Artstalker - Charmaine Olivia

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I am an obsessive tumblr user. 



If you too have fallen victim to the navy hallows of perpetual reload and have suddenly found yourself staring at pictures tagged "palm tree" at 3am while you're swivelling on your desk chair cemented to your snuggie, consequence of a Push Pop you spilt on your lap seventy-five minutes ago. You scream "I want to go to the beach!" to the picture of a Cara Delevigne lookalike with bubblegum pink rollerskates and a septum piercing but she can't hear you, she won't take you - at least not until you clean yourself the fuck up you under nourished son of a bitch.





Even if you're not that extreme and you simply use it to pass the hours between cupcake run and "file this file that" at work, or you use it to beat off, you can't deny that it is way more gratifying seeing pictures of things you can't access, things you want to be a part of - rather than the localisation that Instagram implies. 

Now I know it's filled with a lot of crap - i.e. wanton wannabe's and mini Magdalene's who use it as a public forum to sharp shoot their box gap to stardom through the click of 10,000 little re-blogs (and yes it's THAT easy), but if you choose your tags and your followers wisely and don't get caught up in the tumblrlogic, then it's a great virtual shoot up of inspiration for your next creative project. All the people united on the tumblrverse seem to know what puts the "hip" in "hipster" and the "in" in "indie" and the "fuck" in "fuck yeah I love what they've done with their Derwent's they got from Nan last Christmas!" I'm pretty sure tumblr subconsciously manipulates my wardrobe choice after the the amount of times I have tagged "Karlie Kloss clothes" only to emerge covered in sequins and have stencilled "Gucci" to my wrist. 


Now on one of my Push Pop virtual stalking parades - that seem to frequent me on a Tuesday night, I came across an extremely talented artist by the name of Charmaine Olivia. Even though her name reminds me of a Pokemon hybrid, she's one of the artists I have consistently followed on tumblr because her work is simply stunning.


She's self taught, lives in San Fran and has had clients like Urban Outfitters, Lady Gaga, Hallmark, Volcom Stone, Element, Nylon Magazine, & Inked Girls Magazine all after her whimsical painting style. She's one of those exceptionally beautiful women that makes their money documenting other exceptionally beautiful women, know what you are and reproduce it - flawless strategy. 


Links and license to stalk her are below. 
www.charmaineolivia.com 
charmaineolivia.tumblr.com
instagram.com/charmaineolivia