Since she was small, Kate Tortland was always creating. Eventually, what started as a simple hobby, developed into her passion. Now, Kate is a full-time painter living in New England. Working both en plein air and in the studio, she seeks to represent the beauty she sees in the natural world in various ways.

Throughout her painting career she has been able to spend time living in Italy and Japan as well as painting in both France and Ireland. These travels helped inspire in her a deeper understanding of art and its impact on humanity.

Working in oil, Kate draws inspiration from many sources but mainly from the traditional landscape painters of the mid-1800s. While she values the atmospheric quality of the impressionists, she also admires the structural stability of the post-impressionists, thus attempting to combine the two through her own works. She favors pastoral scenes, typically those with evening or early morning light, as well as nautically – focused scenes, using bright, bold colors contrasted with more muted tones throughout. In most of her paintings, Kate makes use of a rich acrylic underpainting, which she allows to show through the oil layers she applies once the acrylic has dried. This helps give the paintings a sense of unity and depth.

Having graduated with a major in art education as well as in studio art, Kate is currently teaching art at the private and small group level. She seeks to use her gifts to inspire in others a love for the arts and to encourage others to begin to notice the beauty in the world.

“My goal in creating works of art is to call attention to all the wondrous beauty that surrounds us – beauty that is so often ignored or forgotten. In the words of Pierre Renoir, “A picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty. Yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” For only through seeing true beauty can we begin to have hope.”