(The Wanderers by Vivian C. Olsen)
Each month the Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend features an artist of the High Desert Art League. For the month of September, the Oxford Hotel has an exhibit of paintings by local wildlife artist Vivian C. Olsen. Her show includes paintings of animals that inhabit this region of Oregon with scenes of Quail, a Great Horned Owl, Bald Eagles, Rocky Mountain Elk and others, all displayed through the month in the hotel lobby.
‘When I was young, I became instilled with a yearning to always have the kind freedom I grew up with as part of my life in rural California,” Vivian says. “As an adult I was fortunate to live in areas of natural beauty in Idaho and New Mexico, where there was an abundance of wildlife living around me. I started painting animals, and I eventually chose them as my primary subjects to paint. It was so natural for me to blend my profession as an artist with painting the subjects that I love, and I rate myself very lucky to have this artistic talent. Since then, and now at home in Oregon, I’ve spent decades painting birds and other animals, and have focused on capturing their postures, personalities and singular beauty.
“I’m always excited to begin a new painting, whether with watercolors, pastels or acrylics, Vivian continues. “Recently, my love of animals, and their mostly gentle natures, lead me to create a children’s book of animal stories filled with action and fun based on Aesops Fables. The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy, published by Amazon, is a collection of enjoyable stories and 15 detailed, full-page watercolors of animals behaving good, and sometimes not!”
The exhibit is on display in the Oxford Hotel’s lobby through September. View more of Vivian’s artwork at vivianolsen.com.