The Call to be Creative: Part 2
03/31/2026 11:25AM ● By Lisa Schlichtman
Gabbi DelBello models a pair of pants that she created. Photo courtesy of Gabbi DelBello.
As an emerging artist and newcomer to town, Gabbi DelBello says living in Steamboat has helped her rediscover the artist within.
"I did not expect there to be so much art in this town,” Gabbi says. “And people care about it so much. That’s been so fun because I get to talk to so many artists all the time, and I feel like I’m getting so many opportunities to try different things.”
Gabbi’s Instagram page showcases photos from her sailing adventures as a member of Cornell’s collegiate sailing team interspersed with images taken with a 35-millimeter film camera during her travels. Scroll up to find more and more photos and videos of her creating art in many forms.
This shift is heralded by a Sept. 19, 2025, post featuring a picture of newly printed business cards that list her as an artist specializing in custom portraits and prints. She writes: “This year, I finally gave myself permission to claim the title of artist. For years, I convinced myself I didn’t measure up ... I chose self-validation and so much has shifted: my creativity expanded, my motivation increased, I stopped demanding perfection and started accepting the process.”
Gabbi talks about how her work with students at Steamboat Montessori School, where she teaches kindergarten and the school’s social and emotional learning cu-riculum, helped her welcome that process.
I'm teaching students to have a growth mindset and trust the process and then I began asking myself, ‘why don’t I do that?’ And so, I’m now in Steamboat (she moved here less than two years ago) and diving into a lot of different things, like slacklining and climbing, and at first I’m bad at them, but it’s really fun. And now I’m doing that with my art too.”
This past summer, Gabbi had a residency at The Caboose through Steamboat Creates and Young Blood Collectives. She took advantage of a dedicated studio space to create art and experiment. She eventually ended up focusing on cyanotypes, contact prints made by exposing UV reactive chemicals to sunlight. The areas exposed to the light turn a deep cyan-blue when the print is washed with water, creating a silhouette-like image.
Gabbi turned her work into small prints and card sets, which she sold to people who came by her studio. She also does pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings by commission, usually of pets and people’s homes.
Gabbi’s enthusiasm for life and art may be best represented in her handmade clothing – a new outlet she has found for her creativity. She lives in a tiny house so doesn’t have a lot of room to spread out her patterns and fabric, so she goes to a friend’s house to sew on Saturdays and utilizes the art room at school after hours. She has made pants and overalls and sewed Christmas garlands for local holiday markets.
“I’m kind of excited about sewing,” Gabbi says. “I’ve always expressed myself through what I wear and now I can make the clothes I wear, which is really cool."
Longterm, Gabbi dreams of working with her older sister, who is also an artist and an interior designer. She envisions them designing fabric, and then Gabbi creating clothes from their designs.
Right now, Gabbi sells her art through word of mouth and her Instagram page. She can be found @gabbidelbello.
As an emerging artist and newcomer to town, Gabbi DelBello says living in Steamboat has helped her rediscover the artist within.
"I did not expect there to be so much art in this town,” Gabbi says. “And people care about it so much. That’s been so fun because I get to talk to so many artists all the time, and I feel like I’m getting so many opportunities to try different things.”
Gabbi’s Instagram page showcases photos from her sailing adventures as a member of Cornell’s collegiate sailing team interspersed with images taken with a 35-millimeter film camera during her travels. Scroll up to find more and more photos and videos of her creating art in many forms.
This shift is heralded by a Sept. 19, 2025, post featuring a picture of newly printed business cards that list her as an artist specializing in custom portraits and prints. She writes: “This year, I finally gave myself permission to claim the title of artist. For years, I convinced myself I didn’t measure up ... I chose self-validation and so much has shifted: my creativity expanded, my motivation increased, I stopped demanding perfection and started accepting the process.”
Gabbi talks about how her work with students at Steamboat Montessori School, where she teaches kindergarten and the school’s social and emotional learning cu-riculum, helped her welcome that process.
I'm teaching students to have a growth mindset and trust the process and then I began asking myself, ‘why don’t I do that?’ And so, I’m now in Steamboat (she moved here less than two years ago) and diving into a lot of different things, like slacklining and climbing, and at first I’m bad at them, but it’s really fun. And now I’m doing that with my art too.”
This past summer, Gabbi had a residency at The Caboose through Steamboat Creates and Young Blood Collectives. She took advantage of a dedicated studio space to create art and experiment. She eventually ended up focusing on cyanotypes, contact prints made by exposing UV reactive chemicals to sunlight. The areas exposed to the light turn a deep cyan-blue when the print is washed with water, creating a silhouette-like image.
Gabbi turned her work into small prints and card sets, which she sold to people who came by her studio. She also does pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings by commission, usually of pets and people’s homes.
Gabbi’s enthusiasm for life and art may be best represented in her handmade clothing – a new outlet she has found for her creativity. She lives in a tiny house so doesn’t have a lot of room to spread out her patterns and fabric, so she goes to a friend’s house to sew on Saturdays and utilizes the art room at school after hours. She has made pants and overalls and sewed Christmas garlands for local holiday markets.
“I’m kind of excited about sewing,” Gabbi says. “I’ve always expressed myself through what I wear and now I can make the clothes I wear, which is really cool."
Longterm, Gabbi dreams of working with her older sister, who is also an artist and an interior designer. She envisions them designing fabric, and then Gabbi creating clothes from their designs.
Right now, Gabbi sells her art through word of mouth and her Instagram page. She can be found @gabbidelbello.