Hi, I am Julie,
I grew up in the fifties and sixties in Southern California. My family would visit places like Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm. Every year we would watch the Las Floristas Headdress Ball, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the “Mother” of all parades, the Rose Parade. We watched all kinds of Hollywood movies. In other words, I grew up in LA LA Land. As a result, I have always been fascinated by environments, like Disneyland, and by movies that shift the usual everyday reality and open all kinds of possibilities.
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After finishing my undergraduate work at CSU Fullerton, I moved to northern California to study with bay area artists and earn a Masters Degree in painting. After I graduated with High Distinction from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, I became a member of a cooperative gallery Mercury Twenty Gallery in Oakland. Mercury Twenty provided a space for artists to explore their ideas and participate in group and one person exhibitions in an area that was becoming a place for artists to come together and show their work. In addition to making my own work, I was employed by Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland as the drawing and painting instructor. Creative Growth Art Center is one of the oldest and most respected art centers for adult artists with developmental disabilities in the country. Creative Growth was an amazing place to work with other artists within a community of artists. I was fortunate to be able to teach there for 18 years.
In 2005 I was chosen to do an Artist Residency in Joshua Tree National Park in February of 2006. I got to stay in the park for a month taking photos and painting from those photos. I had never been to Joshua Tree National Park and it was a life changing experience for me.
In 2018 my husband retired we decided to move to Joshua Tree.
I am very grateful be a member of the artist guild at the 29 Palms Arts Gallery. I have found an amazing and diverse group of dedicated community-oriented artists whose work is inspiring and people who are willing to generously their share their time, experience, and knowledge.