Alexia Winterhalter began her creative journey as a classical pianist, performing primarily with singers in a career marked by extensive travel, rigorous rehearsals, and sacrifice. While music fulfilled her in many ways, it left little space to explore her long-held fascination with the visual arts. Eventually, she took a leap — pausing her musical career to pursue something new. That decision led her to the Italian Alps, a place whose breathtaking mountains and picturesque landscapes had often moved her to tears. Life there unfolded at a slower, gentler rhythm, and it was in that setting that she picked up brushes and gouache paints for the first time. Committing to a 365-day painting challenge, Alexia charted her evolution from novice to devoted landscape artist. Inspired daily by the alpine scenery around her, she found her muse in the mountains and discovered a profound joy in capturing their beauty on canvas.
"When I hike, I tend to visualize the mountains and landscapes in front of me and imagine which colors would work best."
Trading Concert Halls for the Italian Alps
Drawn to the mountains long before she ever moved there, she describes being so overwhelmed by their beauty that they brought her to tears. Eventually, she uprooted her life and relocated to the Italian Alps — a place where time felt slower and gentler.
Surrounded by breathtaking landscapes, something shifted.
One day, she bought brushes and gouache paints and began a 365-day painting challenge. She had almost never drawn before. The idea was simple but bold: document her evolution from day one to day 365 and see what happened.
What happened was transformation.
Painting landscapes became a source of deep joy — and a new artistic language.
Painting En Plein Air: Translating the Living Landscape
Painting outdoors — en plein air — became both a creative practice and a mindfulness ritual.
There’s no fixed photograph to reference. No frame. No pause button.
You’re surrounded by everything at once — shifting light, subtle colors, wind, sound — and you must translate that living experience into paint.
While she often works in her studio using personal or shared photography references, outdoor painting sharpens awareness. In the studio, she can refine color, mood, and atmosphere. Outside, she feels immersed in the entire sensory experience.
Both practices shape her work.
I love working with greens. There are so many shades of them — and, surprisingly, I find they all work together. Cold, warm, vibrant, or desaturated… you can never really go wrong. My spectrum of greens is probably quite wide, and often overlaps with what others might classify as yellows or blues. Green is also one of the most predominant colors in nature, which makes it fascinating: Within that one color lies an endless variety of moods. Each shade of green can tell a different story in a painting, and I love exploring that range.
