My paintings illustrate moments of my life.
I believe that personal experience of places/moments/things/feelings etc, gives more depth and presence to my work when painted.
Whenever I come across a certain bouquet of lines and colors, which carry within them a narrative that speaks to me, I will paint it.
This personal experience, added to a narrative, turns my paintings into a non verbal language that I want easily understood by all.
I am particularly inspired by works from Van Gogh, Gabriele Münter, Winifred Nicholson, Sonia Delaunay, Felix Valloton, Mary Cassatt, Fairfield Porter, Renoir… among others, as well as early 20th century movements such as Constructivism, Dada, Vorticism, Fauvism, Impressionism.
Julie, you came to such a profound realization! I love your description of how you came to see the most simple lines and colors when “stripped” of things you took/we all take so for granted; familiarity, ease of communication and being at home. You produce amazing art! Thank you.
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Julia, thanks so much for your comment ! It took a long time for me to express all that in words. Thank you for taking the time to read about it. I do hope you’ll visit again.
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You’re so welcome, Julie. I appreciate your reflective work, which shows in your art. I certainly will visit again!
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It’s all so beautiful, thank you for the pleasure
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You are very welcome Mr Blake.
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Your work is special Julie, I am glad to have found it. You capture the magic in everyday life.
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Thank you for your kind comment. I appreciate it very much. Thank you for following my blog as well.
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Lovely work ~
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I really enjoy your sense of composition. Your pictures are making me want to experiment with acrylics. Uh-oh… 🙂
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Thank you for your comment Rebecca. I have chosen acrylics as my main medium simply because I do not really enjoy the smell of oil paint and also because I have no patience. I apply several layers of color in order to get just the right shade. If I had to use oil, that would take a considerable amount of time. I do use it when the weather warms up so I can open the window and air out my studio. I keep to small dimensions though. Thank you again for visiting my blog.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts – it’s always interesting to hear more about the approach someone else takes 🙂 . I’m rather a coward with paint; haven’t used acrylics since school. But looking at your pictures, I feel the time is approaching…
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Hi Julie, I enjoyed reading about you and your approach to what you do. I appreciate that you like to look at things that others either miss or don’t pay attention to. I enjoy your work very much.
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Hi Carol, thank you for dropping by my blog and taking the time to write a comment, I appreciate. Things aren’t always as they seem, the more I observe the more i find beauty in the most insignificant things.
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Your observations are very perceptive and beautifully stated. I like your art even more because of them.
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Thank you Karin. Writing about my work and the hows and the whys was not an easy thing to do. I thought for a long time that my paintings could speak for themselves. It is comments like yours that remind me of how wrong I was. I’m glad you took the time to read through my observations. Thank you again.
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[…] POST-IT: My first (and only) visit to Nagasaki, made while I was living in Japan, had a lasting impact. To this day I carry around images of the damage wreaked on that city from my visit to the Atomic Bomb Museum. But for Julie, who moved to Nagasaki from the United States to teach English, the city was the place of her rebirth as an artist. She often walked to this local park, and this painting is her tribute to its flowering mimosa trees. For a moment her painting makes me forget the pain this city endured, along with the horror for war it engenders. Though one can never lose sight of the darkness, it’s possible to be touched by these simple, beautiful trees. OUR CONNECTION: We are mutual blogging admirers. Julie, btw, has now moved to France, where she continues her work as a fine artist (hence the French title of her painting). SEE ALSO: Julie’s portfolio site. […]
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these are beautiful!
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Lovely work 🙂
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Thank you Margaret. All comments are highly appreciated 🙂
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I agree with your perspective.
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Thank you Hendrik, I appreciate you took the time to read that particular page.
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In the middle of a crazed day, I’m glad I took the time to read that, and to look at your work. Thank you.
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You made my day Ellen. Thank you so very much.
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You are so right about your view of the world and ordinary things that are extraordinary really. Thank you for stopping by and liking my blog. Best !
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I think what I really admire about your work is what seems to me to be an almost illustrative quality enhanced not only through the subjects but also the clean lines of your compositions and the choices you’ve made with your colour palette. There’s a story in each piece. I firmly believe that art is a form of communication and here you have managed that task with skill and beauty.
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I am so glad you have seen this. Each one of my paintings is an illustrated pîece of my life. On the subject of art, I completely agree with you, art is a language, a means to communicate without words. Thank you very much for your comment.
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Love your work, intricate detail in simplified forms. Check out Alex Katz’s work (you may already have, I recently saw an exhibition of his so he’s still in mind). Keep at it, you are a true talent!
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Thanks Craig. It seems you and I have a similar approach to art which is to illustrate our daily life. Everything being unique because seen only through our eyes, at a particular moment of our day. Again thanks a lot for your comment. I am currently working on pictures I took while traveling around Scotland. Yesterday I put Scotland aside and began painting a view from my window at dusk. The skies of September have a special hue to them. There is this pinkish orange shade next to dark blue greys and blacks which make me pause all the time.
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Strange how spending time in another country–not speaking the language–opens your eyes to different things. Glad it worked out for you.
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Strangely it did. 🙂 thanks for your comment.
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Lovely work 🙂
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Thank you Lulu !
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I enjoyed reading this and identify. Beautiful artwork!
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Thank you 🙂
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The way you describe your journey of artistic development resonates with my own. I’ve just come back to Europe after spending a year in China, where I worked as a teacher of English 🙂 All the best to you!
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Thank you for your comment. And for your words of encouragement 🙂
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Your work is fantastic.
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Thank you for your comment ! You made my day !
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