Many Singletree neighbors gathered recently at the Vail Public Library for the opening of SHIFTING TERRAIN, an exhibition of paintings by Singletree artist Jami Nix Rahn. The evening brought together friends, families, and fellow art lovers who enjoyed lively conversation and the chance to connect through art.

 

The exhibited works draw inspiration from the rugged mountains, rushing rivers, and untamed forests that surround our Colorado home. Each painting captures a fleeting moment in the natural world, reminding us that the landscape is constantly transforming.

 

Working in oil and cold wax, Jami builds her surfaces through repeated layering, scraping, and glazing. Colors fracture, dissolve, and re-emerge in ways that mirror the erosions and renewals of the land itself. Rather than depicting a single recognizable view, these paintings evoke the sensation of change—the way terrain shifts into abstraction, and how a single passage of color can hold both permanence and loss.

 

Jami Nix Rahn has been a working artist for over 40 years; her art defies genre, slipping between mediums and styles—from the precision of hyper-realism to the chaos of abstraction—always on her own terms. Raised in a military family, Jami developed a profound sensitivity to place, identity, and transformation. Her artistic journey began in Europe, where she apprenticed in stone carving and bronze casting in Portugal. Influenced by Alberto Giacometti, Auguste Rodin, and Henry Moore, these experiences shaped her approach to form, space, and the dynamic capacity of art. She continued her practice in Geneva, Switzerland, and São Paulo, Brazil, before returning to the U.S.

 

In New York, Jami pursued portraiture in pastel and oil with Daniel E. Greene, PSA, NA, AWS. She furthered her training at the Art Students League, N.Y.C., under Richard C. Pionk and John Hultberg. Relocating to South Florida in the early 2000s, her work responded to the rise of Art Basel Miami Beach and Wynwood’s urban art scene, resulting in hyper-realistic paintings marked by bold color and spontaneity. 

 

Since 2020, Jami has lived in Colorado’s Vail Valley, her large-scale oil and cold wax paintings are inspired by the grandeur of the Rockies. They invite reflection on a future that prioritizes balance over dominance. Exhibited nationally and internationally, her paintings are held in public and private collections worldwide.

 

Although the exhibition came down in October, you may still see Jami’s work on her website jaminixrahn.com and by appointment at her studio in Avon.