After graduating from the University of Huddersfield with a BA (Hons) Fine Art in 2000, Julia reluctantly drifted away from full-time painting for a number of years, first working as a concept artist, graphic designer, and then running her own book design and illustration business, Brown Owl Design. The return to her fine-art roots has come gradually but passionately over the last few years, culminating in the decision to dedicate herself full-time to her practice after finding representation with galleries and growing interest in her work. “My current work explores spaces, landscapes and structures—man-made or organic, and the interplay of one against and within the other. How man has stamped his boots on the earth, built monumental engineering and architecture, constructed environments, and populated landscapes, later discarding those creations and moving on when use has been fulfilled. The story of those left-behind places is frequently an interesting one—whether it's a story of decay and return to the earth, or one of life breathed back and a renewed purpose given. I want the shapes I describe to be something both intangible yet instantly recognisable—solid objects, the space in between them, or an atmosphere created by light, shade and colour.” Yorkshire