Nathan Leemis
I am a 5th generation artist working to capture the untamed beauty of natural Florida and the charm of the communities it gave rise to. Growing up, I was exposed from an early age to the art of many local and regional artists, including Andre Smith and Albin Polasek, who were both friends and patients of my great-grandfather Dr. Chrisler. I first received art instruction from my grandmother, Barbara Bassett, founder of Art Workshop in Winter Park, and then studied art at UCF before switching my major to conservation biology. Now while actively exhibiting my work around the state, I continue to refine and explore my craft through classes at Crealde as well as through observational plein air painting.
Artist’s Statement
I am a traditional landscape painter whose work focuses on the unique nature, communities, and history of my home state. Working primarily in oil, I often employ both impasto and thin glazes of transparent color. I paint subjects as they are, expressively capturing their lighting, mood, and “sense of place”. Every work I produce is an invitation to not only see, but to deeply observe the place and time I present to the viewer.
Influences
Jules Andre Smith
Barbara Bassett
Tom Sadler
Walter Inglis Anderson
Claude Monet
Awards
Peoples choice award at the Guy Harvey Camp Mack Plein Air Postacard Series in 2022
Award of excellence at the Ridge Arts 73rd Anniversary Fine Arts Exhibition
2nd place at the Nature Conservancy's 2022 Nature Inspires Art Competition
Competed in and was awarded 2nd place at the 2019 Wekiva Island Paint-Out Quick Draw and 3rd place at the 2022 Wekiva Island Quick Draw.
Publications
Poster artist for the 2022 Polk Forever fine arts show
Provided illustration for “Dimensions of Conversation” in Volume 1 Issue 3 of Storyteller magazine in 2018.
Group Exhibitions
Currently exhibiting at the Burner Homplace Museum and Gallery in Cass, West Virginia from July 2022 to the present.
Currently exhibiting at the Ridge Art Association 73rd Anniversary Fine Arts Exhibition
Showed at the Alexandria Museum of Art in October 2022, as a part of the Farm to Forest Plein Air Festival group exhibition.
Participated in the Polk Forever group exhibition in September and October 2022
Showed in a solo exhibition at the Fort Caroline visitor center in Jacksonville Florida, in 2022, from February 14th to May 14th
Participated in the Lake Mary Paint-Out group exhibition at the Lake Mary Museum from April 5th through April 23rd, 2022.
Exhibited work in the 2019 and 2021 Crealde Student exhibitions
Exhibited paintings and pastels in Sobo Gallery in Winter Garden, Florida in the following group shows:
● Driven to Abstraction-2021
● Top Choice Exhibition-2021
● 6th Annual Top Choice Awards-2019
● Water Works- 2019
● A Delight in Disorder- 2019
Participated in the following Orlando Museum of Art’s First Thursday exhibitions:
● Florida Grown- 2019
● Eclectic Knights-2017 and 2019
● Art and Architecture- 2018