Cleo Vilett

About the Artist

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Cleo brings her passion for the natural world into her paintings. She works outdoors and from life as much as possible, drawn to nearly any subject when the light hits it just right.

Cleo is particularly interested in how people use outdoor spaces, and in exploring the intersection between urban and wild landscapes. With degrees in marine biology and science illustration, she has contributed to numerous large-scale murals, illustrations, and sculptures for natural science institutions.

After more than a decade of winning awards in plein air events, Cleo continues to create impactful work. She thrives on personal growth and on fostering growth in others, while remaining a curious student of the world around her.

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A Message from Cleo

“My favorite compliment is some variation of: ‘Hey, I was driving home and saw the sunlight on this building and, I don’t know, it just totally made me think of one of your paintings.’

I doubt this is meant to be a compliment, but I always feel like I’ve won somehow. I’ve succeeded in helping someone notice something in their everyday life in a new way. Maybe they’re seeing something mundane as something beautiful.

If life is what happens when we’re making other plans, then our lives are really made up of thousands of fleeting moments rather than big-ticket events. We can’t stop time, but I hope to slow it down a little. That’s what happens to me while I’m painting—especially outdoors. I’m desperately trying to hold onto a moment before it changes. Through the process, I study it, sit with it, and absorb it. If some of that transfers to the viewer, then I feel I’ve succeeded.

I hope you recognize something of yourselves in my work. Some of my favorite song lyrics do this for me—they tell a larger story with minimal ‘brush strokes,’ igniting the imagination and placing me in the scene. In that way, I’m having a conversation with the subject while painting it and, hopefully, a conversation with you as you look at it.

These are big aspirations. When it happens, it’s magic.”