We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Olivia Georgette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

One of my fondest memories is drawing on the wall as a child and my mom NOT getting mad. Growing up in a Jamaican household, drawing on my mom’s nice clean wall was a daring task but art/creativity consumed me so much that I didn’t think before creating because it has been second nature for my entire life. The very first time, Im sure my mom wasnt happy but did that deter me? Absolutely not!

Unannounced to me, that was the beginning of my life as an artist. My mom allowed me to express myself creatively. I had coloring books, I had easels, I had construction paper but something about that wall was enticing! After several failed attempts to get me to stop…I think my mom noticed that paper wasn’t my medium she gave me a wall and said “This is your wall, The rest of the walls are mine. Do whatever you want on THIS wall…” When we moved from that home to the next she kept the same rule. I have a wall and she had the rest. There in 2008 my very first mural of Scooby doo and Winny the Poo was born. The greatest thing my mom could have done was help me keep that inner child alive and always allow me space to express my self.

Olivia , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Queens Bred, Caribbean artist, Olivia Georgette has been honing her skills in traditional painting for the past few years. Originally a graphic designer, Olivia soon ventured off into other areas of art. At the start of the pandemic, Olivia started painting as a source of therapeutic relief. Soon her connection with art transitioned from all passion to her main source of peace, healing, and growth.

Olivia’s evolution into becoming a traditional multidisciplinary artist has allowed her to break boundaries and take her skills onto different canvases including textiles and ceramics. Olivia’s paintings are inspired by underrepresented plus-size black women and her love of Horticulture.

Her most recent projects include partnering with Macy’s for an Olympic-Inspired Tote bag and Partnering with UBS Area for a Custom Handpainted Telfar for Missy Elliot.

Follow her art:
IG :@oliviageorgette
TikTok: Oliviageorgette
Oliviageorgette.com/shop

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media has changed so much over the years. Especially for creatives, demanding us to pivot to be seen.
In 2018/2019 with the rise of digital art, I started creating more of what I thought my audience wanted to see. I was creating on autopilot. Nothing I made, brought me joy. By the end of 2019, I hit a creative wall. making art felt like a job I hated to do. I’ve been an artist my entire life and I was absolutely heartbroken by this feeling so I took a few months off creating with no roadmap on how to get back on track. Then the pandemic hit. That’s when I decided I was done with digital art and I was going to pick up a paintbrush for the first time in my adult life. Every single brush stroke healed a wound I had forgotten about. It brought me peace, it brought me healing, It made me cry, it made me laugh, it woke up the artist in me who was trapped in the shackles of social media.
Then with no warning or introduction, I started sharing the things I painted with with platform and I noticed a sudden growth in engagement. That was when I realized I wasn’t seeing growth before because I was creating what I thought people wanted to see. What people wanted to see was me pour my heart into something meaningful. So I did that, over and over and over again. My advice for building a genuine audience is to be authentic to who you are as a person and a creator. People value authenticity more than anything else.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is watching people take in my art.
Women drop tension in their soldiers and see themself in the pieces. It puts their mind at ease and almost offers up a creative hug. These reaction bring me so much joy because that’s the exact feeling it gave me while creating it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oliviageorgette.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviageorgette/

Image Credits

Photographer: DAJS Artboii