Victoria Olson Art – Watercolor, Egg Tempera & Oil

Artistic Painting Background

It all started with my Grandmother…and my Parents who have always encouraged  me to follow my dreams.

 I graduated in Fine Arts – Painting – with an emphasis in Drawing and Printmaking from San Francisco State University in 1992. I live in Madrid, Spain; although I grew up in Lakeside, California USA.   I’ve been painting  in the Retiro Park located in Madrid, Spain on- and- off since 1994 and previously in the 80’s  during the creative movement here in Madrid called ‘La Movida Madrileña’.  My Grandmother, Maria de Laguno Y Zuzaurregui, an official copyist at the Museum of Prado in Madrid Spain, signed me up as a copyist at the Prado Museum to study the Masters.  The first painting I copied was Alonso Cano’s  Jesus sustained by an Angel.

Jésus Sostenido por un Àngel.

I chose to copy Jesus Sustained by an Angel because of the optical greys in the skin and the emotional content.

Reproduction of La Infanta Doña Margarita de Austria by Diego Velázquez; painted by Victoria Olson O’Donnell 1983.

Diego Velázquez is another of my favorite painters.  I chose this painting to learn how he used optical greys and transparencies.

At the same time, I was studying at Taller Villalar Centro Superior de Artes Plasticas.    Taller Villalar gave me the opportunity to volunteer at the Exposición ARCO in Madrid as a translator for the Taller Villalar Gallery during the peak of the Movida Madrileña.  I had a unique experience with this small group of artists.  At this point, I stopped copying paintings at the Museum of Prado.

I’m the one on the far left in the picture, behind the tiger-like guy, Jose, the etching instructor.

 In 1985 I returned to Lakeside, California and enrolled at Grossmont college. Here I was in Mr. Lum’s class.  I must say, he influenced me more than anyone else.

In 1989, I transferred to San Diego State University and painted this very personal painting below.

San Diego Art Institute had a Midsummer Award Show in 1990. I submitted the painting called Spanish Cottage and got first place with two others. The juror, Deloss Mc Graw, split the award between the three of us because he said each one of us represented a

different style and were equally good.  Here you can see how happy I was to win an

award in a large group show.

I transferred to San Francisco State University  in 1990. I found myself lucky enough to be able to study with Robert Bechtle, Richard Mclean and Barbara Foster and many others at this marvelous state university. The watercolor below is of the Lithography Department.  I made this for Robert Bechtle’s class.

This little drawing is from Richard McClean’s drawing class.

I made this printin Barbara Foster’s Lithography class. This was a huge lime stone.

Soon after graduating from San Francisco State University in 1992, I returned to Madrid, Spain.  Since then, I’ve had a few art exhibitions in different Cities in Spain as well as exhibiting  in San Diego, California.

 As you can see I like painting glass and my own personal stuff.  Below is from a show in Lugo Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can still find me painting plein air around in Madrid.