Jo Peterson
- Michael Hanna
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Jo Peterson is a draftswoman who has exhibited throughout the American South, particularly in Georgia. Her most recent exhibitions in Georgia include dual shows at Sandler Hudson Gallery in Atlanta, Decatur Arts Alliance in Decatur, ATHICA Institute of Contemporary Art in Athens, and Studioplex and SCAD in Atlanta. Jo’s works remain in public and private collections across the United States and she has been published in Studio Visit Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, Creative Loafing, and New Times.
Using complex and varied techniques, Jo will create her drawings by either basing them free-hand from sketches and photography she takes in the field, over digitally-manipulated photographed prints, or by tracing the outline through a projector. She applies acrylic glazes over intricate charcoal and graphite drawings of foliage and landscapes. These poetically monochromatic works have deep inclinations with respecting the realism of the form yet abstracted structure of the compositional outline of strategically placed foliage and fauna.
These realistic landscapes and portrayals of foliage and branches reflect deep connotations with solitude and reflection. We discover the actualized nature of the American countryside through the documentative approach of the artist. Jo breathes life onto these compositions, not by adding color, but by recreating a composure, an orchestra of variation in tone with deep contrast and subtle application of her tool. The viewer will explore the grand open landscape or the scenery above our heads as leaves and twigs fall into our line of vision. With a sense of line of sight and deep observation, Jo reveals an aspect of the rawness of nature through monochromatic purity and detailed portrayal.
Klamath Cove (pictured above) based on a landscape from Northern California, represents a deep realization of sfumato and mood. Such a theatrical and poetic display of the ocean bay reveals stones which accentuate the composition, contrast, and water. The landscape represented in a grand panoramic view conveys an openness and rare sense of freedom of form through monochromatic purity and expression.
Jo Peterson reveals the inner character of herself and the landscape she portrays. The works have a life of their own, despite their monochromatic tendencies. These black and white drawing depictions with careful glazes of acrylic represent variations of realism which range from the photographic, design-based, and reflecting compositional purity. With an eye for detail and deep inclination to explore her surroundings to find the perfect opus for her compositions, Jo Peterson reveals a draftswoman deeply dedicated to her craft to reflect nature in poetic terms which enhance the inner characteristics of self-reflection as well as the meaning beyond depictions of nature beyond color and openness. Jo’s closed and isolated compositions could be described as the defining characteristics of her works, as she fine-tunes the viewers focus on the relevant nature of her selective scenery. She guides us to her vision of nature through creative cropping, monochromatic application, en plein air studies, and integrative techniques which rely on a variety of mediums to enhance her drawings.
