JON FLAMING (b. 1962)

Texas artist Jon Flaming is, much like the Lone Star State itself, vast-in interests and richness, in talent and good talk. His studio speaks to a background that is equally diverse. On one side, a large computer cues Flaming's success as a graphic designer whose Dallas-based firm represented a number of Fortune 500 companies and mom and pops alike; and on the other, an easel tells of his turn into full-time fine art, a move he made three years ago, but indeed much earlier.

At just 5 years old, Flaming remembers sitting in Sunday school, engrossed by an older boy's sketch of a jet airplane-a small but seminal moment he credits for helping pave his artistic path, which starts from rural Kansas and leads to big-city Dallas, where as a typical Texas boy, he grew up watching cowboy shows, attending church and playing football. But, as the son of musicians, he also played music, made art and considered a career in architecture. Flaming eventually settled on graphic design, and pursued it while at the same time building equity in the art world. He secured the representation of several Texas art galleries, had pieces in three Texas museums, and created a following for his depictions of rootsy, workingman western culture-dance halls, oil rigs, and ranches.

Jon Flaming was born on December 2, 1962 in Wichita, Kansas. His family moved to Texas in 1968. Visits to his grandparent's Kansas ranch as a boy made a strong impression. It was here that Jon first experienced small town America and the rural countryside and began to capture its unique character and beauty with his camera and sketchbook. "My earliest memories are of rural, middle America," says Flaming, referencing his grandparents' Kansas cattle ranch and his many visits there. "It was such a sweet time for me; I have great memories of seeing a working ranch, the farm equipment, the cattle, and the images of a small-town farming community and everything that goes along with that. So when I could drive, I wanted to get out see everything in Texas that was related to what my memories were as a kid. All of it appeals to me." (Interesting side note, Jon's birthplace may have been Kansas, but his Texas connection is evidenced by the fact that his distant midwestern relative U.S. Senator Charles B. Farwell was responsible for financing the construction of the Texas State Capital in the late 1800's. He also owned the 3,000,000 acre XIT ranch in the Texas Panhandle with his brother John V. Farwell.)

Primarily self-taught, Jon's work has been influenced by a number of artists including William Lester, Everett Spruce, Otis Dozier, Stuart Davis & Marsden Hartley. He works in oil, acrylic and also found materials.

In 1985 Jon graduated from Texas State University with a bachelor's degree in design and for the last 30 years has been creating award-winning images and branding campaigns for many clients including Neiman Marcus, Pizza Hut, The John Wayne Cancer Foundation, The John Wayne Film Festival, Forbes, JCPenney, FedEx, Milton Bradley and Pepsi. His work has been recognized and published by numerous organizations including Communication Arts, Print Magazine, Graphis, and The Society of Illustrators. Just recently, the John Wayne family asked Jon to partner with them on promoting the John Wayne Brand.

Jon's fine art is in the permanent collection of the Tyler Museum of Art, The Grace Museum in Abilene and also the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art. His work is also in many private & public collections and has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows. The Museum of the Southwest in Midland is hosting a solo show for Jon in the fall of 2020.

Currently, Jon lives in Richardson, Texas with his wife Kathy.

Selected Biographical and Career Highlights

· 1962 Born in Wichita, Kansas

· 1968 Family moved to Texas

· 1985 BFA, Texas State University, San Marcos

· 1993 Started Jon Flaming Design

· Board of Directors, American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)

· Painting of Prince Albert Hunt selected for story by Christopher C. King in the Southern Music issue of the Oxford American Magazine 2014

· Painting House on a Hill selected for cover of novel Watt by Samuel Beckett published by El Hilo de Ariadna, Argentina 2016

· Resides in Richardson, Texas

Selected Exhibitions

· 1995 Solo, Ken Knight Gallery, Dallas

· 1999 Solo, Texas State University, San Marcos

· 2004 Plano National Juried Show, Plano

· 2005 Natural Disasters, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas

· 2006, 2008 Invitational, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon

· 2006 Solo, Blue Star Gallery, Hico

· 2007 Then and Now, Texas State University, San Marcos

· 2007-08 Cherry Spring Arts Festival, Cherry Spring

· 2008 Art in the Metroplex, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth

· 2008-15 The Texas Aesthetic, Annual Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston

· 2009 Painting West Texas: 35 Artists/100 Years, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas (catalogue)

· 2009 A Texas Sampler: Vintage Paintings by Thirty Texas Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston

· 2010 Water Rites: Rivers, Lakes, and Streams in Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston

· 2010 Drawing on the Past: Selections from the Bobbie and John Nau Collection of Texas Art, Grace Museum, Abilene

· 2010 Solo, Roads Less Traveled: Jon Flaming’s Texas, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston (catalogue)

· 2010 Nac Collect, Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches

· 2011 Texas Stampede, Insight Gallery, Fredericksburg

· 2011 Solo, Western Movie, David Dike Fine Art, Dallas

· 2011, 2013 Invitational, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon

· 2012 Contemporary Texas Regionalists, traveled: Haley Memorial Library & History Center, Midland; Gage Hotel, Marathon

· 2013 Restless Heart: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo (catalogue)

· 2013 Celebrating the Regionalist Legacy in Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts at the Gage Hotel, Marathon

· 2013 Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston

· 2013 Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches

· 2013 Solo, Birdston Valley Revival, David Dike Fine Art, Dallas

· 2013 Holidays at the Haley, Haley Memorial Library & History Center, Midland

· 2014 Painting in the Texas Tradition, Turner House, Dallas

· 2014 Intersecting Plains: Views of the Texas Coast & Texas Drought, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston

· 2014 Solo, Oil on Canvas: Paintings of the Texas Oil & Gas Industry, David Dike Fine Art, Dallas

· 2015 Solo, McKinney, Éclair Bistro, McKinney

· 2016 Selections from the John Stone Collection of Texas Art, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston

· 2016 Meat, David Dike Fine Art, Dallas

· 2017 Of Texas Rivers and Texas Art, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo; Texas Capitol Ground Floor Rotunda, Austin, Witte Museum, San Antonio (book by same title published by Texas A&M Press)

· 2017 Jon Flaming Recent Paintings, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston

· 2018 Texas Aesthetic VII, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston

· 2018 Group Show, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, Texas

· 2019 Group Show, Kelly Kennedy Fine Art, Midland

· 2019 Modern Cowboy, David Dike Fine Art, Dallas

· 2019 Texas Aesthetic VIII: Thirty Contemporary Artists Redefining Texas Art, Foltz Fine Art, Houston

· 2020 Jon Flaming: Modern Cowboy, Foltz Fine Art, Houston

· 2020 Jon Flaming: Westland, Museum of the Southwest, Midland

Selected Public Collections

· City of McKinney, Texas

· Silver Eagle Distributors, Houston

· Grace Museum, Abilene

· San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo

· Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler

Awards/Honors

· AIGA Board of Directors

· Dallas Society of Visual Communications Gold & Silver medals

· Communication Arts Magazine – (Judged 2000 Design Annual)

· Simpson Paper Show winner

· Print show winner

· Houston Art Directors Club medalist

· Fort Worth Addy medalist

· Graphis Show winner

· AIGA Show winner

· Graphic Design USA winner

· Society of Illustrators winner

· American Illustration winner

· Communication Arts Illustration winner

· Communication Arts Design winner

Jon Flaming

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