Sherry Olsen: Painted Plates, Works on Paper, Sculpture

Sherry Olsen was born in Los Angeles and grew up during the Jimmy Carter ’70s. Her father was a carpenter. Both her mother and grandfather were latent artists who encouraged and championed her art. Rather than going to art school, she traveled in her late teens and throughout her twenties, learning on the road. She picked up printmaking in Hamburg, glass work in Paris, and metalwork in County Kilkenny, Ireland. She eventually settled in Northern California, where she now lives and works.

Her work has been described as that of “a child who knows what they are doing.” She loves Art Brut, folk art, and the art of children. She works across a variety of mediums and thrives on the cross-pollination between them. Her work is widely collected by art lovers around the world.

We first became acquainted with Sherry's work through her surface design collaboration with Fog Linen Work. In 2009, at our shop in Brookline, we showed and sold these printed linen goods alongside Sherry’s other work which included small works on paper and sculpture. It was a wonderful small exhibit. This past February, we made a point of visiting her in Berkeley where we pulled together the idea for a new show. It includes painted plates created for Pod, one-of-a-kind works on paper including mixed media and collage, and sculpture. 

This exhibit will run in-store & online, May 15-31.

*20% of all Sherry Olsen plate sales will be donated to Community Cooks.
Community Cooks is a local organization that connects caring volunteer cooks, the human services sector, businesses, civic groups, schools, and faith-based institutions to form a dynamic, growing community with a common goal: to feed our neighbors in need and increase their ability to thrive.