Today we’d like to introduce you to Jo Fleming.
Hi Jo, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I came to Annapolis after a period working in the Commercial Architectural field and having raised 2 sons in the Great Falls area of Greater Washington DC. I had enjoyed an ongoing art career after studying at MICA and had shown my work in academic galleries and commercial settings including Law firms in DC and US embassies abroad and was seeking to grow my creative endeavor by starting a gallery named Jo Fleming Contemporary Art in the beautiful historic district of Annapolis.
I found a great little retail space on Maryland Avenue with good lighting and hung my own artwork to kick off the new gallery in the late fall of 2017. The neighbors as well as local artists were excited and supportive, and I began to search out artists whose work I appreciated from Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore. At first, doing only solo shows, eventually moved toward thematic shows of 2 or 3 artists whose work contrasted or complemented one another. I enjoyed the scenery and took thousands of pictures of the Coastal landscape and began my own transition to a new body of abstract landscape work, reflecting Annapolis rather than the forests of Great Falls from which I came.
Since then, I have been conceptualizing and curating new exhibitions in the gallery every 6 weeks to 2 months and have formed some wonderful relationships with artists and the community. After 2 years in business, I moved up Maryland Avenue to a slightly larger space with higher ceilings and was expecting to thrive…but Covid had another plan of introspection and professional growth as a gallerist. I continued to present wonderful exhibitions but had trouble getting customers in to see them. I focused on social media and creatively marketing my gallery and broadened and improved the quality of work I was showing. The Covid setback forced me to dig deeper and present better work. Covid also brought many artists to my door and increased my potential offerings. I also realized that I needed to produce new work reflective of my new surroundings.
I painted in the gallery during slow months and eventually set up a studio at home, complete with plastic-covered ceiling and walls so I would have more freedom to explore my new watery subjects in unconfined freedom.
Living on Spa Creek in Annapolis has shown me with the beauty of ever-changing skies as weather fronts move across the horizon and watery reflections of the bridges and boats and I’m grateful to be spending time out on the Chesapeake Bay with my new companion, an experienced sailor.
My latest show is called “Coastal Abstractions” and features my own new collection as well as paintings by Sally Rhudy, Carey Crane, and Virginia Artist Isabelle Robinson who is presenting assemblage of found coastal objects.
Things are coming together for me here in Annapolis and I plan to create contemporary landscape paintings that flow like Chesapeake, luminous as the sunrise and free as the wind in my sails.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My paintings are abstract landscapes. I use acrylic and water-based mediums and apply painted vellum including rubbings from textural, natural, organic material and worn surfaces. I apply these mediums to stretched canvas.
My work combines modular elements and visual connections from one piece to another. I once set out to connect the colors of ribbons representing 13 types of cancer into a flowing landscape. The celebration of life continued through 13 panels. The artwork was procured and is displayed by Georgetown University in the Lombardi Cancer Center and inspires hope.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Create something and do something with it in the world. Mentors will be drawn to your projects and work.
Contact Info:
- Website: joflemingcontemporaryart.com
- Instagram: @joflemingart and @contemporarycoastart
- Facebook: joflemingcontemporaryart
Image Credits
Maria Ramos
Gil Gildea
Jo Fleming
