Artist Wanda Oliver presents a compelling collection of abstract paintings filled with color and energy. Visit her website to view more of her portfolio.
“Symphony” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 16″ x 20″
I grew up on a hardscrabble farm in northeast Texas. I was always drawing, but no one in my family or community considered art a career. I studied math and computer science and embarked on a career in software engineering. Seeing myself as an artist was a long, slow journey.
“Rosetta Stone” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 24″ x 30″
The journey began with a house. My husband and I were building a house and I fell in love with some Portuguese tiles. They were outrageously expensive. Though there was no universe in which I could afford them, I visited them every week. When our builder insisted that I choose tiles immediately, I made myself choose some Mexican tiles. The house was finished and I loved my kitchen, but I never forgot the Portuguese tiles.
“Ocean Life” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 30″ x 24″
One day, a friend mentioned that she had seen an advertisement for a local tile making class. I signed up thinking I’d make my own Portuguese tiles. I took the class and fell in love with tile making. But I never made those painted tiles. I fell for relief instead, and so began on a long love affair with ceramics.
“Heading Toward Eternity” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 20″ x 24″
Fast forward a decade. My daughter came home from college with a digital camera. I had never been all that interested in photography, but there was something about the immediacy of the digital format that intrigued me. She taught me how to use her camera, and soon I had one of my own. Ceramics and tile making took a back seat to my new fascination as the camera taught me to truly see. I mastered digital photography and then moved backward in time to primitive forms of wet camera-less photography, enchanted by the interplay of light and chemistry.
“Heart Song” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board,16″ x 20″
I retired in late 2019, just as the pandemic was about to burst onto the scene. A couple of years before, I had joined a study group that worked through The Artists’ Way. A friend from that study group had inspired me to dabble in collage and the making of artist books.
“Sedimentary” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 24″ x 30″
During the months of isolation, stuck in my studio, I dove into paper and printing, and stitching, and even a bit of painting. Those pandemic months became another pivot point. My focus shifted from photography to mixed media, and then from mixed media to painting.
“Duet” oil and cold wax on cradled birch board, 16″ x 20″
As I think about my story, there are consistent threads that run deeply, despite my evolution across multiple mediums. Creative expression has always been an essential part of who I am. I’m very experimental. I am never happier than when I am wondering “what if” and setting off to find the answer. I’m a materials girl—hands on, hands in—plumbing the physical elements of my medium. I love surfaces, excavating them for all their luscious details of line, color and texture.
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