Paulette Olive is a printmaker and pastel artist. She is primarily self-taught, but has attended classes and workshops at Phoenix College, Phoenix Center for the Arts, Mesa Arts Center (Dan Weldon), Xico, Inc. Arte y Cultura and the Shemer Art Center.

In her travels around the world, Paulette always collected etchings and prints. This is how her attraction to printmaking started. She wanted to create multiples of an image. Once involved in the printmaking process, this desire expanded to “how do I manipulate the image”, or “how can I express the same image in different ways” through the use varied printing processes, inks and methods.

She has worked in linocuts, collagraphs and photopolymer etchings. Her preference is with the photopolymer etching plates.

Her work in printmaking is predominantly representational, and she particularly likes that it offers the opportunity to incorporate words into her works, an avenue that allows for social comment and cultural expression.