Jo%20LeMay%20Rutledge Works

Jo LeMay Rutledge

BACKGROUND

Jo Lemay Rutledge has lived in Texas for most of her life. She graduated from OSU and started her career in management at Neiman Marcus, then at General Dynamics. Finally, in 1994, she began oil paint classes with notable landscape artist Dennis Blagg, and later taught that same class at Fort Worth Country Day. Jo’s first gallery show was at Fort Worth’s Artspace 111 in 2009, launching her formal career.

MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE

Jo has an incredible talent for her flower art, faux finishes, bird painting. She also paints intricate silk ties for noted Fort Worth investor and developer Ed Bass. And her western paintings hold a raw, true-to-life feel that most western art doesn’t. But her most touching art is perhaps a series she began in 2001.

More than 15 years ago, Jo’s art took a new direction, guided by a crucifix shape. Oil paint, gold foil, and glittering images of precious stones hold a deep symbolic meaning in her pieces. These elements represent spiritual and eternal value. Themes like servitude, sacrifice, and salvation manifest deep from within her mesmerizing paintings. 

INSPIRATION

"When people look at the work, they say, 'I can smell it, I can taste it, I've been there.' says Rutledge "This is what I love; it sends me back to the easel every time."

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Jo has appeared in The Coors National Western Art Show, National Oil Painters of America, Greenhouse, National Oil and Acrylic Painters, Bosque County Classic, Mountain Oyster Club Art Show, Art Center of Waco, International Guild of Realism, Dallas Art Fair, 2011 University of Texas at Arlington Gallery, Texas Artist Coalition. Her work resides with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways, Bell Helicopter, Baylor All Saints Hospital, Cinch Jeans, General Motors, and UT Southwest Medical Center. She has been published in 360 West Magazine, American Art Collectors Magazine, Cowboys and Indians Magazine,Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, FW Weekly, Fort Worth Texas Magazine, Glasstire,Indulge Magazine, Western Art and Architecture Magazine, Heritage Auctions, Christian Science Monitor Interview, Voyage Dallas andTexas Women for the Arts.