Marla at work

Here's a photograph of child artist Marla Olmstead at the age of four

working on her painting, "Ornaments," in the garden of her home in

Binghamton, NY. Marla, now six, recently graduated from kindergarten

and opened a show of two dozen of her colorful, abstract

paintings--she has done about 200 and has been compared to such

artists as Pollock and Kandinsky--at a gallery in Encino, Calif. The

child's work has brought prices of more than $15,000. Laura Olmstead,

Marla's mother, told the Los Angeles Daily News: "She's gotten more

interested in drawing. She's really incorporating the things that she

learns in school."

Beautifully exposed skin tones and wonderful look of concentration on her face.

Simple but works so well. Nice balance. Regards John

Thanks, John and Sarah, for your kind remarks. This image is one of my favorites of the many photos I took of Marla and her art work in the summer and fall of 2004. The shot appeared in at least a half dozen publications in the U.S. and Europe.

Great grab Bill--she is wonderful, so too is her painting---the photo has great color balance and mild intensity--ML