'Born with brushes in my hand'

Oscar Nava Olano can’t remember a time when art wasn’t a part of his life. “I was born with brushes in my hand.”

Raised in an artistic family in Mexico, he was heavily influenced by his father, an architect, artist and pastor. “He always helped me and pushed me,” said Olano. Their home was full of all sorts of supplies for painting, drawing and sculpting.

Olano had his own art business when a friend working on Answers in Genesis called him with an opportunity: the Ark Encounter needed an artist with his particular skillset.

Olano sent them a book of his work.

“They said, ‘Oh yes! We want to meet this guy!’ ”

His brightly colored alebrijes, Mexican sculptures of animals and other fantastic creatures decorated with traditional geometric designs, were just the artistic style the Ark’s creators wanted.

Olano came to the United States for an interview and afterward, “I didn’t sleep all night!” Instead, he spent the night sketching.

The next day, sitting in his friend’s office, he heard the rattling of the sketches from another room and an excited voice exclaiming, “This is perfect!”

Back in Mexico, Olano spent eight months working on the Rainbow Covenant, a two-ton piece depicting the story of Noah and the flood. The large work was subsequently flown to Kentucky and now stands on the ark’s third deck.

The detail and thought put into the work are evident. Olano pointed out a section in which the ark rides on ribbons of water. Each strip consists of a different culture’s symbol for water — Incan, Irish, Greek.

At the top are images of the ark on adjacent vertical bands set within an elongated triangle, illustrating the rising of the waters over forty days of rain and flood.

A horizontal band of bones against a red back drop forms the bottom of the piece, representing the destruction of life resulting from the flood.

When the work was completed, Olano was distressed to learn the Ark’s creators wanted the piece to be aged, or rusted.

He did not like the idea of defacing the work and was depressed for two days. He complied, though, making a wash and brushing it over parts of the piece to make it look old and water-damaged.

At the very bottom of the rainbow that hugs the entire work, there is a “happy little tree” painted by Olano’s wife, Briggitte, who is his helpmate and cheerleader.

She was expecting the second of the couple’s three children when they moved to the United States seven years ago to continue his work for at the Ark Encounter. They named their daughter EmZara, after the wife of Noah.

“God put Oscar in the Ark,” she said, her smile infectious.

“I can use my talent to glorify God. That’s my delight,” he echoed.

Indeed, the Olanos were preparing to go to Nebraska at the time the opportunity at the Ark arose. He has family there, and they needed a pastor for an Hispanic ministry.

Ministry is still a passion for him. He is currently in seminary with a group of twelve pastors. Their goal is “to know if we are ready or able to respond to the call.”

For now he continues his studies, paints passionately, and works at Kellie’s Homestead Restaurant in Dry Ridge, where he has a work station set up.

Behind his chair is a fantastical mural of a black and white rooster combining all of the elements so often present in his paintings: traditional Mexican geometric designs, meticulous realism, contemporary style, and bright colors.

He wants to stay here in the states and hopes to one day create a place is the community for kids to do art. Watching so many children with their faces buried in digital screens makes him sad, he said.

“My dream is to someday have a place to share art, teach art and touch lives ... Art is an amazing way to connect with souls.”

To see more of Olano’s work his Instagram account account is oscarnavaolano. You can email him at oscar_olano@hotmail.com.