Name: Piera Kllanxhja

Age: 53

Quote: “How do I possibly focus on just one thing?”

If you ask Piera Kllanxhja what her inspiration and motivation is for her artwork, she replies, “Getting inspiration is endless. How do I possibly focus on just one thing?” She is a positive and driven female that has not only accomplished a lot in her lifetime, but she’s overcome numerous different obstacles.

When Kllanxhja was a child, she found that it was easier for her to express herself through drawing, painting and pottery — instead of writing and language. Diagnosed with dyslexia, Kllanxhja had a difficult time with the English language. So she ended up discovering herself in the world of art.

Looking at her paintings today, you see illustrations of her childhood. Her paintings of horses are almost like a window into her past. “I used to horseback ride when I was a kid, growing up in Aspen,” she says as she holds up one of her several depictions of horses. Her paintings are inimitable because instead of putting the animal in the typical field or pasture, she adds movement and color by using different brush strokes, swirls and other shapes around the objects. The horses come to life, almost as if they were mystical characters ready to leap off the canvas.

After a tour of her studio, she takes a seat in her cozy living room. Everything is illuminated. There are windows all around, which she says is one of the main reasons for choosing this particular house. Especially the way it radiates inside her studio.

It’s obvious that nature is a huge inspiration for Kllanxhja. There is a painting of an elaborate tree with a gigantic trunk that has branched apart, as well as an image captured on canvas that coveys a moment spent mesmerized watching the rain hit off the pavement. Both paintings are in her studio and they are just two more examples of her distinct nature scenes. But nature is not the only thing she finds inspiring.

“Getting inspiration is endless,” she reminds again.

She also appears to have an insatiable need to keep growing as a person. For some people it may seem difficult to overcome the frustration of dyslexia, but to Kllanxhja it was just more reason to chase the dream of being well-rounded.

Since English was a struggle for her, she found it easier to understand and speak French. Her school in Manhattan helped her advance. She attended Dalton, a progressive school, with fine arts, dance and theater interwoven into the curriculum. There she was able to try several different things. Living where she was, she also found alternative forms of inspiration. “I could just walk out of class or on any other day and go down to The Met (the Metropolitan Museum of Art) or the Guggenheim Museum. It just doesn’t get any better.”

Dance, particularly, was one of her favorite hobbies. She used to do modern and jazz dancing at the YMCA in Manhattan. Dance, art and pottery were all combined in visits with her father, Tish Kllamxhja, a singer local to the Aspen scene. This is where she would do most of her horseback riding. Kllanxhja then was a very busy girl. In addition to her trips back to Colorado, Kllanxhja moved quite a bit with her mother, Penny Hills, during her high school years. Her mother was working on getting her Ph.D. in sociology, and Kllanxhja was continually transferring from high schools in Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Colorado.

“It was great. I was lucky enough to have lived in several different places before they became so expensive,” she said about her moves, particularly referencing a move from Manhattan to Santa Fe, N.M., “There I would sell my artwork on the reservations and at the local flea markets. It was so much fun to just stand around and talk to everyone that would come.”

But after being back in Colorado for a while, she suffered a setback when she was struck by a truck going 45 mph while riding her bicycle. She broke 13 bones in all. “My knee doesn’t have any ligaments in it,” she says. Even today she deals with the repercussions of the accident. She is no longer able to dance, or ride her bicycle, and it was only until recently that she got back up on a horse again.

“Meditation was my way of dealing with the constant pain. I tried not to think of how everyone was telling me how I was supposed to feel,” Kllanxhja recalls of her road to recovery after the accident. “Instead, I focused on each step individually and I found that I was just completely rebuilding myself.”

In addition to meditation, she credits much of her recovery and sanity to the practice of tai chi, and the consistency of swimming four or five days a week. Both are a way for her to physically and emotionally escape the frantic nature of everyday life.

As an individual, Kllanxhja is extremely optimistic. She finds something that piques her interest and she goes for it. She discovered early on that she was artistically inclined and that has taken her from drawing, to painting, to pottery, to commercial printing — and now she’s even dabbling in the art of photography.

Not only does she love to learn and try new things, but she is always promoting the idea of learning and personal growth. She’s taught at the Davis Brothers Drug Co., Inc., in Denver; Wingate Elementary School; the Day House; Mesa County Social Services; Horizon House; and at Hilltop Community Resources, where she teaches art therapy classes for resident clients.

Aside from her teaching, Kllanxhja is the founder of JABOA – Just A Bunch Of Artists, in 1991.

“I knew all of these professional artists that had graduated and were out in the field trying to make a living, and I couldn’t understand why no one talked to anyone or tried to help each other out,” Kllanxhja says, discussing her inspiration for starting JABOA. Nine artists — sculptors, potters and painters — are all a part of the group. They have different exhibitions and showings of their art in various locations around the valley, as well as one or two studio showings per year. It’s a great way for the collaborative group of artists to get together and promote their work, she says.

Currently, the group is presenting an exhibit to run for the next two months at the 700 Block Fidelity Mortgage building.

Speaking even briefly with Kllanxhja, it’s clear that she is a grounded and centered soul. She’s accomplished so much and been an inspiration. Her artwork is unique and incredibly expressive. Having had various experiences across the U.S. and around the world, she’s translated that past into a knowledge of art, language, life and success.

She’s an inspiration not only as an artist, but as a contributing member of our rich community.

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