Meet Ron Fortier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Fortier.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I graduated from the University of Miami in 1977 with an MFA in painting. I was very fortunate to have had the professors that I did at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth which was then, Southeastern Massachusetts University,

I credit my instructors there, Herb Cummings, Frank McCoy, Bill Elliott and Ed Togneri with instructing me well enough to be offered a full-ride scholarship at Miami. And, while there, I had the privilege to meet and become friends with Peter A. Zorn and Stephen B. Fuller who were designers escaping the rat race and seeking their MFA degree in order to teach. Stephen’s WCVB, Channel 5 – Boston logo continues to represent the station to this day.

They taught me basic advertising layout skills because they said it might come in handy. It did. When I returned to New England, I used those skills for what I thought would be a few years.

Forty or so years later after a reluctant career in advertising and marketing, as both a practitioner and adjunct university instructor, I decided it was time to return to painting.

To my amazement, I picked up exactly where I left off. I have to credit my re-entry to my friend, fellow painter and gallerist Luis Villanueva. He gave me my first solo show but demanded that I do over two dozen new pieces of work.

He gave me about sixty-days to do so. I did! Painting had been, unfortunately, a luxury that I could not afford. But, once I began, I didn’t stop!

After riding the convulsive waves of the last recession and a sudden divorce, I decided to move to Portugal where life is slower, safer and a lot less expensive.

Somehow, while selling or giving away everything I owned except for three barrels that were in overseas transit towards the Portuguese mainland and preparing to expatriate, I met and fell in love with my now wife Paula.

A relationship was totally off of my radar screen. My only plan was to hunker down on the Silver Coast of Portugal, paint and build a career as an international artist.

After an online courtship and proposing to Paula during her visit to Figueira da Foz, we set a date to be married in Detroit where she’s from. While in Portugal, I executed over one-hundred canvases, had three solo shows and was building that intended career.

I still maintain my European studio and one in Fairhaven, Massachusetts where Paula and I live with our daughter Maddy. My output is still considerable.

Together, Paula and I, with the help of our friends Karen and Keith Johnson, are working to gain recognition of my work, build awareness and develop a network of art consultants, interior designers and architects for commission work and bulk sales, as well as, direct and gallery assisted sales.

Never expected to be a (re)emerging painter in my mid-sixties especially since I was picked up by the Medici-Berenson Gallery in Miami the night of my MFA show and thought I would be rocketed into the limelight. The economy, family obligations and life in general required me to make other choices.

It’s been an interesting journey since growing up in New York City with an uncle who took me to every gallery and museum on an almost ritual weekly circuit. So today, I paint abstract acrylic and mixed media compositions that are the result of constant experimentation.

Pursuing the known. Surrendering to the unknown. I am perpetually learning and relearning not just the craft but what it means to be an abstract painter.

Please tell us about your art.
I’ve written 104 artist journals on my website: www.ronfortier.net that helps me to explore, understand and discover what my imagery is all about,  why I do it and how I make and create my paintings.

I’ve been asked what my message or inspiration is and, I honestly can’t say I have either. But, what I do hope people take away from looking at or buying my work is to be mesmerized in some way.

I want them to keep looking and finding new things and, continue to explore, understand and discover something in the work as well as themselves. I want my work the reflect their needs.

Jackson Pollack said, “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” I’m asked many questions like this as most artists are; what is the subject matter of your work? There is none really. But sometimes, when I think I’ve succeeded in painting nothing, that’s my goal, the work seems to have no presence.

What is your work about? It’s not about anything but itself. It IS what it IS and nothing more.

How do you make your work? With paint and a brush. Sure, there’s a method. But that is something that has evolved through trial and error.

Where do you find the images you use? I don’t find the images. They find me. Sometimes they whisper. Sometimes they scream. Sometimes I listen and sometimes I don’t.

How do you want the audience to respond to your work? I want them to like it enough to buy it. Actually, I want them to feel that they can’t live another day without my painting being present in their lives.

How does your work compare to historical or contemporary artwork? Artists, historically painted what their patrons wanted. Today artists like me paint what they hope will attract a patron because it’s what they need.

I paint by intuition versus intent. Filmmaker David Lynch said, “Intuition is the key to everything, in painting, filmmaking, business – everything”. I think you could have an intellectual ability, but if you can sharpen your intuition, which they say is emotion and intellect joining together, then a knowingness occurs.

In that case, I’ve been lying to myself and everyone else. It wasn’t intended. What is this lie I’m talking about? Perhaps it is the final lie; the lie that my work is all about composition. On one hand, it is very true because that is my intent.

But, when I approach the canvas, I only have a slight idea as to what I’m going to do. So, the lie is about the conscious composing of a painting. Nothing could be further from the truth. I approach the canvas only with the need to paint and intuition.

So, it’s this knowingness without knowing. Actor Robin Wright (House of Cards) said, “The older you get, of course, the knowingness of the truth – the ownership of knowing – is louder.”

How I’m feeling doesn’t matter to anyone, let alone me. How or what I’m thinking is of no importance. How I create or execute a painting has no bearing on its outcome.

All I want is for the viewer to have a very personal experience. An experience so intense and pleasurable that they want to feel it over and over. And, the only way for that to happen is to buy my painting. Take it home and let it continue to make them feel the way they do.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
The conditions for artists today is as hard as it ever was. Artists, however, need to do more than create. They need, like it or not, to be creative entrepreneurs.

No longer do artists produce for a select group of patrons. Commissioned work is rare.

Artists produce for a mass audience and hope their work sells. Artists have to wear too many hats.

Galleries are closing down completely or evolving into a virtual state of their former selves. Popup shows and art fairs are the way to go now; it’s short-term gambling.

Art is now a commodity and must be sold as one. Cities and government in general has to emulate Europe. In Portugal, for example, artists are allowed to make a significant amount of money before being taxed.

Artists are also well-respected there. The problem here in the States is cultural and ranges over several socio-economic segments.

Cities should not only help artists with cultural zones, tax-free programs and much more. they can also assist by creating and offering grants and programs and, the production and permitting of art in public places.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ronfortier.net
• Email: fortierron@hotmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ron.fortier
• Facebook: facebook.com/ronfortierpainter

Image Credit:
John K. Robson

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