"Alight & Aloft: Avian Observations" by Carl Oltvedt

ALIGHT & ALOFT: AVIAN OBSERVATIONS CARL OLTVEDT March 14 - April 18, 2020

CARL OLTVEDT

Carl Oltvedt works full-time as an artist in a variety of painting and drawing media. He relocated to the Twin Cities following his retirement from Minnesota State University Moorhead in May of 2015, where he was a Professor in the School of Visual Arts. Currently, he maintains a studio at the California Building in N.E. Minneapolis. He has exhibited his work at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis since 1978. His paintings and drawings are included in numerous public, corporate, and private collections, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. He has completed commissions for corporations and private collectors including Cargill Corporation, Securian Corporation, and the Laske family. He was a recipient of Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants in 2014 and 1991, and a Lake Region Arts Council/McKnight Artist Fellowship in 2002.

ARTIST STATEMENT I work from a representational point of departure based on my response to the visual dynamic of colors, shapes, textures, spatial/scale relationships and possible narrative potential that I see within the subject(s). From there, I work intuitively feeling the height, width, illusion of depth and placement of components in relationship to one another, making adjustments until I feel a level of clarity in the development of the work. It is very much an ongoing conversation between myself, the subject, and the materials.

This particular body of work was inspired by my lifelong love of flight and birds. I am not a bird watcher in the traditional sense, where I record notes of the variety of species that I see during my excursions outside, but I am most definitely always on the watch for them. Yellow Headed Blackbirds were a familiar sight for me when I lived in the Moorhead-Fargo community where Minnesota borders North Dakota; they migrate with Red Winged Blackbirds and Cowbirds and are regularly seen in the wetlands that are common in the Red River Valley. Great Blue Herons and Egrets were a common sight as well, overhead and stalking their prey in the shallows. Living and working in the Twin Cities now offers me endless opportunities to observe a great diversity of birds, including the Green Heron. They are all colorful, elegant, elusive and quick to the wing. As a result, I have a camera with me most of the time, as I rely on photographs of the birds as a reference for my work. Truth be told, I would love to be able to fly with them.

-Carl Oltvedt

Carl Oltvedt Green Heron: Short Flight 2019 | pastel & charcoal on hand toned paper $2,600.00 image: 31 x 24" | frame: 39.5 x 32"

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Carl Oltvedt Landing Approach 2020 | pastel and charcoal $1,300.00 image: 19 x 25" | frame: 26 x 34"

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Carl Oltvedt Yellow Headed Blackbird VII 2020 | pastel and charcoal SOLD image: 19 x 25" | frame: 27 x 34"

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Carl Oltvedt Yellow Headed Blackbird VI 2020 | pastel and charcoal $1,300.00 image: 19 x 25" | frame: 27 x 34"

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Carl Oltvedt Yellow Headed Blackbirds I 2019 | acrylic on canvas $6,000.00 image: 28 x 58" | unframed

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Carl Oltvedt Prey In Sight 2020 | pastel and charcoal SOLD image: 15 x 11" | frame: 20.25 x 16.5"

Carl Oltvedt Positioned to Strike 2020 | pastel and charcoal $1,000.00 image: 15 x 22" | frame: 20 x 27.25"

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Carl Oltvedt Surface Disturbance 2020 | pastel and charcoal SOLD image: 14 x 11" | frame: 20.25 x 16.5"

Carl Oltvedt Green Heron Stalking II 2020 | pastel and charcoal SOLD image: 23.5 x 18"| frame: 30 x 24.5"

Carl Oltvedt Green Heron Stalking I 2020 | pastel and charcoal SOLD image: 23.5 x 18"| frame: 30 x 24.5"

To purchase artwork please contact: info@grovelandgallery.com or 612-377-7800

25 Groveland Terrace, Minneapolis, MN 55403 www.grovelandgallery.com