Art

Young artist aims to spread peace through her paintings

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Olivia Bruce is a recent graduate of Marist College and a full time artist.

Published

5 years ago

February 12, 2019

By Sheletta Brundidge

When walking in the doors of Bouquets by Carolyn Flower Shop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, you’re awestruck by hundreds of ravishing red roses and heathy hydrangea.

The floral arrangements decorating the shelves are eye candy and they smell better than hot fish grease on Good Friday.

Hanging on the wall behind the spray is something even more dazzling however: a handful of beautiful original pictures designed by a young artist.

Carolyn Smaller, the shop’s owner, proudly declared, “Those were done by my granddaughter Olivia. She’s quite talented. She’s been drawing since she was a young girl.”

Now 23 years old, Olivia Bruce is a recent graduate of Marist College and a full time artist in Washington, D.C. She makes a living selling her signature pieces online and at craft shows.

Bruce uses water colors, markers and color pencils, acrylic and oil pints to come up with one-of-a-kind creations that have captured the attention of Michelle Obama, who selected her to design an official White House holiday tour guide several years ago.

It’s no wonder the former First Lady sought out Bruce. Her pictures are vivid, colorful, lively and fun. Her craftsmanship and skill are that of a seasoned artist twice her age.

One of her pieces, entitled Unity, depicts two women, of different ethnic backgrounds, holding hands, fingers locked, in a show of support for one another.

I want to do my part to spread joy. That’s what my artwork is all about.

In another water color drawing called Love Is, a colorful couple is embracing. The dynamics of the photo are unique because the man in the picture is painted blue while the woman is colored orange. But as their bodies come together, the colors blend together in one unique pattern.

The pictures were so striking, we had to talk to the artist behind them to find out what inspires her to create these timeless classics.

Bruce recently sat down with Sheletta & Lindy of the Two Haute Mamas podcast and says the Love Is piece is one of her favorites. “I love it the most because of its synergy. I enjoy watching how the colors collide. The picture shows how love is intertwined and connected. Everyone has their own interpretation of what love is. This drawing is my interpretation.”

The young artist says she comes up with ideas from the strangest places, “Every piece has its own inspiration. It may be based on an iconic person like Angela Davis. Or it can be something as simple as watching the seasons change that spur me to draw something new. Inspiration comes from all parts of my life and my environment.”

Bruce says the first picture she recalls creating was a self-portrait when she was just nine years old. “My art teacher allowed us to think outside the box so I just remember picturing myself as a tree and designing my face with all different shades of brown. I entitled it Mocha Mix. It was my first sale. My grandmother bought it from me for $10. I thought that was big money back then.”

[/media-credit] “Love Is”

Now she has hundreds of pieces to her credit that sell for quite a bit more than the 10 bucks.

Her latest creation, a monthly wall calendar, boasts a dozen of her favorite pieces. “My main motivation for doing this was to bring some beauty to 2019. You know, I just felt like 2018 was such an ugly year with the divisive political climate and all the school shootings. I decided to put my best artwork in one place to create this calendar. Each month, I’ve selected a different design of peaceful beauty that anyone can enjoy.

“My hope is that when people put my calendar on the wall in their office or stick it on the side of the fridge at their home, it brings a sense of love and light to their lives. I want to do my part to spread joy. That’s what my artwork is all about, lifting people up out of what may be a dark place.”

Whether it’s her picture in November of two small boys walking to school in their snowsuits or the September photo entitled Guardian Angel that shows a winged man taking care of a sick child, it’s sure to put a smile on your face.

To get check out Bruce’s calendar and see some of her original artwork, log on to her website https://www.oliviasprints.com

To listen to her entire interview with Sheletta & Lindy on their Two Haute Mamas podcast log on to their website twohautemamas.com

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Sheletta Brundidge

Posts by Sheletta Brundidge

Up Next

Community Based Treatment, Not Jail Replacement: A New Plan of Care for LA County

Don't Miss

Policing & Profiling: Building a Culture of Trust

Sheletta Brundidge

1 Comment

Art

Marin County: A Snapshot of California’s Black History Is on Display

The Marin County Office of Education, located at 1111 Las Gallinas Ave in San Rafael, will host the extraordinary exhibit, “The Legacy of Marin City: A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” from Feb. 1 to May 31, 2024. The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Early photo of Marin City in the exhibit showing the first department store, barber shop, and liquor store. (Photo by Godfrey Lee)

By Post Staff

The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

All will have the opportunity to visit and be guided by its curator Felecia Gaston.

The exhibit will include photographs, articles and artifacts about the Black experience in Marin City from 1942 to 1960 from the Felecia Gaston Collection, the Anne T. Kent California Room Collection, The Ruth Marion and Pirkle Jones Collection, The Bancroft Library, and the Daniel Ruark Collection.

