Better is the Ready

Irene Hardwicke Olivieri "Better is the Ready" 2010

Like most artists, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri has a passionate interest in art supplies. Well, who doesn't enjoy going into an art supply store and submerging the current cares of the day into a happy dream of possibilities and newness? The figure in Olivieri's oil painting on wooden door "Better is the Ready" looks completely prepared for any kind of art emergency in which she might find herself. 

Olivieri says of this piece,"Art supplies have been a recurring theme in my paintings, a symbol of hope, anticipation, eagerness.  I heard a policeman talking about how he felt when he put on his uniform, how it made him feel transformed and ready for the job. It made me wish I had a uniform. I was looking around my studio and thinking of what I would carry with me, what an artist’s uniform would look like. I painted everything I use in my work, as well as a necklace and bracelets with little charms depicting other paintings I was working on at the same time. The artist is like a soldier or scout with badges of past experiences, triumphs. Our country was at war when I painted this; I was thinking about the heavy burden that soldiers carry into war and what a different battle it would be if they carried art supplies instead."

Olivieri is originally from Texas, but got her Master's degree from NYU. She now lives in the high desert plains of central Oregon where in addition to her studio work she pursues her interest in naturalist studies, which include raising caterpillars,succulents and water lilies and dissecting the occasional owl pellet. Olivieri's art teems with precise details drawn from her close observation of the natural world, combined with the visions and dreams burgeoning from her fertile imagination. She is represented by the Robert Berman Gallery, the Carl Hammer Gallery and  ACA Galleries.