Biography
Jo was born and brought up in Ballarat but has lived in Melbourne since 1980.

Art Studies:
1967 Matriculated with Art Honours, Teacher Katy Hemley (Stacey)
1968 - 1971 Studied at Kay House, Melbourne Teachers' College, majoring in painting, Lecturer A.W. Harding
1971 Graduated with a Higher Diploma of Teaching (Secondary Art and Craft) 1979 Studied at The Paris American Academy - Ecole des Beaux Arts gaining six graduate credits

Jo's love of flowers and gardens is exemplified in her joyous paintings.
Her garden in Surrey Hills has been a constant source of inspiration. Jo has painted in many Botanic Gardens throughout the State as well as those overseas including Monet's garden in Giverny. Her commissioned works have also enabled her to paint in beautiful places and meet lovely people who share her passion for gardening. Her impressions, mostly painted on location, are freely executed in gouache or oils with lyrical, almost calligraphic mark making, gorgeous colours and clearly recognizable plants and features. Jo has been particularly thrilled that her paintings have given others such pleasure and she looks forward to future commissions.

As well as garden subjects, landscapes and seascapes at Ocean Grove have been reoccurring themes of her oeuvre for about four decades of school holidays. Her painterly works of river flats, gnarled windswept trees and views across the Barwon River capture the dynamic movement and natural beauty of this coastal environment. Like the Impressionists, she returns to the same spot in different conditions to capture the particular moment. Many paintings display vibrant colour with strong tonal contrasts while others reveal subtle nuances to evoke the mood of the scene. In recent years, Jo has also painted many studies of the Bay from Sandringham. All her works celebrate the aesthetic beauty of nature.
After more than thirty years teaching Art at Secondary Schools, Jo is now enjoying the time to give greater attention to her own practice.

Art Teaching:
1972 - 4 Taught Art Bacchus Marsh High School
1974 - 9 Taught Art, Art Coordinator Camperdown High School 
1980 - 4 Taught Art and Craft Parkwood High School
1984 -- 2005 Taught Art, Art Coordinator Canterbury Girls' Secondary College
2001 (January) Exchange Art Teacher, Bunkyo University High School, Tokyo, Japan
2005 & 6 Taught VCE Art at Canterbury Girls' Secondary College (Part time contract)

Memberships:
Victorian Artist's Society, Granted Fellowship in 1990 
Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors

Recent Awards:
Over the years Jo has won nearly thirty painting prizes and received numerous commendations as well as teaching Art full time. These awards include The Lord Mayor's Prize and The Mountbatten Award. Last year she received commendations at Camberwell Rotary Art Show, The Victorian Artists' Society Spring Exhibition and Sandringham Lions En Plein Air Competition and was a finalist in The City of Whitehorse "Water, Water Everywhere" Prize.
2006 Third Prize Lions Club Sandringham, En Plein Air Competition 
2004 Winner, Works on Paper, Strathdon Community Art Show
2002 Painting on the Hill, Dandenong Club Award for Best Work completed on the day 
1997 Best Painting over $1000 Bayswater Rotary Art Show

Represented:
Civic Collection of Melbourne City, Monash, Diamond Valley, Preston, Bacchus Marsh (Moorabool) and Qakleigh, ANZ Bank, Menzies at Rialto Le Meridian, Undine ,Victorian Artists', Dandenong Club, Burke Hall, Xavier College, John Paul College, Canterbury Girls' Secondary College and Bunkyo University High School collections and private collections in Australia and overseas.

Recent Exhibitions and Demonstrations:
2007 Jo Reitze "Next Door" 110 Broughton Road Surrey Hills
2007 "Across the Waters" - small seascapes, Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre 2007 Demonstrated NGV Women's Association Open Gardens
2007 Art Incontro Group Exhibition Antica Canonica Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy 2007 Featured Artist Rutherglen Art Show
2007 "For the Beauty of the Earth" exhibition and demonstration Surrey Hills Festival 
2006 "Garden Glimpses" - Ch'i Hair Salon and Gallery, Canterbury
2006 Demonstrated Hawthorn Artists' Society
2006 "All things Bright and Beautiful" gardens land and sea at Kinross House Opened by Jane Edmanson
2005 Artist in Residence and Oaks Caf6 Exhibition in Cup Week at Acorn Nursery, Surrey Hills
2005 "Gardens and Greenery", Cato Gallery, VAS Galleries, Opened by Mary Klestadt

Eucalyptus Ficifolia -Jo Reitze 2007 gouache on board 73x50cms
 

Wattle Park  - Jo Reitze 2007 gouache on board  76x51cms 

From Sandringham - Jo Reitze 2008 gouache on board 60x80cm