Jo Reitze

JO REITZE is a Melbourne based artist. Her expressive, joyous paintings, in oils or gouache, and pen drawings are freely executed, with lyrical mark-making, vibrant colours, strong tonal contrasts and diverse patterns. Her gardens and dynamic coastal landscapes, mostly completed on location, celebrate nature’s beauty and restorative powers. In 2005, Jo commenced garden commissions, ‘Jo Reitze paints Your Garden’. During this period, she also painted twenty gardens for SHNC ‘Beyond the Garden Wall’ Project and was Artist in Residence at Cloudehill, Olinda and has exhibited widely.

Jo Reitze (Mrs de Carteret) is a Fellow of Victorian Artist’s Society and Past President of Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors. Formerly Art Coordinator at Canterbury Girls Secondary College, she now gives greater attention to her own work.
Jo has won more than forty awards and was a Finalist in the prestigious Geelong Contemporary Art Prize 2021 and The Len Fox Prize 2019.

I create art because...

I paint and draw because it is an intrinsic part of my life. After years of teaching Art and encouraging others to develop their personal styles, I now have time to give greater attention to my own work. COVID lockdowns in the past two years have provided much uninterrupted time for me to create.

I am different to most artists because...

I am fortunate that I have a clearly recognizable style. My work is inspired by nature and mostly painted on location. However, it is not a mere copy of the scene; it is my emotive response to it. I capture the essence of the scene with lyrical mark making and vibrant colours enhanced by strong tonal contrasts.

When you look at my art, the thing I want you to feel is...

My paintings are joyous. They celebrate the beauty and restorative qualities of nature in gardens, atmospheric coastal landscapes or seascapes.

The thing I most want to say to non-artists is...

Art works are to be seen not hidden. I would love my paintings to find permanent homes and to be appreciated. I have painted some works of the same subjects in each season or in series. These look wonderful hung side by side in a large spaces. All my works have strong tonal contrasts so look good when viewed both close up and from a distance. I encourage you to bring the outside inside and add joy to your decor.

I believe art is an important part of our lives because...

Whether creating or observing, Art provides solace and time to contemplate in the busyness of life.