Born in 1889 at Ridgeway, Iowa, to Norwegian pioneers, the fifth daughter of seven with a younger brother and four sisters, Olena came to a homestead 30 miles north of Watson, SK in 1911. Olena’s interest in sketching animals at a young age led to her being enrolled in a Lutheran college in Red Wing, Minnesota in 1907, where she learned oil painting ("Night Scene of Schooner”). She had previously taken a mail course doing a pen & ink and perspective exercise. Her father encouraged further schooling, so she went to the Winnipeg School of Art during 1914-15 where pencil studies of the human form were taught using plaster models (Julius Caesar, Laughing Boy, Nude Torso). Later she went there for a brief time when Lemoine Fitzgerald was Head in 1938 (Fitzgerald became an invited member of the Group of Seven).
Boarding with her sister on the U of S campus, she was able to get lessons from Gus Kenderdine who had been appointed first art instructor (oil copies). Her first showing was held in Saskatoon. She exhibited oils "Winter” and "Autumn”, scenes from the farm. She attended Emma Lake summer school for three seasons. Instructors were Kenneth Lougheed, Arthur McCay, Rita Cowley, Mr. Wickenden, and Winona Mulcaster.
In later winters at Edinburgh, Texas, she enjoyed doing street scenes in Mexico and some portraits in pencil. Retiring to Melfort, she continued to sketch, making notes on colors for future painting.
Virtual Collection
OilsOil Annie Stonestand 1949Oil Barnyard in Winter 1935Oil Blue GeometricOil Calf in Barn 1939Oil Cribbage 1952Oil Emma Lake Cabin - Art School 1953Oil Emma Lake 1952Oil Fall Scene 1939Oil Farm Lane in Winter 1934Oil GeometricOil Hereford Bull 1940Oil Horses at Trough 1940Oil Horses Watering at Trough 1942Oil Joe Munroe 1952Oil Kenderdine 1 1927Oil Kenderdine 2 1927Oil Kite FlyingOil Mill 1954Oil Murray PointOil Near Brydon's in BCOil Old BarnOil Pansies 1963Oil PartridgesOil PerchOil Ruby 1907Oil Saddle HorseOil Schooner Red Wing, Minnesota 1907Oil Smith CreekOil Spring SceneOil Stacking Oats 1935Oil Still Life 1961Oil Still LifeOil Survey Boots 1966Oil Tom and Brag 1933Oil Turkey River, Iowa 1907Oil Wood Shed 1954Pencil SketchesPencil Anatomy 1939Pencil Barn and Shed 1944Pencil BisonPencil Foot Winnipeg School of Art 1915Pencil Girl with Horses 1917Pencil Hand with Apple Winnipeg School of Art 1915Pencil Hand Winnipeg School of Art 1915Pencil Horses Feeding (on cardboard) 1904Pencil Horses (on cardboard) 1904Pencil Julius Caesar Winnipeg School of Art 1915Pencil Laughing Boy 1914Pencil Margaret 1929Pencil Melfort Lane 1962Pencil Mexican Lady 1960Pencil Miss Mattie 1957Pencil Nude 1938Pencil Nude 1939Pencil Perspective Drawing 1904Pencil Philosopher 1915Pencil Pioneer Woods HomePencil Revellers Winnipeg School of Art 1938Pencil RosiePencil Rutherford Smith 1939Pencil Shirley Brydon 1928Pencil Spike 1904Pencil Spring Thaw 1938Pencil Texan 1960Pencil Tom's Cabin 1939Pencil Torso Nude 1938Pencil Trees of SaskatchewanPencil WomanPencil Young Man from Life 1945Pencil Young Woman 1915WatercolorsWatercolor Bitter Sweets from Iowa 1966Watercolor Bluebells 1961Watercolor Donkey Cart 1960Watercolor Edinburgh, Mexico 1959Watercolor ElevatorWatercolor Gertrude Linde (Lena's Mother)Watercolor Horses 1957Watercolor Lady Slippers 1961Watercolor Lady Slippers 1940Watercolor Mexican Family 1960Watercolor Red Wild Rose 1961Watercolor Still Life 1964Watercolor Texas 1962Watercolor Wild Roses 1961
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