Tess Olson
 
Artist Statement
  I am a representational oil painter who works in the traditional genres of still life, figure and landscape. I usually paint from life but sometimes create a series of paintings in my studio to explore some aspect of the genre in a specific way. For example, when working in landscape, I did a Coastal series where I used a different perspective to emphasize the underlying organic shapes and patterns found in nature. When working in figure I did a Bathing Beauty series of ordinary people in public places whose unique characteristics spoke volumes about universal human qualities. Currently I am working in still life and enjoy having more control over the lighting, composition, shapes and color relationships in order to reveal the beauty of everyday objects.
 
Education
1982    Syracuse University - Magna cum Laude
Syracuse, New York
B.F.A Painting
 
Exhibits
2011 December All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Small Works Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  October All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  September All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Rehoboth Beach Paint Out, Camp Rehoboth Community Center, Rehoboth Beach, DE - Honorable Mention
  May All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  About Face: Stories in Portraits, Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, Solomons, MD
  January All-Media Exhibit, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2010 December All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA - Honorable Mention
  Small Works Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Art in City Hall, City Hall, Alexandria, VA
  Rehoboth Beach Paint Out, Rehoboth Beach Theatre of the Arts, Rehoboth Beach, DE
  'Curves', Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  'Herstory', Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2009 December All Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  September All Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Black and White Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA - Honorable Mention
  4th Annual Riverbend Park Paintout, Great Falls, VA - Honorable Mention
  May All Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Real/Unreal, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Let There be Light, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2008 Small Works Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  'Scapes: International Landscape Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  MAPAPA Exhibition at River Farm, Alexandria, VA
  Rehoboth Beach Paint Out, Bellmoor Inn, Rehoboth Beach, DE
  Riverbend Park Paint Out, Great Falls, VA
  May All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Interplay: Humanity and Nature, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  March All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  January >= 100 Artists Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2007 October All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  MAPAPA All Member Show, City Hall, Annapolis, MD
  July All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Rehoboth Beach Paint Out, Bellmoor Inn, Rehoboth Beach, DE
  Paint Alexandria Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Riverbend Park Plein Air Competition, Great Falls, VA
  Art in City Hall, City Hall, Alexandria, VA - Honorable Mention
  Workshop Teachers and Students, South Street Art Gallery, Easton, MD
  Ebb and Flow: Coastal Life, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2006 December All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Art and Politics, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA - Honorable Mention
  International Landscape Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  July All-Media Membership Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Paint Alexandria, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  American Landscapes, Washington Gallery of Photography, Bethesda, MD
  Black and White Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  8th Annual All Media Exhibition, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
  Art in City Hall: A Juried Exhibition, Alexandria City Hall, Alexandria, VA
 
2005 Small Works Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  Urban Life Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  2004 Open Exhibition, Verizon Gallery, Annandale, VA
 
2003 2003 Open Exhibition, Verizon Gallery, Annandale, VA
  Small Works Show, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
 
2002 Annual Small Works, Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA
  New Symbols, Montgomery College Gallery, Rockville, MD
  To the Nth Degree, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
  Post This! An Art Critic's Choice, Studio Gallery, Washington, DC