Gert Olsen was born and educated in Denmark. He immigrated to Canada in 1956, then to the United States in 1962, where he gained citizenship. Gert's career began as a woodcarver and then expanded into church carving. His transition to stone was in the late 1970's. Gert gained familiarity with marble by first hand observation in Pietrasanta, Italy, home of the famous Cararra marble. Numerous trips abroad led to the importation of tons of European and Italian marble for carving at his Jupiter studio. He sculpts in domestic marble and Indiana limestone as well. Gert works with the natural texture and color of the stone to create unique sculptures of animals and human forms and to develop abstract shapes. Sizes range from tabletop to monumental for both indoor and outdoor display. One of Gert's large commissions is a monumental bear family at the Teddy Bear Museum in Naples, FL., and other pieces of his work have been selected for public installations in Saugatuck, MI, and Jupiter, FL. Gert received awards at national shows in Artigras, FL; Armonk, NY; Bruce Museum, Greenwich CT; and Bonita Springs, FL. His work can be found in art collections in England, Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan and his native Denmark. Mr. Olsen is a member of the International Sculpture Center, Washington, D.C. His sculpture has been shown in galleries in New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois and Florida.