Olivia Shimeld | Cloud Sky With Black Cockatoos 7
Cloud Sky With Black Cockatoos 7 | 2023
Acrylic and oil on linen
61 x 61 cm
Framed in Tasmanian oak
Signed verso
$ 1,400
“My new Cloud Sky With Black Cockatoo series of paintings have evolved from earlier works painted this year. In this most recent body of work, I’ve decided to focus in more on the majestic yellow tailed black cockatoos, making them the focal point in the otherwise ethereal sky. The background clouds are softly focused, almost appearing air brushed - although they are hand painted with layers of acrylic gesso glazed with oil paint.
The oil painted birds are sharply focused, contrasting with the misty amorphous sky. I’ve chosen this contrast as a way of highlighting the birds. I’ve painted the black cockatoos in monochrome violet and white, and not their characteristic black and yellow, this is to draw attention to the detail in the feathers and the light reflecting off the feathers.
I love hearing and watching the black cockatoos fly above my studio and will often stop whatever I’m doing to take a moment and watch them pass over. These majestic creatures have a timeless aura to them and it always feels special to see and hear them.
The sunrises and sunsets here in Katoomba are also so magical and will often stop me in my tracks in an otherwise busy day to just observe and take in.
My Cloud Sky With Black Cockatoo series of works are in essence my artistic representation of these moments in time observing and interacting with the amazing Dharug and Gundangurra land I’m lucky to live and work on. “
Olivia Shimeld
Bio
With a background in electronic and temporal art (BVA, Sydney College Of The Arts 1997 - 1999), Katoomba based artist Olivia Shimeld has found a way to give her paintings a uniquely digital aesthetic. Her ethereal abstract landscapes, vast sunsets with birds, night skies and floral assemblages flash with vibrant neon colours layered atop one another, creating a depth of space reminiscent of a digital screen. Olivia uses high quality acrylic, oil and aerosol paints which she intuitively allows to drip and splatter onto her canvas. At once meditative and energetic, Olivia’s work asks for contemplation as it blurs material boundaries.
Olivia studied oil painting with Celia Gullett for six years (2011, 2013 – 2017). At the same time she also studied yoga, meditation and energetic healing. Her studies, living in the Blue Mountains, as well as being a mother to four school aged children inform and inspire her painting practise.
“I observe the colours in the sky and the way the light interacts with the clouds, and store those images in my memory bank,” she says. “I work from imagination, intuition and interaction.”
The results are high intensity, uplifting works, bustling with colour and texture. Layering acrylics and aerosol paint alongside oil sticks and oil paint, Olivia’s art is saturated with movement and life.
Each of Olivia’s works are simultaneously considered and spontaneous, producing bold and bright windows into her mind. Her practice of layering colour and texture creates wonderfully rich works, reflecting the great joy the act of painting brings to the artist.