It also features contemporary original artwork by Chuck D of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Public Enemy, clay sculptures by San Francisco-based artist Kaytea Petro, and art pieces made by Marin City youth in collaboration with Lynn Sondag, Associate Professor of Art at Dominican University of California.

The exhibit explores how Marin City residents endured housing inequities over the years and captures the history of plans to remove Black residents from the area after World War II. Throughout, it embodies the spirit of survival and endurance that emboldened the people who made Marin City home.

Felecia Gaston is the author of the commemorative book, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home: The Story of World War II Marinship and the Legacy of Marin City.’ Thanks to the generous contribution of benefactors, a set of Felecia’s book will be placed in every public elementary, middle, and high school library in Marin.

In addition, educators and librarians at each school will have the opportunity to engage with Felecia in a review of best practices for utilizing the valuable primary sources within the book.

“Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn from these significant and historical contributions to Marin County, California, and the United States,” said John Carroll, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.

“By engaging with Felecia’s book and then visiting the exhibit, students will be able to further connect their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of this significant historical period,” Carroll continued.

Felecia Gaston adds, “The Marin County Office of Education’s decision to bring the Marin City Historical Traveling Exhibit and publication, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home’ to young students is intentional and plays a substantial role in the educational world. It is imperative that our community knows the contributions of Marin City Black residents to Marin County. Our youth are best placed to lead this transformation.”

The Marin County Office of Education will host an Open House Reception of the exhibit’s debut on Feb. 1 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.. All school staff, educators, librarians, and community members are encouraged to attend to preview the exhibit and connect with Felecia Gaston. To contact Gaston, email MarinCityLegacy@marinschools.org

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Alternative Outcome to Slayings by Police Explored in One-Man Play

BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira. Set against the backdrop of a presidential election, the play explores how political and cultural leaders wield the myth of the dangerous Black man to manipulate the masses for personal gain. Piper penned the follow-up to his ground-breaking solo play, “Cops and Robbers,” after an impromptu cross-country Black history tour.

Published

2 months ago

February 16, 2024

Oakland Post

BLACK MEN EVERYWHERE! is the explosive new one man play written, directed, and performed by Jinho “Piper” Ferreira.

Special to The Post

What would happen if police officers who have gotten off for killing unarmed Black people started turning up dead?

Piper penned the follow-up to his ground-breaking solo play, “Cops and Robbers,” after an impromptu cross-country Black history tour.

“My wife and I had been talking about it for years,” Ferreira said. They had taken their three children to Brazil several times and West Africa but had yet to explore their history as Black people in this country. “It was Juneteenth last year and I realized we had a few weeks to make it happen, so we just jumped in the car and left” Piper said.

Three weeks later the family had seen everything from the African American Museum of History and Culture in Wash., D.C., to the phenomenally preserved Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. They’d stood outside of the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., and paid their respects at the Africa Town cemetery – where the passengers of the Clotilda (the last known U.S. slave ship to smuggle captured Africans into this country) were buried near Mobile, Ala.

“We had the kids keep a journal of the trip and my wife and I took notes, but once we got back home, I knew I had to make the pen move,” he said.

Ferreira plays 21 characters in the 60-minute emotional roller coaster ride; personalities we all know. While brilliantly weaving in themes of revolution, treachery, and revenge, “Black Men Everywhere!” is surprisingly — more than anything else — a love story.

“I wrote the play for Black men and everyone who loves us,” Ferreira said. “The play is narrated by a sistah and performed in front of the deeply spiritual artwork of Nedra T. Williams, an Oakland priestess of Olokun. It’s called ‘Black Men Everywhere!’ but we don’t exist without the Black woman.”

For tickets, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/5dm3mhra

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Art

City of Stockton Seeks Applications for Public Art Murals

The City of Stockton Arts Commission (SAC) has announced the opportunity for artist(s) and/or artist teams to apply to design and paint original artwork on City-owned property through a Public Art Mural Program. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. Applications and additional information are available online at www.stocktonca.gov/publicart.

Published

3 months ago

January 24, 2024

Oakland Post

The Public Art Mural Program incentivizes mural installations by providing city funding and the means of curating the City’s collection of murals.

City of Stockton

The deadline for applications is Friday, March 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. Applications and additional information are available online at www.stocktonca.gov/publicart.

The Public Art Mural Program incentivizes mural installations by providing city funding and the means of curating the City’s collection of murals.

This program has $50,000 in available funds for artist(s) and is also available for those who have already identified funds and would like to complete a mural project on city-owned property. Applications will be reviewed on a competitive basis and selected by the SAC.

To learn more about the Stockton Arts Commission (SAC) or qualifications and eligibility for Public Art Mural Program, please visit www.stocktonca.gov/publicart or call the Community Services Department at (209) 937-8206.