((L-R) Coyote Dreams, Golden Eagles and Sun Flowers and Butterflies by Vivian Olsen)
Vivian Olsen is the featured artist at the Hood Avenue Art Gallery during July and early August in Sisters, where she is also a member artist. She creates realistic paintings of animals to share the beauty and grace she sees in them. Vivian’s subjects range from quail families, owls and waterfowl, to wolves, coyotes and more. As a child growing up in the oak-covered hills near California’s Monterey Bay area, Vivian’s best friends were the family’s dog and other pets that became subjects in her drawings. Her artistic abilities gained her lots of attention and throughout her school years helped her to develop her artistic talents. Vivian learned to capture an animal’s special beauty and personality by using vibrant watercolors, or other aqua-media, and soon excelled as a young artist.
Vivian’s interests in animals continued to grow by assisting her husband with his wildlife research projects on waterfowl in South Dakota, and later Sandhill Crane studies in Idaho and New Mexico. Freelancing as a wildlife illustrator she designed art illustrations for South Dakota Game and Fish and the Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Idaho, where she also attended art classes and signed up as an art major.
Eventually, Vivian and her family moved to New Mexico, and she attended the University of New Mexico Tech in Socorro and graduated with both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in science/biology. She became an art teacher and taught art for nearly 20 years at Socorro High School until retiring. Vivian continued to paint animal subjects, entered art shows and competitions — earning awards — and was represented by galleries in Santa Fe, Alburquerque, Telluride and other areas of New Mexico and Colorado, and she is now in galleries in Oregon. Now, after many years, Vivian is still creating life-like paintings of birds and wild animals and has never deviated from that path.
Living near Redmond, Vivian is a member of the High Desert Art League, the Plein Air Painters of Oregon and the Watercolor Society of Oregon. She has exhibited her paintings in shows with Oil Painters of America, the High Desert Museum and numerous venues in Bend and throughout Oregon. She currently has a three-month art exhibit in Salem, Oregon at the Elsinore Gallery, and is a featured artist in July at the Hood Avenue Art Gallery in Sisters. Vivian also published a children’s book with Amazon named, The Good, The Bad, and The Goofy.