On Pace

In Dogged Pursuit of Art

Sean O’Malley has painted more dog portraits than you can shake a stick at.

Written by Diane Krieger | Photographed by Philicia Endelman

Think of Sean O’Malley as a homegrown Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. His pooches aren’t playing poker while chomping on cigars—but they’ll surely make you smile. Each of O’Malley's paintings celebrates the generous spirit of the Torrance Memorial visitation dogs who greet patients with wet noses, melting eyes and lolling tongues.

Earlier this year, O’Malley completed the third installment of his visitation dog portraits series with 15 new works—on display at Torrance Memorial’s west entrance. Under commission from the hospital’s construction department, the artist paints on plywood boards, working from pet photos taken by Peter Croke—the longtime project manager of Torrance Memorial building improvements.

A Family Affair

O’Malley has close family ties to Torrance Memorial. His wife, Melissa, has worked there since 1984, starting as a high school candy striper. Over the intervening 38 years, she rose to her current job as facilities operations supervisor in the facilities department.

O’Malley’s mother-in-law, Beth Marshall, smashes Melissa’s impressive record. A nurse in her 51st year of continuous employment at Torrance Memorial, she’s currently the professional development coordinator in the clinical education department.

Melissa’s daughter, Cassidy Griego, 27, is following in her grandmother’s footsteps. She’s an RN in the hospital’s burn unit. Meanwhile 17-year-old Nita is taking her mother’s lead as a Torrance Memorial student volunteer.

The couple’s other children are Liam, 23, who studies computer science at El Camino College, and Breanna Abram, 28, who recently finished her PhD in clinical psychology and practices in Arkansas.

Rounding out the O’Malley family is Jax, the mini pinscher mix, who is “a total lap dog” but unfortunately lacks the decorum of a hospital visitation pet. “He’s a rescue from the streets, and he still acts a bit skittish. He’s also very territorial,” Sean adds, “but we love him.”

Bands on the Run

The hospital is an epicenter of family life for the multitalented, super-active O’Malleys. But Sean and Melissa—he calls his wife Mel—are also both professional musicians. They met in 1996 when Mel was forming a new band. She’s a vocalist-percussionist who fills in on keyboards and guitar. He plays bass and guitar. They’ve recorded a dozen albums together. You can also hear them perform around town with Skypark Ghetto, their cover band specializing in 1960s to contemporary hits.

Before the pandemic, Sean and Mel were active in four bands, playing four-hour gigs every Friday and Saturday. On the brink of creative burnout, in 2018 the couple started an experimental video project that O’Malley calls “a real joy.”

“We’d wake up Sunday morning,” he says, “and Mel would turn on her camera phone. We would play a song—just for ourselves.” Bleary-eyed with fatigue, hair a mess, still in their pajamas, they were simply The Pajammers. The videos, which Mel lovingly edits, have evolved into elaborate green screen productions using multiple musical tracks. The project has taken on a life of its own with more than 70 videos on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

All in the Family

O’Malley received his formal training in studio art and art history at El Camino College and Humboldt State University. While he’s a prolific painter and muralist, he always saw his main role as being a stay-at-home dad. With Melissa as the primary breadwinner, Sean took the lead homeschooling and chauffeuring the kids to extracurriculars—at one point, all four simultaneously played club soccer, with Sean coaching his son’s AYSO team.

In their spare time, Mel and Sean enjoy hiking and geocaching around Palos Verdes or near their mountain cabin in Big Bear. Family members also regularly meet up in The Forest, a popular survival horror video game where they band together to fight off mutant cannibals. On weekends, they’ll grab some popcorn and watch Liam, a top-ranked professional gamer, play Heroes of the Storm for prize money.

Meanwhile back at Torrance Memorial, O’Malley is busy painting six new 6-by-6-foot wooden panel murals for the patio outside Jared's Patient Kitchen. He’s always on the lookout for new projects.

The dog portraits are such a hit with hospital-goers that O’Malley has received more than 50 private commissions on top of the 64 he painted for the hospital. Once the current exhibition ends, the original artworks will be gifted to each visitation dog’s owner-handler.

Up next, O’Malley says he’d love to get into painting horse portraits. Now if only Torrance Memorial had a hospital visitation equestrian program.

Don’t laugh. That’s actually a thing. •

Sean O'Malley stands in front of the gallery for his latest works of art for Torrance Memorial (left).

Sean works on a commission piece in his Lomita studio.