Parents Of This Child Art 'Prodigy' May Not Be Telling Us The Whole Story
Well-dressed adults mingled in an upscale gallery, glasses of champagne in hand. Abstract paintings lined the white walls, and the whole room was aflutter with excitement. No one could stop talking about the artist of the night — a child no more than three feet tall. This was Marla Olmstead, and as her legend grew in the fine art world, so did the questions surrounding her awe-inspiring creativity. Was this little girl concealing a big secret?
A Star Is Born
Marla was born at the turn of the millennium in Binghamton, New York. Early on, she enjoyed playing in her backyard, watching cartoons, and hanging out with her parents, Mark and Laura, as well as her younger brother, Zane. Then, at age 3, everything changed.
The Fateful Day
Her grandfather passed away. Afterwards, a grieving Mark Olmstead took up painting as a distraction. One day, in an attempt to occupy his daughter while he tried to focus, he offered her a paint brush of her own.
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Innocent Beginnings
According to her parents, there was something special about whatever she painted. The pieces, though mostly abstract, just seemed advanced for her age. On a whim, they hung up one of her paintings in a local coffee shop. This unleashed the floodgates.
Surprise, Surprise
Soon, coffee drinkers started to inquire about the price of the piece, which hadn’t even been for sale! Mark and Laura were in awe that someone seriously wanted to pay money for a work painted by their toddler. They sold Marla's art a whopping $253.
