Steve Fortier grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. A self-taught painter, he was always interested in art and design. He completed a 4 year specialized art course in Ottawa, then attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto before embarking on his 35 year career in graphic design. While working as a graphic designer, he painted on the side when time allowed, but now retired from the profession, he paints full-time in Vancouver.

His earlier high realism works are an exploration of light, shape, and colour. His works show his fascination with overlooked details, natural subject matter and the power and impact conveyed by monumental canvases. He tends to paint the subjects much larger than life to show their details.

He currently pursues his fascination with nature, light and colour with paintings that deconstruct the subjects by removing details with pixilation and then reconstructing it in the painting process. His current process is influenced by his time in graphic design; he begins with a photograph of his subject, which he strips of details on the computer to its essence of light and colour, and then translates onto the canvas with paint and a brush. Thus, he gifts us a representation of our all consuming connection to our digital world and the pixelated cityscapes that are a reflection of our crowded cities. His work has been featured in several group exhibitions in Vancouver and Ontario.

“I’ve always been fascinated by light, the subject’s details and colour. I’m drawn to details people don’t notice or overlook…. bringing them to light with painting is my goal.”