Julie Collins

Julie Collins was born in the Isle of Man in 1962. After studying Fine Art at the University of Reading from 1980 to 1984, BA Hons, Art (Painting) Julie has travelled, painted, drawn, written and taught.

 Julie works from her studio at Milford on Sea. The mixed media paintings are 'abstractions' from real life, where Julie explores the relationship between recognisable forms and the open ended process of creating.   She builds up subtle layers of colour and texture with water based paints and mixed media. Here a dialogue between the foreground, mid ground and background is created which gives a subtle depth to her work.

Julie states “I am inspired by nature and the landscape and rely on observation and memory to create my work. Then the flowers, seeds, trees, birds, and leaves I have seen so many times will appear in my paintings. The studio is where I have many pieces in progress at the same time. Somehow this creates a flow or a conversation between each painting and they will eventually link up in a series. Though I am inspired by nature, the paintings always represent an alternative reality rather than an actual view and once they are started they somehow take on a life of their own. A fine balance between intuition, emotion and formal control of the paint is crucial in each piece.”

Julie's loose understated use of colour and form enhances a depth of tone and texture within the surface of her work. Her work possesses an overriding sense of calm.

Julie has exhibited her work widely across the country and in 2016 she was awarded 1^st prize Watercolour Award, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol.