Featured artist
Olivia Marie Braida
Florida, USA
- Sell original works
- Sell reproduced works
- Take commissions/assignments
- Offer workshops/classes
- Sell reproduced works
- Take commissions/assignments
- Offer workshops/classes
Specialty Categories
Painting/Drawing - Wildlife/Birds
watercolor from actual subject
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watercolor from actual subject
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Painting/Drawing - Insects
watercolor from actual subject
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Painting/Drawing - Floral
watercolor from actual subject
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watercolor from actual subject
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watercolor from actual subject
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watercolor from actual subject
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watercolor from actual subject
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Artist Statement
“My watercolor techniques are inspired by Gerard van Spaëndonck and the French Court tradition. They include layering of glazes and washes of mostly transparent watercolors. All of the detail is created with the paint brush. All images are hand-drawn from actual subjects. Images are not taken from and are not traced from photographs. I believe that botanical art represents the ascent of man and custom, of knowledge and thirst for knowledge. Its evolution parallels the human spirit and its quest for self-knowledge. In nature, plants by their proximity to various cultures have acquired their own meanings. As I strive for realism to achieve actualization, each one of my works takes on both appearance and message. The inspiration for the quest is by grace, the outcome a gift, and the process is gratitude. The finished work reverberates with a multitude of strokes — each in memory of my beloved. I hope you will enjoy my conversations with God.”
Bio
O.M. Braida (Olivia Marie Braida) is a nature painter whose art style is based on the style of the French Court Botanical Art Masters of the 17th to 19th Century. Ms. Braida (pen name: O.M. Braida) is an award-winning certified botanical artist whose “precise botanicals,” the New York Times praised as “realism amplified” and whose work Suzanne White, curator of the South Florida Museum, declares as “classical design immersed in shadows and light…compositions of the highest professional level pay homage to the great masters.”Olivia Marie Braida’s work has been recognized as “genius” by noted author, historian, and botanical art connoisseur Jack Kramer. He says, “Her work is reminiscent of the French Court botanical art period of the 16th to19th centuries especially that of Gerard van Spaëndonck.”
Ms. Olivia Marie Braida is an multi-award winning artist who has original work in four public collections, namely the “Magnolia grandiflora, Little Gem #2”, purchased by the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation for their permanent collection in 2004; “The Paintings of Casa Guaiacum” a twelve piece collection commissioned by Mr. Theodore Kheel of the Puntacana Ecological Foundation in the Dominican Republic; the “Nelumbo ‘Baby Doll’” Dwarf White Lotus commissioned by Doña Sarah Bermudez and Señor Hugo Tolentino Dipp former Minister of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic now in the permanent collection of the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature; and “Brazilian Bromeliad Dwellers” commissioned by Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and now in their permanent collection.
Ms. Braida is the author of 30 texts on the subject of botanical art instruction, the founder of the Academy of Botanical Art and the Florida Society of Botanical Artists. Her Academy provides a local, home study, and distance-learning programs to students in the United States, South America, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Ms. Braida’s work has appeared on exhibition at the Long Island Museum of Art, Bishop Museum, the New York State Museum, the Fine Arts Society of Sarasota 2007 Artists & Collectors tour, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Kentucky University Arboretum and numerous other galleries in Florida, New York, and Punta Cana. She has been commercially published in many corporate venues and appears in, “Today’s Botanical Artists” by Cora Marcus and Libby Kyer; Kirpal Singh’s His Grace Lives On, and in 24 consecutive volumes of Sarasota Magazine.
She continues to paint, teach, write, and take private commissions.
“My watercolor techniques are inspired by Gerard van Spaëndonck and the French Court tradition. They include layering of glazes and washes of mostly transparent watercolors. All of the detail is created with the paint brush. All images are hand-drawn from actual subjects. Images are not taken from and are not traced from photographs. I believe that botanical art represents the ascent of man and custom, of knowledge and thirst for knowledge. Its evolution parallels the human spirit and its quest for self-knowledge. In nature, plants by their proximity to various cultures have acquired their own meanings. As I strive for realism to achieve actualization, each one of my works takes on both appearance and message. The inspiration for the quest is by grace, the outcome a gift, and the process is gratitude. The finished work reverberates with a multitude of strokes — each in memory of my beloved. I hope you will enjoy my conversations with God.”
Bio
O.M. Braida (Olivia Marie Braida) is a nature painter whose art style is based on the style of the French Court Botanical Art Masters of the 17th to 19th Century. Ms. Braida (pen name: O.M. Braida) is an award-winning certified botanical artist whose “precise botanicals,” the New York Times praised as “realism amplified” and whose work Suzanne White, curator of the South Florida Museum, declares as “classical design immersed in shadows and light…compositions of the highest professional level pay homage to the great masters.”Olivia Marie Braida’s work has been recognized as “genius” by noted author, historian, and botanical art connoisseur Jack Kramer. He says, “Her work is reminiscent of the French Court botanical art period of the 16th to19th centuries especially that of Gerard van Spaëndonck.”
Ms. Olivia Marie Braida is an multi-award winning artist who has original work in four public collections, namely the “Magnolia grandiflora, Little Gem #2”, purchased by the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation for their permanent collection in 2004; “The Paintings of Casa Guaiacum” a twelve piece collection commissioned by Mr. Theodore Kheel of the Puntacana Ecological Foundation in the Dominican Republic; the “Nelumbo ‘Baby Doll’” Dwarf White Lotus commissioned by Doña Sarah Bermudez and Señor Hugo Tolentino Dipp former Minister of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic now in the permanent collection of the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature; and “Brazilian Bromeliad Dwellers” commissioned by Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and now in their permanent collection.
Ms. Braida is the author of 30 texts on the subject of botanical art instruction, the founder of the Academy of Botanical Art and the Florida Society of Botanical Artists. Her Academy provides a local, home study, and distance-learning programs to students in the United States, South America, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Ms. Braida’s work has appeared on exhibition at the Long Island Museum of Art, Bishop Museum, the New York State Museum, the Fine Arts Society of Sarasota 2007 Artists & Collectors tour, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Kentucky University Arboretum and numerous other galleries in Florida, New York, and Punta Cana. She has been commercially published in many corporate venues and appears in, “Today’s Botanical Artists” by Cora Marcus and Libby Kyer; Kirpal Singh’s His Grace Lives On, and in 24 consecutive volumes of Sarasota Magazine.
She continues to paint, teach, write, and take private commissions.
Workshops/Classes Offered
Weekly classes in Sarasota, Florida and
Zoom Workshops are available.
Zoom Workshops are available.
