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Emily Chaplin is one of 13 local artists in the Roaring Fork Valley whose work will be displayed as part of a local exhibition hosted by Christie\u2019s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass. It begins today and runs through Aug. 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Emily Chaplin<\/p>\n
Beginning today and running through Aug. 2, Christie\u2019s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass is turning its Aspen office into an art gallery featuring the work of local artists.<\/p>\n
Their works will be displayed through a rotating showcase featuring a different Roaring Fork Valley artist every day. The free exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to meet the artists themselves, hear the stories behind their work and experience the range of creativity flourishing throughout the valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese artists represent the incredible creative spirit of the Roaring Fork Valley,\u201d said Olivia Cook, of Christie\u2019s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass, in a news release. \u201cWe\u2019re honored to provide a space where the community can meet the artists, hear their stories firsthand and experience the ideas behind the work. It\u2019s about celebrating the people who make this valley such an inspiring place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
While each artist brings their own story and distinct style and medium, one common goal emerges \u2014 to encourage viewers to slow down, look more closely and reconnect with the world around them.<\/p>\n
For watercolor artist Will Bradford, who will be featured on Thursday, that invitation begins with his own artistic restraint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bradford has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for 20 years. His minimalist paintings intentionally leave much of the page untouched, allowing negative space to become as important as the subject itself.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cRather than covering the page, I intentionally confine my painting to a small fraction of the paper,\u201d Bradford said. \u201cThe vast negative space becomes an active, structural element.\u201d His hope is that visitors discover that \u201cminimalist art can make the grandest of statements.\u201d<\/p>\n
A similar sense of reflection is echoed by artist Cristian Whitney, whose newest body of work, \u201cWe Remember,\u201d began not with paint, but with questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery body of work begins long before the images start to take form,\u201d Whitney said. Months of walking, meditation, journaling and quiet observation shape each collection before he ever picks up a brush.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His work, which will be displayed July 30, asks a simple but timely question, \u201cWhat would happen if we carried the moments when the noise fades away a little longer?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Olivia Daane painting \u201cHeartbeat Butterfly\u201d is part of her show at the offices at Christie\u2019s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass. Daane kicks off a local artist exhibition today. A different local artist will be featured daily through Aug. 2.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Olivia Daane<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Whitney hopes visitors leave \u201cfeeling a little softer,\u201d adding that \u201cif someone leaves the exhibition and meets the next stranger with just a little more curiosity, compassion or grace then the work has fulfilled its purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several artists draw directly from the natural world \u2014 not simply as subject matter, but as both muse and teacher.<\/p>\n
Olivia Daane, whose work kicks off the show today, describes her creative practice as an \u201cartistic treasure hunt,\u201d collecting thoughts, words and images until they rise together into a new body of work.<\/p>\n
Daane has lived in Aspen for nearly three decades. She begins many pieces by connecting images to poetry before layering acrylics and inks. Her newest works have been shaped by travels across four continents, from the mountains of Bhutan to waterways around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hopes visitors leave with this takeaway: \u201cThe importance of art for healing and voicing the potential humans hold for positive innovation, evolution and coexisting with this incredible, magical planet we inhabit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nature also serves as both inspiration and collaborator for floral artist Nicole Popp, whose botanicals celebrate beauty, resilience and transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rather than forcing an outcome, she allows each painting to reveal itself over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery blank canvas is a new beginning \u2014 an invitation to discover what wants to emerge,\u201d she said. Built through countless layers of wax and pigment, her paintings often \u201clive many lives before I consider them complete.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Popp, who will show on Sunday, hopes visitors leave \u201cdelighted, inspired, and reminded of the extraordinary beauty that surrounds us every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Emily Chaplin, the featured artist on July 27, beauty arrives through texture and movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her abstract floral paintings, inspired by gazing into blooming cherry and peach trees, are built almost entirely with palette knives and other unconventional tools. Layers of paint are repeatedly applied and removed until the composition emerges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most rewarding aspect of my work,\u201d Chaplin said, \u201cis seeing a painting uplift another person ringing a moment of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n