Meet Your Neighbor: Carlos Ollervides turns to art in his retirement

Sheri Trusty
·3 min read
Carlos Ollervides sits surrounded by his work in his basement art studio in his Clyde home. He has never been trained in art.
Carlos Ollervides sits surrounded by his work in his basement art studio in his Clyde home. He has never been trained in art.

CLYDE — Carlos Ollervides discovered his artistic talent in the simplest way; he picked up a pencil and started drawing.

He was a third grader at St. Mary’s School in Clyde when his teacher announced it was time for art.

“She let us draw anything we wanted. I opened my catechism book and saw a picture of Jesus with the apostles and started drawing it,” Ollervides said. “Kids came around and said, ‘Would you do that for me?’”

Although that moment exposed his own talent, Ollervides grew up in an artistic environment. His two sisters “dabbled with art,” and his father was an ink and pencil artist who was too busy working to indulge his talents. He creativity did, however, pop up occasionally in everyday life.

“He’d be sitting at the dinner table with a piece of paper, and he’d tell me to draw any kind of line, a scribbly line, and then he’d make something out of it,” Ollervides said.

Carlos Ollervides works on a commissioned drawing in his home studio.
Carlos Ollervides works on a commissioned drawing in his home studio.

Like his father, Ollervides didn’t have time for art through much of his adult life. He worked two jobs and took care of his home and family. His retirement in 2020 finally freed him to draw again.

“When I retired, I went gung-ho. I’m making up for lost time,” he said.

Ollervides focuses on charcoal and pencil portraits. He has never been trained in art.

“I just draw what I see,” he said.

He has drawn portraits of his wife Debi, his children, his parents and many other people close to him. He also draws celebrities like Elvis, Barbara Streisand and Lucille Ball, and his drawing of General James B. McPherson is displayed at the Clyde Museum. Portraits of the four Beatles hang above a keyboard and guitars in Ollervides’ home music room.

“A person pops in my head, and I start looking them up online and start drawing,” Ollervides said. “I love drawing people. People are more of a challenge to get them to look like they look.”

Artist accepts commissioned

Ollervides recently agreed to do something a little different — a commissioned piece of a young woman dancing with her late father.

“This is the first one I’ve done like this. I normally like to do close-ups so I can get more detail in the faces,” he said.

Although Carlos Ollervides has been drawing portraits since he was in third grade at St. Mary’s School, this recently finished drawing of him and his wife, Debi, is his first self-portrait.
Although Carlos Ollervides has been drawing portraits since he was in third grade at St. Mary’s School, this recently finished drawing of him and his wife, Debi, is his first self-portrait.

Ollervides won blue ribbons “many years ago” for his work at the Sandusky County Fair and may enter a few pieces this year.

“I’ve been planning to do that the last couple years and haven’t yet, but the fair is coming up again,” he said.

But Ollervides may too busy drawing to think about the fair. He recently shared his work on the “Clyde, Ohio Community Talk” Facebook page and received positive response from hundreds of people. Many of them contacted him with commission orders.

“Ever since I shared it on the Facebook page and offered to draw for people, I’ve been busy,” he said.

To place orders, contact Carlos Ollervides through Facebook Messenger.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Meet Your Neighbor: Carlos Ollervides turns to art in his retirement