Cara Rosalie Olsen is a California-based artist with a deep and effusive passion for flowers; a few favorites being peonies, dahlias, ranunculus and foxglove, though she has yet to meet a flower (or a weed, for that matter) she doesn’t like. As a fine artist well recognized in the community, she is known for her expressive style of painting, infusing her work with a vintage-esque quality that awakens longing for a time when life moved much slower. Her heirloom paintings and decorative homewares continue to be a favorite among treasured collectors. 

Cara’s work has been featured in several publications and blogs worldwide. She feels grateful to have partnered with clients such as Laura Ashley, Darling Magazine, Monika Hibbs, Michaels Arts & Crafts, Winsor and Newton, and Princeton Brush to name a few. Her portfolio includes a variety of custom design work such as textiles, stationery, hand-painted ornaments, as well as wholesale collaborations and private commissions. 

Cara is also an author and watercolor instructor; her book Watercolor Painting for Beginners remains to be a best-seller on Amazon and can be found via her website and anywhere books are sold. You can also access her online classes via Skillshare, where Cara delights in teaching budding creatives how to seek inspiration, hone a “voice” of their own, and guide them on an enriching path full of exploration, growth and beauty. She fully believes the real magic resides in being brave enough to make big mistakes, and that enjoying one’s process is the ultimate goal of creating.

When she’s not using every spare moment available to paint in her home-based studio, you can usually find Cara spending time with her two little girls, Hazel and Violet—probably at a casual-welcome-all tea party, light on the tea, heavy on the rainbow marshmallows and goldfish crackers. While her children are small, Cara is fully invested in this season of motherhood and knows the time will come when her days once again become her own. She is also enjoying (when time permits) the slow art of assembling a home recently purchased with her husband/best friend. Above all, she is grateful to God for this perfectly imperfect life and forever in debt for this gift of creation that Cara is blessed to call her job.