Carol Fortunato
After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York with a degree in illustration, Carol Fortunato continued her studies at the Art Students League with teachers David Leffel and Greg Kreutz, under whose tutelage she discovered an interest in chiaroscuro (use of light and shade) painting.
Today, inspired by the simple beauty of the smaller works of Chardin, she strives to create lush still lifes that capture the quiet beauty and rhythms that she sees in the shapes of nature with oils on boards of birch or canvas.
Her still lifes with a focus on the edible are appreciated in the culinary arts world where she was invited to have solo shows in the renowned James Beard House and French Culinary Institute.
Ms. Fortunato divides her time between painting in her studio in Montclair, New Jersey and landscape painting in and around New England. Her work can be found in collections nationally as well as in the United Kingdom. In 2008 she received the American Artist Professional League Award from the Salmagundi Club.