Hello!
My name is Julie! I'm an artist, animal advocate, and lover of art history . When I’m not painting, I’m working as the Creative Director at an independent bookstore.
I live in South Carolina with my loving husband, dog Fig, and two cats, Sybil and Obi.
My work celebrates endangered species with a medieval twist!
Mission.
Julie K. Art strives to educate others on the importance of conservation through the intersection of art, art history, and science.
“Conservation will only be reached through education. My greatest hope is for my work to inspire others to learn more about Earth’s amazing creatures and how to protect them. Join me as I strive to raise conservation efforts and endangered species awareness.”
My Story
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with the animals that call our earth home. For most of my childhood, I envisioned myself working as a zookeeper or vet, caring for the creatures that captured my imagination. I feel so lucky to have parents who encouraged my sisters and I to participate in the arts. I spent time learning dance, piano, and voice. It wasn’t until late high school when I picked up some cheap watercolors and instantly fell in love with the medium.
I opened my Etsy shop in December of 2016, during my freshman year at Winthrop University. Since then, I have experimented with many mediums, increased my technical skills, and gained a newfound appreciation of art history. I completed my education at Winthrop in 2019, Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Art in Art and a Minor in Art History.
Towards the end of my time at Winthrop, I still found myself enamored with watercolor, and explored how it could interact with other materials. I allowed myself to return to that childhood love of animals, and felt called to paint the vanishing species of our planet. In the summer of 2019, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Kenya and go on safari in Masai Mara, Nairobi, and Lake Nakuru. Seeing these creatures in person, in the wild, with nothing but grass for miles truly left me breathless. That special trip, combined with the events of the Amazon Rainforest fire and Australia bushfires ignited an urgency in me to call attention to the environmental issues of our world.
Medieval illuminated manuscripts provided me with the perfect example of the art I felt called to make. I could successfully combine my love for color, art history, and animals into pieces that called for action. Painting endangered species in the midst of brilliant hues, patterns and gold immediately elevates their status in the eyes of the viewer. In place of the fantastical creatures and holy figures of the medieval era, these animals demand attention and significance.
I paint to raise conservation efforts and endangered species awareness, which will only be reached through education. My greatest hope is for my work to inspire others to learn more about Earth’s amazing creatures and how to protect them.
Learn more about my previous shows, features, and fundraisers!
