Born in 1955 in Lincolnshire, if you had asked Julie’s primary school classmates what they predicted she would do when she grew up, the answer would have been “an artist”. With the encouragement of her teachers, she was allowed to paint while they were forced to slave over their sums.

Several years after school, and A level art, Julie attended a Saturday painting course at Goldsmiths’ for two years under the tutorship of Keith Walker in the early 80s and discovered oils and painting directly from nature.

Studying medicine and bringing up children meant an artistic hiatus of over 20 years until she enrolled on the Chelsea Art College “Friday Open Studio” which rekindled the artistic juices. Julie has attended the Friday Open Studios for 8 years under the tutorship of professional artists: Peter Fleming and latterly Enver Gursev.

During this time, Julie has developed from simple landscapes using primary colours to more nuanced works still using bold colours but with more attention to the quality of the mark making.

Julie prefers the rich, sensuous quality of oils to other media, and is drawn to unsentimental landscapes evocative of Lincolnshire and cityscapes – representing alienation and familiarity simultaneously.

Julie has recently joined an artists and makers collective, Red Herring, in Portslade and enjoys the community and creative inspiration this offers. Please come and see our exhibition, SHOALING, at the Regency Townhouse, 13 Brunswick Square, Hove BN3 1EH between 16th May and 26th May 2024. Website http://redherringstudios.org