THE PRECIOUS INTERVIEW : OLIVIA ROLAND
If you have met Olivia Roland, then you remember her incredible green eyes and the sparks in them, her bird-like voice and the incredible grace that inhabits everything she touches. What does she do ? Whatever she likes. She writes beautiful portraits, books, she reads for others, she transforms old Hermès bags into pieces of art, and speaking of art, she makes her own : poetic, colorful collages that grace the walls of a few happy few.
In her Precious Interview today, she tells us about picnics, Nicolas de Staël, and finding wedding bands in the sand.
If you weren’t an artist and a writer, what would you be ?
Difficult to say as « i am what i am »… i admire people who are passionate with what they do, whatever it is. I i weren’t an artist and a writer, i wish i ‘d be anything - a taxi driver, a butcher, a doctor… - as long as i felt i was at the right place which means that every day of my working life i would wake up and be happy to go to work.
What is your first memory of jewellery ?
I must have been 5 or 6. And was sitting in a convertible car, more like a jeep kind of car, that belonged to my sister’s boy friend. It was summer. And in the sand gathered on the floor of the car, i found a ring, a golden wedding ring. I did not tell anyone, it was my treasure. I felt i had discovered the moon !
Your favorite off-the-beaten-track destination ? Can you tell us why ?
Off the beaten track destinations are pure luxury to me. Intimate places. Off season. I like Cucuron, a small village in Provence. I like The Cap Ferret, in september, when everyone is gone. It ‘s the most beautiful place in the world to me, with the ocean on one side and the bassin, interior sea, on the other one. To be on a sailing boat, at sunset, and to be lucky enough to see some dolphins and to have a picnic with a good white wine on the Banc d’Arguin, sandbanks between the ocean and the Bassin.
Can you describe your ideal day in Paris ?
No ideal day really as i like to walk and stop in a cafe to read my paper but also to go to the fleemartket in Vanves or pop at a friend’s for lunch. I am lucky to be freelance and to invent my life every day. I have my days : stay at home and read and work ; go and see exhibits and bookstores ; visit friends… I hate routine !!!
Your favorite Honorine Jewels piece ?
I like the pieces with writings. I have a ring, for instance, a chalcedony set in gold, which looks like a candy to me, with indian sayings that i do not even understand but i feel that they protect me.
A picture, painting, or sight, that makes you happy.
A picture, any painting from Nicolas de Staël. Maybe, i ‘d say the smaller ones. There is a vibration attached to them ; they make me feel i belong to a unified world. A sight ? Mountains covered with snow. I love the feeling of snow. No more noises. Peace and protection…
What are you reading at the moment ?
At the moment, i am reading my friends’ scripts and manuscripts !
