Telluride Arts/Library: Fortier Paintings

07 Oct Telluride Arts/Library: Fortier Paintings

The new exhibit in the Wilkinson Public Library stairwell features Western desert landscapes by local painter Clarissa Fortier.

The collection reflects the artist’s ongoing love affair with these vistas.

Having lived in New York City her entire life, Fortier was immediately captivated by the dramatic expansiveness of places such as the Mojave Desert and the Grand Canyon. In her paintings, the artist strives to capture not only the physical land forms, but also the intangible magic of such places: temperature and light, mood and sounds, and scale.

These landscapes are in constant flux, constantly changing in response to the cycles of nature and the human footprint. Fortier’s images embodies that constant change, also reflecting and drawing upon the reconstruction of a deeply felt personal experience.

Clarissa Fortier attended Oberlin College in Ohio. Since graduating in 2013, she traveled across the country and throughout the West, exploring, hiking, rock-climbing – and painting. While at Oberlin, she studied environmental policy and studio art. Her exploration of the two disparate disciplines sparked an interest in landscape painting as a means of expressing the innate value and lure of the natural world.

All Fortier’s work is available for purchase.

For more information, pricing, or to purchase artwork, please contact Telluride Arts at 970.728.3930 or stop by their office at the Stronghouse Studios + Gallery at 283 South Fir Street.