Kathleen Fleming finds escape from the world in her studio

Kathleen Fleming’s work has been shown in a number of locales across the state, but she loves it when her art appears in places of healing. She hopes that her paintings will brighten those spaces and make them less stressful.

Fleming grew up drawing and painting and, although she was an English major, she took a lot of art classes in college. “I’ve always had some creative outlet in my life,” she said.

Finding time for that outlet hasn’t always been easy given the demands of raising children and having a full-time job, but in the last decade or so since Fleming’s children have moved, she has found more time for artistic expression.

It helps that Fleming has cut down on her hours and is now a part-time vocational counselor for HireAbility Vermont where she has worked for eight years.

Thirty-three years ago, as a newlywed, Fleming moved to Charlotte.

“We landed really well,” she said. “We were young and naïve, and we found a house that fit our budget.”

Fleming feels lucky to be living in Charlotte.

Fleming usually works with acrylic paint, but she likes mixed media, so she sometimes adds collage elements, oil pastels or graphite. Her work used to be representational landscapes, but these days, her art is more abstract although it is still based on the environment and the natural world.

“As the world gets more chaotic, I’m looking for something calming,” she said. “Painting is a great outlet.”

In the past, Fleming did plein air (outdoor) painting with pastels, but lately she has moved away from that. She still spends a lot of time outdoors, which is where she gets her inspiration.

Fleming likes to work on a series of paintings, based either on a theme or a color theme. “When I do one piece, I sometimes overwork it and get stuck,” she said. “This helps me not to get too constricted. I can be more expansive and create more of a body of work.”

Fleming usually paints square canvases. Fleming prefers squares because she feels that when she paints a rectangle, she tends to be more representational and finds herself adding a horizon line.

“Painting squares puts me in a different direction,” she said.

Fleming is grateful that she has been able to work with Burlington City Arts because they often exhibit her work in public spaces, including medical facilities. “I like being in places of healing,” she said.

Since Fleming’s art is not representational, she is happy to have people see what they want in her work. Fleming thinks some people might recognize the basis for her work, but others might not, and she is comfortable with that.

“I’m inspired by nature,” she said. “I like the form and shape, but I don’t have to replicate things exactly.”

Fleming sees art as an escape from what’s going on in the world. “I spend a lot of time in my head,” she said, “and this helps me stay calm but also connected. It’s a way in and a way out.”

For Fleming, painting is a way of creating problems and then solving them. “It’s a constant puzzle of how to make something that will speak to people in some way and is pleasing for me and the viewers.”