unforgettable accounts of travel. They are based upon the experience of seeing real places and real things”. Landscapes, the beach, sunbathers, objects, architecture and the urban environment are but some of the subject matter, which is of interest to him. Tim works in a myriad of mediums. These include oil on canvas, ink wash, pastel, charcoal, graphite, watercolours, printmaking, collage and mixed media.
From 2015 – 2018 Tim was a member of Central Studios artist collective. This association of artists is considered to be the longest continuously run studio group in Australia. Some eminent Australian artists have been members of Central Studios over the past four decades. The artist studios were located in the former Adelaide Girls High School building in the centre of Adelaide. The group then moved to a large warehouse in Kent Town on the fringe of the city. The group converted this space into 17 working artist studios. It was in these creative environments that Tim produced a prolific amount of artworks.
Tim O’Shea has been a Visual Arts teacher at St Peter’s College, Adelaide since 2009. He now lives in the Adelaide Hills with his wife and daughter in a classic Mid-Century Modernist home. The beauty of the Adelaide Hills has become a key influence for his current works.