Olaf Schneider

Olaf Schneider (b.1964) is a husband, father of two, and grandfather of seven. He studied at the Ontario College of Art as well as Sheridan College. In 1986, while painting large scale outdoor advertising billboards for Mediacom, he acquired a strong practical foundation that would become integral to his work today. He is greatly inspired by mentor Ron Greig.. For Olaf each piece represents an intense exploration and refinement of his personal pictorial sensitivities, especially as they relate to beauty, form, light, and shade. Composition, color, and craftsmanship are all elements that become the building blocks of his work. Olaf is a prolific painter who is inspired by the power and diversity of the northern landscape, and anything that needs a "second look". An explorer by nature, he travels across North America and Europe to gain inspiration.. I am best known for my high realism style of painting. It has been extremely rewarding to be recognized and awarded with the highest honours for much of my work both in Canada, USA, Europe (France & Austria). My work can be found in private, corporate and museum collections such as the TD Bank collection, Sick Children’s Hospital (collections both in Toronto & Montreal), the Louvre in Paris. My training has been thorough and exceptional.

My early experience in the art world began as a mural painter. This entailed doing very large mural paintings which dotted the face of the City of Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and surrounding area for many years. The company for whom I worked, Mediacom Outdoor Advertising, was renowned. These murals involved working with securing vendor permits/ tenders, utilizing Boom and scissor lifts, painting on scaffolding (occasionally under adverse weather conditions) As my talent and experience grew, Toronto. I was at a crossroad, a friend suggested painting the world of Formula One race cars.My father had been a race car driver, who perished in an accident while driving the track. This new realm of the race car world enhanced my growing experience in working with a professional team. My work no longer became mural based but rather on canvas in a much smaller scale. I painted many successful race car drivers in North America and Europe. The paintings were large, exquisitely executed and very successful. Some of these paintings ended up in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and a well represented in Montreal Canada. This was exceptionally successful time in my career on many levels. From there, I moved into the world of horse racing. One of my paintings are still grace the Woodbine Race Track. After my honeymoon, I took to painting Landscapes and played with Still Life painting, using flowers and glass to hype up the interest in the work.