ABSTRACT ART/ PAGE 1 by Jonny Olsen
Owner: Luc Chabot of Ottawa. Apart from being an artist and a photographer, Jonny
is also a professional percussionist. He created a band called Junkyard Symphony, a percussion group that
uses junk to make music. Jonny loves anything to do with drums. His liscence plate says "GOT2DRUM". Jonny
was also a leader in 'Earthbeat' in 2004, North America's largest drum jam. Over 1000 drummers gathered in
Confederation Park to make some noise.
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Owner: Jonny Olsen. Jonny grew up in the 70's, a time when life was colourful and Sunday afternoons were spent at the roller rink skating to disco music.
Jonny's favorite bands in the seventies were Chilliwack and Supertramp.
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Owner: Andrew Beaudin of Cornwall, Ontario. This
painting was the first of the abtract expressionism series to use earthy colours instead of the usual vibrant
colours that Jonny likes to use. This picture is a tribute to the ice storm that passed through Eastern
Ontario in the late 90's, and while it was not one of nature's most devastating creations, the storm was very memorable.
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Owner: Laura Durno of Stittsville. Jonny used to keep this painting
above his television along with a few others in the abstract expressionist series. In fact, his
entire apartment on Prince of Wales was littered with his paintings. The good thing
about being an artist is that you don't have to spend too much money on decoration.
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Owner: Patrick Michaud of Quebec City. The image is of trees in the
fall. The frame on this picture has a 6 inch smaller backing so that the picture appears to float from the wall.
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Owner: Laura Durno of Stittsville. Painted at the art studio on Daly st. in Sandyhill, downtown Otawa. Jonny rented a studio in the apartment of his long time friend Cindy Gramman
during the summer and fall of 2002. This was his first professional studio set-up. He would often spend his days paintings and
taking Cindy's dog Gus out for long walks along the Rideau River.
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Owner: Owner Karen Taylor and Donald Wright ofSt. John's, Newfoundland. Wavy lines
are a staple of Jonny's paintings, as is the use of bright colours.
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Owner: Karen Taylor and Don Wright of St Johns Newfoundland.
Jonny's Grandma made him lots of Afgans over the years with all sorts of great designs. This is his own
painted version of one of Grandma's blankets.
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Owner: Isabelle Jette. Picasso, along with Vincent Van Gogh is one of Jonny's favorite artists.
Another of Jonny's favorite artists is Norval Morisseau, a Native artist whose work has been
featured at the National Art Gallery.
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Owner: Owner Jonny Olsen. This scene is a Inuit hunting a caribou, but the scenery
is rapidly changing into a city. Jonny painting this in art class at the University of Waterloo where he graduated with a degree in Envinonmental Studies.
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Owner: Anonymous. You can definetly see the Picasso
/cubism influence on this painting. Jonny's additon to cubism is not only vibrant colours, but movement, a style he calls 'movemetism'. Even as this lady sits, she has the feeling of rocking back and forth.
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Owner: Anonymous. This painting was stolen from the Downstairs Club where Jonny's Band Otis Strange used to play. By
chance, Jonny came across the painting when visiting a friend. The painting was hanging in the roomate's
room, so Jonny got it back.
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Owner: Luc Chabot of Ottawa. This painting hung at an exhibit in Cafe Deckuf on Rideau Street. While somebody offered to buy it, Jonny
decided not to sell it as he liked it too much. Eventully he sold it to Luc.
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Owner: Jonny Olsen. This image was used as an
Otis Strange poster. Back in the day, the band played at the Downstairs Club every Thursday where Jonny
painted his first mural, the birth of the bendy buildings series.
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Owner: Jonny Olsen. Otis Strange played at
the Downstairs Club every Thursday for nearly two years. After they left, the Downstairs Club closed
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Owner: Helen Cameron of Ottawa, Ontario. Originally Helen had asked Jonny to paint her a picture of a penguin. Jonny, however already had a sketch of a puffin
which seemed very similar to a penguin so he painted that instead. Helen didn't know the difference until Jonny
told her that is was a puffin. She still liked the painting though, and decided to keep it anyway.
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Owner: anonymous. This is another version of the
cross between a penguin and a puffin which Jonny liked so much. The word 'penguin' has a muddy origin; it originally seemed to mean 'fat one' in
spanish/portuguese, and may come from either the Welsh 'pen gwyn' (white head), from the Latin
'pinguis' (fat); or from a corruption of 'pin-wing' (pinioned wings).
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Owner: Dave Olsen, Toronto Ontario.
Like all Canadian children Jonny played minor hockey. Left defense was his position. He wasn't a big scorer but with
his long painting arms, nobody could get past him. Did you hear about the forward who had a breakaway
on the Rideau Canal? He was never seen again. Ha ha ha. Go Defense!
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Owner: Anonymous. While the player remains anonymous, the pose was taken from Jerry Rice.
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Owner: Anonymous. Usually Jonny engulfs his paintings with mutiple colours. This painting has only white and blue
because it was unfinished. Jonny meant to finish the painting but it seems that many people like
it just the way it is. Sometimes simple is better, just ask Benjamin Chee Chee.
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Owner: Anonymous. Jonny had the idea for this painting while sitting in his Grandmother's garden in Vancouver.
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Owner: Anonymous. The wondrous curves of Benjamin Chee Chee's paintings and the bright colours of Norval Morriseau's artwork inspired Jonny in this painting.
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Owner: Karen Taylor. Jonny is very passionate for vivid colours in his paintings. He also has a passion for swirls, squiggly lines and shrinking cirlces.
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Owner: Jonny Olsen
Title by: Nancy Peters and Ben Piggot
Posted an Named on Facebook: Dec 5, 2020
This painting was done during the beginning of the lockdown in the 2020 pandemic. Jonny spent
much time in his art studio, and in his office working on updating his webite.
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