Michael O'Brien

Michael O'Brien, born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1948 is a self-taught painter and writer. He has worked as a professional artist since 1970 when he had his first one-man exhibit at a major gallery in Ottawa. The show was nearly sold out in a short time, and has been followed by 40 exhibits across North America during the ensuing 30 years.

Since 1976 he has painted religious imagery exclusively, a field that ranges from liturgical commissions to work reflecting on the meaning of the human person, transcendence and immanence. His paintings hang in churches, monasteries, universities, community collections and private collections in the U.S.A., Canada, England, Australia, and Africa.

The artist is also well known writer on religion and culture. His essays have appeared in several international journals and anthologies concerned with these topics, urging the people of the Western world to examine the negative effects of materialism, and to rediscover authentic spiritual sources in the absolutes of the Christian faith.

Both his written work and visual art have been reviewed and reproduced widely. He is an author of several books, notably his seven volume series of novels published by Ignatius Press of San Francisco. The first volume, Father Elijah, published in 1996, has sold more than 40,000 copies in hardcover, and subsequent novels have also sold well.

In addition, Ignatius Press published A Landscape With Dragons, an examination of the phenomenon of contemporary pagan influence in children's culture. A book of his paintings and meditations, The Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary contains 15 images from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Other titles include The Family and the New Totalitarianism, a collection of essays on the crisis of the family in a secular age, and a children's book, The Small Angel. The video edition of The Small Angel, produced by Anton Casta, is distributed by St. Max Media.

Michael and his wife Sheila have six children. He writes and paints full-time at his home near Combermere, Ontario.