‘All Creatures Great and Small’ an elegy for threatened animals

Nicolette Toussaint' s panting, "Pica" — “Pika,” by Nicolette Toussaint, is one of the paintings on display through Oct. 7 in “All Creatures Great and Small,” at the CMC ArtShare Gallery at Morgridge Commons. Toussaint said she is awed by the pika’s ability to survive winters in places such as on the slopes of Mt. Sopris. “It’s an amazing feat for a creature about the size of a baked potato,” she said.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS – CMC ArtShare will present an artist’s reception Sept. 13 for “All Creatures Great and Small,” featuring the work of Carbondale artist Nicolette Toussaint. The show opened Aug. 28 at the CMC ArtShare Gallery at Morgridge Commons.

Toussaint said her one-woman show is at once a tribute to the fauna of the Colorado Rockies as well as a lament. The paintings can be taken as a paean to the beauty of the landscapes surrounding Colorado Mountain College’s campuses, though Toussaint, who is a columnist for two local newspapers, gives a deeper message to them as well.

“I offer this show not just as an elegy for threatened creatures – and nearly every animal in these paintings is threatened either by climate change or development – but also to inspire a spark of joy, to rekindle our deep connection to the natural world,” she said.

The reception will be held at CMC ArtShare Gallery at Morgridge Commons, 815 Cooper Ave., 2^nd floor, downtown Glenwood Springs from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 13, during Glenwood Springs’s Cooper Corner Gallery’s second Friday celebration (at Seventh and Cooper) from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13. Light refreshments will be served. The exhibit will remain on display through Oct. 7. Visit coloradomtn.edu/foundation/events for more information.