Artist. Marine Biologist. Conservationist.
About Miriam Olivia
I am a mixed media fine artist, currently living in Bristol in the UK. I originally trained as marine biologist and my heart beats for nature, connection and peace. I dream of a world with social justice, equal rights for all and where minorities, animals and nature are respected and protected.
I hope you will see my passion in all the pieces I create.
Thank you for being here.
My Journey
I grew up in the beautiful black forest area in Germany, living in a town surrounded by mountains and nature. My amazing mom was a biology teacher and had taught my sister and me from young age about the birds, the trees and the intricate relationships between different ecosystems. I had always felt a strong connection to animals, and felt their pain as if it was my own…and yet it wasn’t until I got older that I truly understood the meaning of protecting wildlife and their habitats. At 24 I learned to dive, saw my first ever manta ray and from then on I couldn’t think of anything else. I changed my career path from wanting to become a teacher to becoming a marine biologist. It really is the definition of Jacques Cousteau’s words “We protect what we love, and we love what we know”…that’s why I feel so passionate about showing others the beauty of the natural world through my work.
My amazing dad was a true adventurer and solar scientist, studying solar storms. We would visit him at work on the big telescopes and I just remember always thinking that I would never truly understand all the clever things he did, but I was fascinated just by looking at it. The universe amazes and maybe slightly scares me. When my dad suddenly passed away, we’d lost the rock of our family. A year later, I got diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and to be honest I really didn’t think I had much of a future. My dreams of finally becoming a dive master and marine biologist were shattered, not at last when my diagnosing doctor told me to not go diving anymore. Little did he know that you can’t stop someone from following their dreams so it didn’t take me long to ‘suck it up’ and do exactly that :) I just knew that if I’d give up my dream just because of what might be, the next thing I’d be diagnosed with would be depression. My mum and sister, who’s an incredibly talented doctor and artist herself, supported me all the way (I love you both so much!) and shortly after my initial recovery I went back to beautiful Mozambique where I learned diving in the first place, and where my dad knew I was happy, and finally finished my dive master. I was exhausted, but finally happy again.
I finished my Master’s in Marine Biology at the University of Stockholm in Sweden and for many years after that I have worked in the field as marine researcher studying sharks, manta rays, corals and seagrass. It wasn’t until Covid first hit that I got ‘back’ into art, through a happy little accident painting with my partner’s niece and being gifted a watercolour set by my lovely sister in law. That’s when I discovered a completely new way for me to connect people with nature. All of a sudden I had people watching me paint, rather than listening to me talk about research. I had found what would become my new dream life, to be an artist with a passion for conservation and people. There is just something unique about art, it’s like a worldwide language that makes people connect with what they see instantly. I am now combining my passion for nature, people and poetry by using art to connect people with the natural world!
Thank you to all the people near and far who have supported me throughout my journey. Thank you to my amazing partner Greg, without whom I would have never found the courage to make this happen.
This is your sign to never stop following your dreams!
There is just something unique about art, it’s like a worldwide language that makes people connect with what they see instantly. I am now combining my passion for nature, people and poetry by using art to connect people with the natural world!
Me following my life dream of researching manta rays :)
Never give up!
Photo taken by incredible photographer Julian Gervolino.