untitled Painting

Everyday I see compositions form with shapes, lines, and color. Sometimes the images overlap what is actually in front of me. Other times the imagined visuals merge and become integrated with the landscape. These visuals are how my mind transposes emotions and experiences. It is also the inspirations for where my work begins. The challenge for me is to explore these scenes by turning them into 2D images that function on both an emotional level and pictorially. When adding or removing elements no longer impacts the composition as a whole or changes my emotional response, I have exhausted the pursuit and the work is done. While the viewer may look for a literal meaning behind these abstractions, for me the work is about the process and coming to peace with that original piece of inspiration. Joel Fleminger grew up in St. Louis, MO. He attended Knox College in Galesburg IL where he received a Bachelors in Studio Art. He has also studied painting at the International School of Art in Umbria, Italy and attended the Vermont Studio Center. Over the years Joel has moved across the country and working in both corporate and service industries. While there have been many starts and stops, he has never abandoned his artist practice. Since 2015 Joel and his family have lived in Portland, OR. His wife, Erika Rier is also an artist and together they have a fifteen year old daughter.