ISABELLA GARAFFA

- Elevated realism -

The Aspen Wilderness…..Straight from the heavens

ARTIST STATEMENT   "I am not into painting just another pretty picture of Aspen trees. Rather, I am into painting the story of the wilderness in the mountains, where the most elegant protagonist is the Aspen. My vision is to rapture their splendor in the totality of my work, as a journal of the forest. I want to paint the silent voice of the backwoods that screams out loud the beauty of His creator, with all of it’s strength and passion! I want my artwork to be an archive for the future, just in case Aspen trees are not as many as they are today".

CLICK IMAGE BELOW - YOUR CLOSER LOOK

 Isabella Garaffa was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, on March 12th 1984.  She now lives and creates her artwork in Snowmass Village, where she has been residing for the last eleven years.  Her most treasured childhood memories are directly connected to her strong passion for the wilderness, which is translated throughout her artwork in very intense detail.

    At the age of seventeen she launched herself into the fashion industry in her home town, creating unique designs for women.  After graduating from high school, she pursued the degree of Graphic Design.  But painting was a forgotten passion that she rediscover later in her life. 


   After battling with depression for many years she had a powerful encounter with God that changer her life forever. The artist went through a dramatic shift of perspectives.  Where before she perceived her desire to create as wasteful, she now was re-ignited to create everything that set a fire on her soul!  After moving to Aspen, Colorado in a completely unexpected way, she no longer had a desire to create women’s fashion.  The exuberant nature surrounding her in the rocky mountains kindled in her a forgotten sentiment of the past, which was painting.  It became her new channel of inspiration.  


   She started exploring acrylics because of its many variations and uses.  Her first works were abstracts, mainly characterized by the composition of hypothetical forms, pastel colors and writings. Later, she taught herself how to paint the landscapes of the mountains, specially the ones with intense sunsets and sunrises over their peaks.  This stage of her creative path was characterized by intense contrast of colors and the use of scriptures placed in white sections that divided the canvas into landscape and abstract.


   Seeing Aspen trees for the first time at the age of twenty two, gave her a fresh approach to recreate them in her studio in later years. Her first paintings of Aspen trees were playful and colorful.  They were more of an expression of the love for them than a technical search for perfection.  After a year of painting Aspen trees, she had more clarity of where her art was taking her on the journey. 


   Today her artwork is characterized by a contemporary approach with a twist of realism and imagination at the same time.  Her work has being featured in the Aspen Peak Magazine, the front cover of the Aspen Times and the local TV channel.  She is well known for her live paintings as well, where she is able to create entire paintings in front of a live audience in anywhere between ten minutes to 160 minutes.  She has also collaborated with organizations around the Roaring fork valley to help raise funds for the community as well as with private companies.  She has participated in the past in the Aspen Art Festival, the Aspen Plain Air festival, the Aspen Art Battle competition, the Breckenridge Art Fair and the Jackalope Art Fair in Denver.  She has exhibited her artwork during the "Beyond the Square" exhibition on the fall of 2018. She has created many commissioned pieces for collectors here in the USA as well as in Paraguay, her home country. 

CLICK IMAGES BELOW FOR FULL COLLECTION