Columbia Falls woman seeing art world success

It only took a few high school art classes to propel Genevieve DeLorme into the realm of painting and she has no plans of turning back.

Although the 2019 Columbia Falls graduate has dabbled in drawing and even watercolor, her preferred medium is painting, using acrylics.

“I like painting, because it doesn’t have to be perfect. A paintbrush is just so, wobbly, I guess I would say, it’s just so free,” the 19-year-old DeLorme said recently. “And the colors, I feel the colors are definitely another thing that gets me, that’s why I use acrylic paint, because it’s like, I don’t know, so bright and so satisfying to blend everything. It’s definitely like a gateway for me to just let my emotions out or just be calm and stuff.”

DeLorme uses the vibrant colors to recapture images she’s seen in nature, gathering most of her inspiration from scenes of Glacier National Park, where she has spent many hours adventuring.

In order for DeLorme to create a piece, having seen or experienced a scene first-hand, whether it’s wildflowers, wildlife or mountain-scapes, is important for her process.

“I practically only paint places I’ve been to. I’ve done a few commissions for people but it’s just not the same for me,” said DeLorme. “I feel like it’s definitely better for me to have experienced it or seen it in real life rather than painting from just a photo that I found online randomly or someone else’s photo, it’s harder for me to connect with it as much.”

Often DeLorme will begin sketching the beginnings of a painting as soon as she returns home from an adventure while it’s still fresh in her mind, even though she may be exhausted from a long hike.

“When I’m painting it’s like I’m bringing back that memory of when I was out on an adventure or out hiking or climbing a mountain,” said DeLorme. “And it brings it back in a different form I guess, rather than like just a picture. I think painting is like experiencing it again.”

DeLorme has never limited her paintings to only canvas, choosing other materials to embellish, ranging from hats and mugs to paddleboards.

The young artist began selling her work the summer after she graduated, and has been doing well and steadily making a name for herself. At first she sold her paintings in Odd Fellows Coffee House, where she was working as a barista. The next summer she branched out to selling at farmer’s markets around the valley.

“I wasn’t really expecting too much, I was just like ‘Oh this will be fun to do.’ But it ended up being really successful and I loved every time I went,” DeLorme said.

DeLorme is currently in her second year at Montana State University, studying conservation biology and ecology, where she enjoys getting to learn more about the natural phenomena she paints.

Even with a rigorous academic schedule, DeLorme still finds time to paint during the school year, and whenever there’s a school break, she “goes hard,” she says.

Last year she spent much of her spring break painting scenes from Glacier, which helped augment her farmer’s market inventory.

“I just see myself continuously creating and hopefully just being able to sell at markets in the summer,” said DeLorme. “I don’t know, I’m definitely not going to give it up or let it fade out, it’s definitely something that I just really love to do. It never feels like a job, it just feels like something I love I guess.”