For as long as she could remember, Olivia Bennett has been bringing nature to life through her artistry. Whether she was painting at her own art gallery in Southlake Town Square or painting a butterfly for a charity gala, Olivia loves magnifying the world around her and showing the beauty in life’s small details. Now the Southlake child phenom has a kid of her own and is collaborating with Twisted X to launch her first footwear collection and lifestyle brand.
I’VE BEEN PAINTING… since I was 5 years old. I started like any other kid — with love and a passion for creating. But when I went in for my checkup around kindergarten, they discovered I had leukemia. Instead of starting school a few weeks later, I ended up starting chemo.
I TURNED TO ART… during those two years at home. My mind just kind of got lost, reset and relaxed every time I painted. It was sort of like therapy to me.
I TRIED EVERYTHING… from airbrush to sculpture to pen and ink. I did a lot of princesses, embellishing dresses, animals and portraits. I dabbled in a lot of different styles, but I eventually settled on watercolor and painting.
I LOVE… the scale and size that comes with painting. I love working on really large 4-foot canvases and magnifying natural subjects. There are so many things that are important to our planet but are often small and overlooked, like daisies or dandelions. I love blowing it up, drawing attention to it and telling a story.
I SOLD MY FIRST PAINTING… when I was 8 years old. My mom had an open house for her business, and one woman came over and noticed one of my paintings. She asked if I would consider selling her one. I was so overwhelmed at the idea that someone wanted to pay me for my art that I didn’t even know what price to ask for. Eventually, she bought my painting for $50 and said, ‘You need to be ready next time, because people are going to start asking you more often.’
WHEN I WAS IN FOURTH GRADE… I made it into my first-ever Art In The Square festival. Then I published my first art book at age 12. Shortly after that, my story got picked up by local media until I met both Oprah Winfrey and President George Bush back to back. It was very much a pinch-me moment, even now.
FOR MANY YEARS… I was in school, I came home and I painted every single day. By the end of Christmas break in 2004, I started homeschooling so I could do art full time. I had such an amazing amount of support and momentum that I was like, ‘Well, why not?’ It was an unknown, exciting adventure that I was ready to go on.
TODAY, I SELL MY WORK… internationally and all over the country. I work with many organizations and nonprofits, creating work to help fundraise for causes I love. I take great responsibility in keeping my art fun, fresh and authentic to me, because at the end of the day, every person who has your painting has a piece of you.
I MET TWISTED X A YEAR AGO… at the Kids Matter Charity Ball. I was hand-painting a yellow rose of Texas print live on the stage on a huge 4-foot canvas. Twisted X’s CEO, Prasad Reddy, won the painting at the auction, and I told him I would be happy to deliver the piece to him. He called me a couple of weeks later out of the blue wondering what I thought about putting that flower on cowboy boots. It’s been a dream opportunity.
I’VE ALWAYS WANTED… to be part of a retail collaboration. What ended up coming out of my conversation with Twisted X was not just one cowboy boot, but a whole Olivia Bennett footwear collection. We now have 14 designs of shoes and boots in the pipeline, which will be released over the next six months, and years ahead of us co-creating designs together.
I THINK THE MOST EXCITING ASPECT… of creating more livable, wearable art is that it’s going to be out for the world to see. So often when I sell a painting, it’ll go into someone’s dining room or bedroom, and I won’t see it again. But to be out in the world and run into someone wearing one of my T-shirts or kicks is really exciting.
MY ULTIMATE VISION RIGHT NOW… is to create more of a lifestyle brand, using the best quality products and all of these different canvases to bring art to life. Not everyone needs art, but everyone needs T-shirts, shoes and other apparel. I’m really excited for this collaboration with Twisted X and the first of many opportunities to share my work with the world.