Art By C Adams
  • Home
  • Account
  • Cart
  • Blog
  • Still Life
  • Scenic
  • People
    • Girlfriends
  • Animals
    • Horses
  • Photos
    • Night
  • Small Prints
Home > Blog > artbycadams.com presents The Art of Marla Olmstead

artbycadams.com presents The Art of Marla Olmstead

October 28
Christine Adams

www.artbycadams.com presents the Art of Marla Olmstead


Marla Olmstead was born in 2000.  Her parents encouraged her to paint from the age of 2. She produced outstanding paintings. She is an abstract artist. Abstract art does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality. Instead the artist uses shapes, colors, form and gestural marks to achieve effect. As a toddler Marla did not know what the story of the painting was. She went into that wonderful private place she has to create the moment as she saw it. Many of her paintings are not titled.   Check out her website at marlaolmstead.com.


This painting is titled “At the Lake”. It is my favorite of Marla’s so far. This painting is soothing, yet lively. It feels like a quick breeze across my face. It reminds me of the best 2 weeks of my year when I walk through the almond orchards throughout the blooming period. But perhaps Marla is painting the intense sparkle of the lake as the light bounces around the water. The beauty of loving art is the viewer gets to interpret art the way they see it.







At 4 years old Marla got a gallery show. Her paintings sold out in one night. Marla was on her way. Her parents did not force anything on their children. Marla would paint when she wanted to paint. She painted what she wanted to paint, used colors she chose to use. When Marla’s paintings started selling very well 60 Minutes and Charlie Rose convinced the Olmstead parents to grant an interview, to allow cameras to film Marla as she painted, then misrepresented that Marla was helped or coached on where to place paint. It was devastating and evil of 60 Minutes to malign a child as they did. It was shameful to Marla, the Olmstead Family, and to those who purchased her paintings. But Marla did not stop painting. Her paintings sparkle in a memorable way across our vision. They are uplifting and happy. She must be an outstanding young woman, someone I would love to know.


I read Marla painted this in 2006. This artist is a master at combining color. Painting is a private place. Personally I listen to loud music to go into my own happy place to paint. It helps keep out the world and acquire my rhythm for pushing paint. I love the colors Marla used in this. I like the form and the life brought to the canvas.  My Kid Could Paint That is a 2007 documentary film by director Amir Bar-Lev. The documentary follows the early artistic career of Marla Olmstead. Marla was considered a prodigy at 4 years of age. The definition of prodigy is a “person, especially a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities.” There is a large expectation and excitement around one who is labelled as a prodigy. The child often is over-faced with clamor. Marla’s parents did a fantastic job of navigating this wonderful opportunity for Marla. The film is delightful to watch because of the easy rhythm of this family. 



This painting to me feels like being inside a favorite song. Perhaps for Marla her Dad was using a ladder, or maybe her brother was bounding down the staircase as children do. It is so charming to me. The truth is that most of us couldn’t produce this art at 4, 6, or 21.  Either we like it or we don’t. For me the art is there for us to react to. I want art to make me feel something. Even in the documentary film Marla’s parents are asked to film Marla painting. Her mother did film Marla painting a wonderful painting called “Ocean”. When cameras invaded Marla’s painting space she was unwilling or unable to ignore them. 60 Minutes did not respect a 4 year old child enough to behave themselves.  Painting is a private place for many. Some artists thrive when there is a crowd around them. Some do not. Invading that space and inserting negativity to a child is simply wrong. A child psychologist was engaged to spout opinions. She didn’t interview Marla, not once. And yet this person and 60 Minutes spouted on and on about how this child produced art. I do recommend My Kid Could Paint That because watching Marla and this family is fascinating and provokes thoughtfulness. Marla's journey so far is extraordinary. 







“Sun Queen with Baby” by Marla Olmstead explodes with color, action and delightful movement. Personally I don’t care what age Marla was when she painted it.  Do you? It’s full of life and it is interesting to look at.  It is art that collects our attention.








“Lollipop House” by Marla Olmstead. This is such a sophisticated painting! It is challenging to mix colors but mood is created in this painting so that contrast and depth are within. I think it is wonderful. It astonished me to understand Marla was 4 when she painted it. It is happy, lively with little stumbles of delight thrown in!






Creative space is precious. It’s a place humans develop with a language all its own. It is where humans work out life’s mysteries, and seek the joys of life. Marla created her own 4 year old joyful places. I feel for her parents. Of course they have been highly criticized for selling Marla’s work and getting her exposed to the public through an art gallery. The Olmsteads did tread very carefully with their talented daughter.  I think it is just wrong for an organization like 60 Minutes to create drama where there isn’t any. It seemed to me Charlie Rose and 60 Minutes expected a 4 year old to respond to questions as an adult would; with the plan for the painting, and the story behind it. 4 year olds don’t always make up stories, they are read or told stories by parents, teachers or others but rarely do they plan the story and then create a painting around it. 4 year old children don’t define their feelings; they feel and express their feelings in all their experiences.

Abstract art is a style that I either love or dislike. Marla’s paintings are abstract expressionism with active color, bold brushwork, and strong form. She sings her emotions all over the canvas with sure and glorious abandon. Marla’s parents never intimated Marla was a “prodigy”.  Media did that and then created a swirl of drama around a child with a single digit in her age. I suppose my heart is on my sleeve but it was harsh, unhelpful and totally unnecessary. I do recommend watching the film. Marla seems not to pay attention to any of the controversy, and she still paints. Marla doesn’t do media anymore. She is pursuing her education in art, thankfully didn’t lose her love of it.  


I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you did like what you read I hope you will share it with your friends! I love referrals! 

See you next time!

Christine Adams / www.artbycadams.com / artbycadams@gmail.com

Tags

  • Artists Profiles

All products made in USA and Canada

Information

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping & Returns
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

My Account

  • My Account
  • Order History
  • Track Orders
  • Address Book

Connect With Us

  • Follow us on social media for updates about the website and events.
Art By C Adams
© Art By C Adams. All Rights Reserved. Designed by KREATIVE
Our website uses cookies to make your browsing experience better. By using our site you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More I Agree
× What Are Cookies As is common practice with almost all professional websites this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored however this may downgrade or 'break' certain elements of the sites functionality. For more general information on cookies see the Wikipedia article on HTTP Cookies. How We Use Cookies We use cookies for a variety of reasons detailed below. Unfortunately in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case they are used to provide a service that you use. Disabling Cookies You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this and many other websites that you visit. Disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of the this site. Therefore it is recommended that you do not disable cookies. The Cookies We Set
Account related cookies If you create an account with us then we will use cookies for the management of the signup process and general administration. These cookies will usually be deleted when you log out however in some cases they may remain afterwards to remember your site preferences when logged out. Login related cookies We use cookies when you are logged in so that we can remember this fact. This prevents you from having to log in every single time you visit a new page. These cookies are typically removed or cleared when you log out to ensure that you can only access restricted features and areas when logged in. Form related cookies When you submit data to through a form such as those found on contact pages or comment forms cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence. Site preference cookies In order to provide you with a great experience on this site we provide the functionality to set your preferences for how this site runs when you use it. In order to remember your preferences we need to set cookies so that this information can be called whenever you interact with a page is affected by your preferences.
Third Party Cookies In some special cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.
This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content. For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see the official Google Analytics page. We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with social network in various ways. For these to work, the social networks may set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site, or contribute to other purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.