Leoma Lovegrove has left a legacy in South Florida through her creative artworks and impact on the community. -LEOMA LOVEGROVE STUDIOS / COURTESY PHOTO
Stepping foot into the studios of Leoma Lovegrove, your eyes have a hard time picking a spot to land on.
Common items — from brightly colored instruments painted and strung up on the walls, to pieces of roof tiles, wooden boards and various other objects — have been turned into masterpieces.
Even now, more than a year after her passing, Lovegrove continues to leave a legacy.
The artist had two studios, one in Matlacha and one in downtown Fort Myers, where her artwork continues to be displayed — and is still being sold.
“She was an extremely large name,” Lovegrove Studios Vice President Sarah Cushman said. “I mean, we still have people coming in all the time that don’t even know that she passed away, and … people come in here, and they automatically know who this is just by looking at it (the artwork).”
The gallery interior embodies Leoma’s whimsical reflection with color filling every space as high as the eye can see. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Cushman believes that Lovegrove’s artwork is an extension of the bold creativity and unforgettable personality she met 10 years ago.
“I had just moved back down here from Florida, and I was driving a school bus and had no art background whatsoever, and somebody told me, you know, there was this lady out on the island looking for some part-time help, and I answered an ad on Facebook, and I met her,” Cushman said. “I thought she was the weirdest person I had ever met, and she just kind of took me under her wing, and we just clicked.”
Lovegrove became more than just a boss to Cushman; she was a friend and inspired her to live in the moment.
“We were like best friends, we were like two little peas in a pod, and someday she would come in, and she’d be like, ‘Sarah, we’re going fishing, you’re not working,’ and we would end up out on a boat in the middle of Pine Island Sound fishing instead of working,” Cushman said. “For eight-and-a-half years, we were just together almost every day.”
Lovegrove’s affinity for art began at a young age, inspired by her mother, a painter. Even as she battled stage-four breast cancer at 72, she continued to bring positivity and dedication to the studio.
“She absolutely loved what she did, and she did it every day. She painted every day, and you would hardly ever even know she was sick,” Cushman said. “She just had a passion, and she had an eye for what she did. I mean, she could make something out of nothing.”
Beyond the brush
Visitors to her gallery witnessed firsthand Lovegrove’s connection to the community and her talent for turning an ordinary object into artwork.
“She was just so spontaneous. You would come in here, and if she were here, she would come up to you and say, ‘Hey, can I paint on your ball cap?’ or just things like that. She was very generous with her talent and herself,” gallery associate Diane Lake said. “People just warmed up to her because her art is much like her personality: colorful, flamboyant and outgoing.
“At the same time, people feel when they come in here the kind of joy and cheeriness and those other types of emotional things that her art brings.”
While Lake didn’t have the chance to know Lovegrove for more than a few months, she said she learned a lot from her time with the artist and the light she brought to the Southwest Florida community.
“I didn’t know Leoma, unfortunately, that long, while I knew of her, I never had the good fortune to be out at Matlacha. It was always someplace I really wanted to go, take people and experience,” Lake said. “When I saw that they were going to open a downtown location. I kept watching for it and watching for it, and then, sitting across the street, saw the notice about it coming soon.”
Gallery Associate Diane Lake and Vice President of Leoma Lovegrove Studio Sarah Cushman. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Lake jumped at the opportunity to work with Lovegrove. After convincing Cushman to bring her on, she came to understand the artist’s characteristics and the impact she had within the community.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have a longer time to really know her personally, but I was also moved by her philanthropy, her goodwill,” Lake said. “Not only does she paint, but she also did other events, other things for people and organizations. She was willing to be someone who shared her talent, and not always expecting necessarily to be paid for something, but she would contribute her time.”
After her passing, the team at Lovegrove Studios continues to witness the community come into both locations to admire the artwork and gain inspiration to create their own.
“I think that artists are attracted to looking at other art,” Lake said, “and so it’s appealing to them to come in and see what this person has done or is doing that you might motivate them.”
Lovegrove paints a number of different subject matters from Florida landscapes and animals to faith-based figures and pop-culture icons. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Views of assorted works from inside Leoma Lovegrove Studio in Downtown Fort Myers. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Art that lives on
Lovegrove Studios continues to expand, showcasing the artist’s works, and has plans to spread the collection to wider audiences beyond its two studio locations.
“We’re hoping to expand the product as far as clothing and stuff like that, outside of just canvas and stuff like that. We’re already up to two studios,” Cushman said. “We’ve been in a lot of airports, and we were talking the other day, it would be neat to have Leoma Lovegrove stores in an airport.”
Cushman and Lake have dedicated their time to informing the community about Lovegrove and her artwork, and want to highlight the various pieces she created.
“We just got done with an exhibit in Venice of her Beatles artwork, and we had an exhibit set up in the front here for about four months of all her French stuff with her Monet and Van Gogh pieces,” Cushman said. “We’re going to keep doing stuff like that in the future, because we have a ton of original stuff to bring out and show people things that they’ve never seen, more than just the Florida vibrant stuff. She did a lot of French pieces, landscapes and other subjects. So, we’re going to keep bringing it out and putting it on display.”
Leoma Lovegrove specializes in creating impressionist-expressionist works, featuring vivid colorful brushstrokes and whimsical subjects that burst with energy. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Views of assorted landscape and animal-based works alongside a vivid custom painted trailer -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Cushman and her team have also been participating in art walks in both Matlacha and downtown Fort Myers to spotlight the late artist’s work. The team has plans to rebuild after the damage the Matlacha studio suffered from hurricanes.
“Jennifer Bennett in Matlacha was heading up the art walk out there, and she was asking us to come out for art walks, so we started packing up every second Friday of the month and going out there,” Cushman said. “People were just coming out there in droves, and we couldn’t believe the hard work packing up and going out there, and then packing up and bringing it back. So, we started opening four days a week out there, and now we’re open six days a week, and we’re about to refurbish the gardens, fix the dock and everything and get that open by next season.”
Artistic gifts for purchase such as these mini canvases can be seen throughout the Lovegrove studio. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
A closeup of a smallscale piece showcasing Lovegrove’s colorful style. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
As the studios continue to develop, Cushman wants to remind the community to visit Lovegrove Studios and take time to soak up the creativity and personality expressed within the gallery.
“I come in here just to put myself at ease because I don’t feel as calm anywhere else as I do being in here around her art,” Cushman said. “That’s kind of, like, my replacement for missing her and not being able to be around her anymore.
“Just come by and see it. I mean, if you’re in a bad mood and you need something to pick you up, just come in and spend some time in here. You don’t even have to spend a dime; you just come in, look around, and you can feel her energy just by being in here.”
An exterior view of the windows looking into the Leoma Lovegrove Studio in downtown Fort Myers. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY
In The KNOW:
Lovegrove Studios Inc.
Website: leomalovegrove.store
Email: sales@leomalovegrove.com
Locations:
Lovegrove Gallery Downtown
1415 Dean St., Unit 102, Fort Myers
239-938-5655
Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week
Lovegrove – Matlacha
4637 Pine Island Road N.W., Matlacha
239-579-0235
Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday