[1] She evinced artistic talent from a young age, but was unable to pursue a career in the arts due to her gender.
Instead she traveled to Tegucigalpa, where she studied at the School for Young Ladies run by Concha Maldonado.
She exhibited work at the National Library of Honduras in 1933, under the auspices of the Secretariat of Education, receiving as a result private lessons with Maximiliano Ramírez Euceda.
Fortín was hired by Carlos Zúñiga Figueroa to teach at his art academy at its foundation in 1932.
[2] During her career she worked with the Carnegie Foundation, assisting in its excavation and restoration of the archaeological site at Copán in 1938.