Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1940, Robert A. Fleming graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree from Miami University in 1963. After college, he took a job with Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Kansas. In his first week there, he saw a watercolor demonstration by John Pike, who told the audience that their “paintings need to entertain.” Bob heard the message and has striven to achieve this objective ever since.
To create marketable greeting cards, he sought to create ones with “pickup appeal” — cards that would catch the eye of someone perusing a store’s card rack. His technique then and now has been to present watercolors with bold colors and a feeling of spontaneity.
After working as a graphic designer for KTVU television in Oakland, California, Bob settled into his long career as a watercolor painter, striving to achieve fresh feelings in his images through a “wet-in-wet” technique. As he paints, he tries to keep the client in mind, hoping to inspire, as well as to portray.
One subject captured his early attention — golf. After reading The Greatest Game Ever Played, on the 1913 United States Open Tournament, Bob painted his impression of the event. In 2008, it was accepted into the Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida, where it remains on display today.
About 50 percent of Fleming’s watercolors have featured blooming cacti and tranquil desert scenes, most created on location en plein air near where he lives in Palm Springs, in Southern California.
Bob and his paintings have won many awards, including twice as Poster Artist for the Borrego Springs Art Show and First Place, Watercolor at the Southwest Arts Festival in Indio, California.
When not painting, Bob enjoys tennis, golf, and kayaking, particularly on the lakes around Mammoth Lakes and June Lake.
Why does he sometimes paint fish and fly-fishing images? The short answer is that they are good sellers in outdoors-oriented communities such as Mammoth Lakes.
Bob’s paintings can be viewed at his studio in Palm Springs, as well as at the many art shows in which he participates annually, mainly in the Southwest. They are also found in various galleries and collections. To see more examples of his work, visit https://www.nanandbob.com.
