|
|
|
JOHN CLEAVELAND
From Civil War battlefields to covered bridges to lonesome rural roads, stand in front of a John Cleaveland painting and feel as if you could walk right in. A landscape painter for over 25 years, John's oil paintings go beyond photorealism. "Since I was a boy, I've always loved being outside in nature," the artist says. "I'm fascinated by the light in a place, and I try to bring that into my painting. When light resonates from inside a painting instead of just sitting on top of the canvas, that's when a painting becomes real for me."
Born in 1963, Cleaveland received his BFA from the University of Georgia and held a graduate assistantship in the studies abroad program in Cortona, Italy. "Before Italy, I was an abstract painter," John says. "It was in Italy that I realized landscapes were the best way to convey emotion."
Cleaveland's paintings are all about emotion – the passage of time, the harsh yet beautiful reality of nature, the cycle of life and death. It's not unusual to see an old house falling down from neglect, a steam engine from another era, or even a deer lying dead by the side of the road in one of his canvases. "Nature dies, but it also rekindles itself," John notes. "What I sometimes see is like Mozart's Requiem, in part really sad but also very beautiful."
Represented by Bluespiral1 Gallery in Asheville, NC and in Athens, GA by Mercury Art Gallery.
jcleaveland@bellsouth.net
(c) (706) 614-9024
(h) (706) 769-0541
From Civil War battlefields to covered bridges to lonesome rural roads, stand in front of a John Cleaveland painting and feel as if you could walk right in. A landscape painter for over 25 years, John's oil paintings go beyond photorealism. "Since I was a boy, I've always loved being outside in nature," the artist says. "I'm fascinated by the light in a place, and I try to bring that into my painting. When light resonates from inside a painting instead of just sitting on top of the canvas, that's when a painting becomes real for me."
Born in 1963, Cleaveland received his BFA from the University of Georgia and held a graduate assistantship in the studies abroad program in Cortona, Italy. "Before Italy, I was an abstract painter," John says. "It was in Italy that I realized landscapes were the best way to convey emotion."
Cleaveland's paintings are all about emotion – the passage of time, the harsh yet beautiful reality of nature, the cycle of life and death. It's not unusual to see an old house falling down from neglect, a steam engine from another era, or even a deer lying dead by the side of the road in one of his canvases. "Nature dies, but it also rekindles itself," John notes. "What I sometimes see is like Mozart's Requiem, in part really sad but also very beautiful."
Represented by Bluespiral1 Gallery in Asheville, NC and in Athens, GA by Mercury Art Gallery.
jcleaveland@bellsouth.net
(c) (706) 614-9024
(h) (706) 769-0541