JOHN L.
CLEAVELAND JR.
JOHN L. CLEAVELAND, JR. was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1963 and
currently lives in Framington, Georgia. Cleaveland recieved his BFA from the University of Georgia and held a Graduate Assistantship in their Study Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy. He has exhibited work at the Albany Museum of Art (GA), University of Georgia, Madison Cultural Center (GA), and the Lyndon House Art Center (GA). His paintings are part of the collections of the Morris Museum of Art, (GA), 3-M Company (MN), Bessemer Trust (GA), and the Alabama Power Company.
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His paintings are more than mere landscapes, as they reflect his incredible attention to detail and his knowledge and respect of the history of the South. The abstraction of light and shadow, the harsh beauty of nature, and the cyle of life and death are all given space in his paintings. He has a distinct interest in trains due to his son Atticus' childhood hobby. Cleaveland also loves history - especially the Civil War era. He is an active "Living History" participant and has slept on battlefields and painted many of the battlefields where Union and Confederate soldiers fought. His favorite quote from Abraham Lincoln is, "It's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years."
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He has been featured many times in Southern Distinction - a southern lifestyle magazine.
- Written by Chip Coffey and Tiffany King
Looking Back9x22, Print |
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"The muse won't come if the door is not open and the door won't open if you're not working. What motivates me to paint is finding a place that I'm pulled into because of specific light, or the fact that the landscape bears witness to great events or conflicts."
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- John L. Cleaveland, Jr.