Daily Inspiration: Meet Catalina Gamba

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catalina Gamba.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a Summit County artist based in Silverthorne, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My journey in Colorado began approximately a decade ago when I started exploring various parts of the world, seeking a lifestyle and a mountain town that resonated with me. The moment I arrived in Colorado, I knew I had found my forever home. In Summit County, I discovered not only breathtaking landscapes but also a close-knit community that quickly became my extended family.

Summit offered me the perfect canvas for pursuing my passions. Getting involved in the outdoor community and spending as much time outside as possible became my main priority. I got myself a summer job at Lake Dillon and a winter job at Keystone Resort as a Ski Patroller. I picked up many hobbies that soon became my lifestyle: mountain biking, rock climbing, backcountry skiing, rafting, and sailing, among others. These choices exposed me to the breathtaking mountains that define our landscape and inspired me to start my creative career as an artist.

My painting journey began on small rocks found by Lake Dillon, I would collect rocks and use acrylics bought at the local thrift store. I gave these away to friends, and they seemed stoked, so I kept painting, but this time I began to paint on actual canvases. I got hooked enough to buy my non-second-hand paint and invested in some palette knives. These knives became the signature touch on my pieces, or so I believe.

Palette knives allowed me to leave my perfectionism aside and have fun simply by using these to add texture and depth to my pieces. Soon enough commissions started coming in, and after getting through my impostor syndrome, I began to sell my art. In the summer of 2022, I entered the Dillon Farmer’s Market. The endless beauty and the amount of support and love that I got from my community have been pushing me to keep on capturing the unique landscapes that we are lucky to be surrounded by.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Yes and no. I found such great pleasure in documenting my version of these landscapes, that the creative process came pretty easily. Simply by being outside, or while traveling through the state and doing fun things with my friends, I found myself studying the composition, colors, depths, and varying aspects of what makes up our landscapes. I get so inspired by these factors that the need to pour these findings into a canvas came easily to me. The hard part is making time.

As an artist in a mountain town, I found it intimidating to commit to being a full-time artist. I also love my job as a Ski Patrol, making it hard to leave this full-time commitment. So.. working a full-time job, plus my love for all the fun things to do around here, makes it challenging to find time to finish commissions and focus on the business side of things. Overall, it’s a constant ebb and flow of finding the right balance to do all the things I love, painting included.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My go-to medium is acrylic on wood, I love painting on wood, whether it is scrap wood or professional wooden canvases, I appreciate this rustic feel to the piece. Also, the wood pairs up with the palette knives well. Palette knives are like mini metal spatulas that are used to scoop up paint and lay it on the canvas as desired. The wood provides the perfect stiffness that stretched canvases don’t have for placing this paint and creating texture within the landscape.

I’d like to say I specialize in mountain landscapes and all the elements that create these views: lots of rocks, greenery, flowers, trees, and peaks. And every chance I get I will include a moon on my pieces, I feel like it ties everything together. I am probably known for my color palette choices. I tend to lean a lot toward purples, blues, and pinks, and a lot of people mention how they are drawn to my choice of colors. I think what makes me stand out currently is my choice of mainly painting local mountains. Local mountains are what I get to see every day and study every day, so I enjoy painting them.

Buffalo Mountain is probably the most acclaimed mountain when it comes to commissions and sales, and it is such a statement and visible mountain in my town that I understand why. I get to stare at it every day, making it so fun to capture, being able to get a different angle or detail every time. The last version of this mountain that I painted was in Dec. 2022 for a couple in Boulder, and I think it is my favorite piece to this day, pretty proud of that one.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My friends and my friends’ moms, haha. No, but really, my community of friends, coworker, and their family members were who initially filled me with compliments and words of support to keep pursuing this artistic journey even when I thought I was not good enough or knowledgeable enough.

They not only bought my art, but they also kept informing me of opportunities, contests, and potential growth possibilities for La Cumbre.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lacumbreart.com
• Instagram: @la.cumbre.art