Julie McGrath
About the artist
Art has always been a part of Julia’s life. As a young child, she remembers intently and repeatedly looking at the works of Michelangelo, marveling at the paintings of the “Sistine Chapel” and his exquisite marbles.
Artist Bio
Julia McGrath – Creating Passionate Pleasure through a Unique Watercolor Process
This early inspiration led Julia to start doodling, drawing and painting with markers and colored pencils. She was ecstatic when one year under the Christmas tree, she found her first set of brushes, paints and palette in a beautiful wooden box – and she was hooked!
While attending University with the intent of getting a degree in Art History and traveling to Europe several times, her eyes and heart were opened to the vast world of captivating and beautiful art. She realized that she didn’t just want to learn about art, but rather, be an active participant and create it! Witnessing history, myths, stories and the everyday lives of people recorded in paint and brush was a catalyst for her desire to paint and to be a part of that world. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in painting and a minor in Art History, which satisfied both her intellectual and creative needs.
Julia’s initial years of painting were in oil, but later, while carrying her first child, she started to explore watercolors She had to learn how to control the water and accept what it and the pigment decided to do when they were applied to the paper. Watercolor quickly became her favorite medium, finding it to so unalterable, spontaneous and fresh! She never uses “white” paint, so the white color in all of her paintings is always the white of the paper.
Julia is truly happiest when painting. She often has jazz or classical music playing in the background while creating her newest masterpiece. Her unique process consists of a drawing and then transferring it to the watercolor paper, where she applies subtle washes, mapping out key areas of color and mixing color.
Julia enjoys painting subject matter with strong contrasts, vibrant colors and deep beautiful shadows as she finds the subtle beauty in them. She believes that her job as an artist is to transfer what she sees, how she sees and how she feels from her hand, paint and brush, back to the viewer, and in doing so evokes visual pleasure for all.
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