Biography:

Raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Molly O’Rourke earned a BFA from Pratt Institute, majoring in intaglio printmaking and illustration, with an emphasis on life drawing. While there she was one of twenty finalists in a competition by The Society of Illustrators, NYC. The competition was open nationally to students enrolled in accredited US art schools. Her senior year she received Pratt’s Ajootian Scholarship for excellence in life drawing.

After graduating, Molly worked in Manhattan, as a sample weaver for Dan River Mills. Returning to Pennsylvania, then moving to New Jersey, she was an assembler and designer for Glass Crafters, a stained-glass lamp-maker.

Following her allergist’s advice she moved to Maine in 1980. After the move, Molly worked seventeen years in graphic design. She was head of the Express Department at Downeast Graphics, Ellsworth, and a senior designer at Designwrights Advertising Agency in Blue Hill. After doing freelance work, and subcontracting for local design firms, she ran her own graphic design and illustration business, Looseleaf Studio, for ten years. While working in graphics, several of her designs were selected for awards in local, regional, and national competitions.

In September 2005, feeling the need to rekindle a connection with fine arts, she joined two plein air painting groups. Both outdoors and in the studio, she now concentrates on the many challenges of working in oil, pastel, watercolor, and pencil. From 2006-2013 she participated in over 30 exhibitions.

Maine Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions:

Friend Memorial Library, Brooklin: June-July 2013 & February 2007

Company C, Portland: September-October 2012

Peninsula Metamorphic Arts & Learning, Blue Hill: September 2010

The Cave, Brooklin: July 2010

Island Country Club, Sunset, Deer Isle: August 2008

Naskeag Gallery, Brooklin: Featured Artist, August 2007

The Grand Auditorium, Ellsworth: March 2007

Brooksville Free Public Library, Brooksville: October 2006

Group Exhibitions:

The Gallery at Somes Sound, Somesville: Art Collector Maine Exhibit, June 2013

Art Collector Maine: Art.Works, Kennebunkport Festival, June 2013

Atrium Gallery, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn, Lewiston:

        The Figure Revealed IV (juried life drawing exhibition, open statewide),

        November-December 2012

The Gallery at Frenchman’s Bay, Somesville: 2011-2012

        Featured Artist, July 29-August 4, 2012

Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group, November 2011

Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Painting the Peninsula Campaign, July 2011

Ellsworth Library, Ellsworth: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group, January 2011

Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Inside and Out, August 2010

Deer Isle Artists Association, Deer Isle: All Member Show, July-August 2010

The Cave, Brooklin: Eggemoggin Six, June 2010

Friend Memorial Library, Brooklin: Eggemoggin Six, March 2010

Pearson Legacy Gallery, Deer Isle: Reflections, February 2010

Pearson Legacy Gallery, Deer Isle: Noah’s Ark Revisited III, November 2009

Handworks Gallery, Blue Hill: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group, November 2009

Pearson Legacy Gallery, Deer Isle: People: The Artist's Perception, April 2009

Pearson Legacy Gallery, Deer Isle: Forever in Bloom, March 2009

Fellowship Hall, Congregational Church, Blue Hill: Eggemoggin Six, February 2009

Howard Reading Room, Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group,

        December 2008

Britton Gallery, Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Eggemoggin Six Returns, September 2008 Britton Gallery, Blue Hill Library, Blue Hill: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group, January 2008

Atrium Gallery, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn, Lewiston:

        The Figure Revealed III (juried life drawing exhibition, open statewide),

        November-December 2007

Deer Isle Artists Association, Deer Isle: Noah’s Ark Revisited,

        An All-Creature Exhibition, November 2007

Handworks Gallery, Blue Hill: Blue Hill Life Drawing Group, October-November 2007

High Street Studio & Gallery, Belfast: Belfast, the Way it Was, September 2007

Sedgwick Meeting House: Sedgwick-Brooklin Historic Society, Touring Through Time,

        Eggemoggin Six, July 2006 and 2007

Bar Harbor Bank, Blue Hill: Vagabonds, April-May 2007

Acadia Workshop Center, Seawall: Mount Desert Island Artists’ Open Studio Days:

        August 2006

Affiliations: Union of Maine Visual Artists, Blue Hill Life Drawing Group,

Belfast Life Sessions, Vagabonds Plein Air Painters