Earl Olsen

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Artist’s Statement

Photography has been my life-long passion starting at the age of eighteen while stationed in the US Air Force in Morocco. I am self-taught and have pursued the art of seeing and the craft of capturing and printing the photographic image all my adult life. The sub-title to my photography is “Seeing the Unseen” as I always strive to find beauty in the commonplace that surrounds us everyday.
As Ernst Hass once said “If there is nothing to see, yet you see it – that is poetry. If there is something to see, and everybody sees it – that is observation. But if you can make something out of nothing and make everybody see it – that is poetry in photography.”

A few years ago I switched from film to a digital camera. My archival fine art prints are printed on fine-art paper using carbon pigment inks. Every effort is made to use acid-free material throughout the printing, matting and framing process.

Awards and Recognition

August 2009          Anacortes Arts Festival – “Best Artist of the Festival” Award
September 2007    Featured Artist, Whidbey Island Studio Tour
June 2005            Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, First Place Award
August 2003       Period Gallery, Omaha, NE, Abstraction VI, Award of Excellence
June 2002          Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, Honorable Mention
April 2002           Seattle Art Museum – Volunteer Honoree Photography Arts Council
August 2001       Period Gallery, Omaha, NE, Abstraction IV, Special Recognition
June 2001           Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, First Place Award
June 2000           Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, Honorable Mention
June 1998           Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, Third Place Award
July 1995             Arts Council of Snohomish County, Third Place Award
June 1995           Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, Second Place Award
July 1994            Northwest Poets & Artists Annual Calendar, Honorable Mention
June 1994          Edmonds Arts Festival, Juried Art Show, Second Place Award
September 1993     Reflections of Lynnwood, Juried Photo Show, Third Place Award
July 1993            First National Polaroid Transfer Exhibition, First Place Award
September 1992     Reflections of Lynnwood, Juried Photo Show, First Place Award
June 1992          Mercer Island Visual Art League, Arts Festival, Honorable Mention
September 1991      Reflections of Lynnwood, Juried Photo Show, First Place Award
June 1991        “ Mercer Island Visual Art League, Arts Festival, Honorable Mention

Selected Gallery Exhibitions

March 2010 Brackenwood Gallery, Langley, WA

August 2005       Sandpiper Gallery, Old Town, Tacoma, WA
October 2004      Whidbey Panoramas Gallery, Coupeville, WA
July 2004             Ideation Gallery, Olympia, WA
August 1997      “Water Wisdom Series” Commencement Art Gallery, Tacoma, WA
July 1996           “Pogacha Restaurant Gallery, Bellevue, WA
November 1995      “Vertebrae Series,” Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA
May 1995             Blue Heron Gallery / Vashon Allied Arts, Vashon, WA
July 1994           “Abstractions in Bronze,” Library Gallery, Lynnwood, WA
June 1994         Jensen’s Books & Gallery, Everett, WA