Many people ask, “Where do you get your ideas and how do you start a painting?”
It is certainly not startling news, but here is how I do it:

Where Do Ideas Come From?

	For example, one winter’s day in the North, from inside a car at the side of a country road, I peered into the forest, which was full of dry, leafless, brown trees. As my eyes pierced the frozen woods, suddenly, inexplicably, my imaginary eye pictured three white bears standing behind some of the trees. Later, having kept that image in my mind, I began to put it on canvas, adding red birds in the trees as the painting progressed. This painting is the one titled THREE BEARS .
	HUSBAND GROWS OLDER was inspired by my career in the anti-aging business. The husband is aging while the wife remains young forever.
	THE TREE came about after I saw a black and white photo of a huge, beautifully shaped tree, bare with no leaves, which completely filled the picture. The form was powerful. I had to put this tree in a painting. So I began with a huge tree in the center of the canvas, but, unlike the photo, I added leaves, and then built the “story” around the tree.

All of my paintings start with a strong feeling. I can vision most of the idea and feeling of a painting before I start, but not always the details. Many details are added or developed as the painting progresses. Most always I will start with a small section of the canvas, testing to see if the colors and ideas are good enough to continue. It is an exaggeration, but I have been accused of starting at one corner of a canvas and working my way to the other side!

Evolution of an Oleda Painting

1. A light sketching to begin.	2. Testing and working the background.		3. Made the sky a little stronger.
4. Changed the sky again and testing the tree and flowers.	5. Working my way through flowers.		6.
Blowup of #6. Changed the lady’s hair style. Made the lace on her dress stand out more by putting yellow in the center of the lace flowers. 7. Working my way across with more flowers and ground covering. Added skin pattern to the giraffes.
8. THE AFRICAN LADY Completed