Artist bio:

Nathan Leemis is a 4th generation artist working to explore and capture the changing and varied landscapes of Florida and the Southeast. Growing up, his first art instructor was his grandmother and founder of Art Workshop in Winter Park, Barbara Bassett. Not only did she teach him the foundations of composition and artistic technique but she exposed him to the work of great American painters including Walter Anderson and Jules Andre Smith whose paintings imparted timeless and transcendent qualities on the landscape surrounding them. He has since studied under several professional landscape painters from whom he learned the advanced technical aspects of oil painting. Now while exhibiting art around Florida and the Southeast, he continues to hone his craft through rigorous plein air studies.

Artist statement:

I am a Floridian landscape painter whose work focuses on the unique nature, communities, and history of my home state and region. 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 deeply observe the place and time I present to the viewer.

Artist CV:

Nathan Leemis

Born in 1999, in Winter Park, Florida

Resides and works in Altamonte Springs, Florida

Education and training

Private Lessons from Illustrator Jeni Bassett and art teacher, Art Workshop, Barbara Bassett

Fall 2017-Spring 2018, Studied as a fine art major at UCF

Fall 2018-Winter 2023 periodically took art classes/workshops through Crealde School of Art, Winter Park, Florida, including under instructors Gregg Kreutz, Richard Colvin, Tom Sadler, Gary Rupp, and Joseph Mattus.

2024, Studied plein air painting with Morgan Samuel Price in her January workshop.

Exhibition history

2025, Participated in the juried Winter Park Paint Out and exhibited plein air paintings at the Polasek Sculpture Gardens and Museum- April

2024-present, featured as a member of The Florida Gallery online

2023-April, 2025, Exhibited in the Gallery 32789 in Winter Park

2024, Exhibited in the Florida Springs Institute’s 2024 Art Exhibition and Anniversary Party. 2023-present, Allison Pottery Studio and Gallery in Marlinton, West Virginia.

2023, Exhibited as a part of the Ridge Art Association’s 73rd Anniversary Fine Arts Exhibition in Winter Haven, Florida

2022, Exhibited in the Nature Conservancy’s Nature Inspires Art competition- November

2022, Exhibited at the Burner Homeplace Museum and Gallery in Cass, West Virginia.

2022, Exhibited in the Alexandria Museum of Art’s  Farm to Forest Plein Air exhibition- October

2022, Solo exhibition at the Fort Caroline visitor center in Jacksonville Florida- February through May.

2022, Participated in the Lake Mary Paint-Out group exhibition at the Lake Mary Museum- April.

2019-2021, 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

2017-2019, Participated in the following Orlando Museum of Art’s First Thursday exhibitions:

• Florida Grown- 2019
• Eclectic Knights-2017 and 2019
• Art and Architecture- 2018

Collections

Nathan Leemis is collected in various private collections across America, including the Jenkins family of Lakeland, FL who founded Publix.

Residencies

2021, Artist in residence, Timucuan Preserve, National Park Service, Jacksonville, Florida

Awards

2026, Best of Show, Art in the Park, Brooksville

2025, Best of show, NATURE International Online Juried Competition, NOMA Gallery, Ocala

2024, Award of distinction, Santa Fe College Spring Art Festival, Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida

2023, Award of merit, FAFO Ocala Art Festival, Ocala, Florida

2023, Award of excellence, Ridge Art Association, Winter Haven, Florida

2022, 2nd place, Nature Inspires Art Competition, Nature Conservancy, Lake Wales Art Center, Lake Wales, Florida

2022, 3rd place, Wekiva Island Quick Draw, Apopka, Florida

2019, 2nd place, Wekiva Island Quick Draw, Apopka, Florida

Judging Experience

2023, Judged the Nature Conservancy’s Nature Inspires Art Contest.

Illustration Work

2022, Selected as poster artist for the Polk Forever fine art exhibition

2021, illustrated the UCF Arboretum pollinator calendar, with 12 botanical quality illustrations depicting native species and their pollinators.

2018, Illustrated for “Dimensions of Conversation” in Volume 1 Issue 3 of Storyteller magazine.

Contact Information

Email: nathanleemis@nathanleemis.com

Phone: (407) 702-0017