Late last year, I worked on a series of six pieces all about my adventures by the Charles River with my young son. I call them "The River Walk Series." They're all 16x20 monotype collages. I'm delighted to share that three have sold thus far. It's always such a delight for me when someone loves my work enough to take it home. Rebekah Joy Plett said it best: "When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of... Read more →

Hey friends! I've been busy in the studio with lots of art making, a new online community and classroom, and some exciting exhibitions (including my prize winning piece currently on view at the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, MA as part of their exhibit: "Morning Noon Night"). I hope you'll check out this podcast interview I did with "Little Local Conversations." It's a fun one! Listen below: If you'd like to get weekly updates in your inbox, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter. Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Hey guys! I'm taking an indefinite break from blogging. If you'd like to keep up with what's going on, please subscribe to my weekly newsletter. It goes out every Friday. It's free and (I hope) packed with inspiration. You will still be able to find my free weekly "Studio Snippets" videos on my YouTube Channel. (In fact, there's a new one today.) Mom and I have started recording a 2024 season of The Adventures in Arting Podcast. So, look for that to begin in January. You can always get art inspiration and tutorials in my monthly art membership program. Or... Read more →

I run a monthly group coaching session through the Super Learner membership program. It was originally called "critique group," but so many people had a negative reaction to the word, "critique," that I decided to change the name. Critique can be terrifying -- especially since it is so often done incorrectly (meaning in an unhelpful and hurtful manner). The good news is that if it's done correctly, critique can help you grow much faster than you could on your own. So today, I thought I'd share the special sauce recipe -- aka how to do critique so that it nurtures... Read more →

Happy Halloween! This cat mask makes a great last minute Halloween costume. Watch the video for the how-to: May your evening be filled with candy and laughter! Read more →

At first glance, you may think that the title of this post, "Why is Creative Block," is either a grammatical error or an unfinished sentence. But perhaps it's simply a new and different way of looking at the same old problem. I'm sure you know what creative block is. It's possible that you also know yourself well enough to know why creative block happens to you. And you might have developed some solid strategies for breaking through creative block, such as: Look for inspiration: Watch YouTube videos for inspiration. Look at art technique books. Search Pinterest. Look at blogs. Take... Read more →

I'm so pleased to share that I was the guest on Kellee Wynne's most recent episode of the Made Remarkable Podcast. You can listen to our conversation below: This is what Kellee wrote about our conversation: Julie shows us that achieving greatness in both art and motherhood is possible through love, perseverance, and a dash of humor. She shares her insights on the importance of passive income and the need for alternative revenue streams for solopreneurs. From royalties to affiliate fees, and teaching fees to artwork sales, Julie delves into the various avenues she has explored to support her business... Read more →

I stumbled upon this fantastic video that talks about the history of when art and craft became two different things. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time: Here's a bit of the content from the video: It might seem obvious to us today to view people, such as da Vinci or Michelangelo, as legendary artists, and, of course, they possessed extraordinary talents, but they also happened to live in the right place at the right time, because shortly before their lifetimes the concept of artists hardly existed....It wasn't until around 1400 that people began to draw a line between... Read more →

A collection of miscellany for you today: ONE: Pastels This week I was delighted to be a guest in Andrea Chebeleu's Under the Influence art journaling lesson. The focus for her students was on pastels and so I went digging for a few pastel videos that I've done over the years: My current collection of pastels includes: oil pastels wax pastels PanPastels soft pastels They each have such different qualities. It's hard to choose a favorite! TWO: Watertown Arts Market I will have a booth at the Watertown Arts Market this Saturday -- August 19 -- from 12-5pm at Filipello... Read more →

For years and years, I swatched paint in notebooks or loose sheets and then I decided to make it all a bit easier and more organized. This is my color rolodex: Watch the video to learn all about it: As I mentioned in the video, three things I love about my rolodex system: It's easy to add and remove cards. I can easily compare colors across brands, or simply to compare. It's simple to create a color palette. I simply pull cards and put the palette together. No guessing. THIS is the rolodex that I own. I use the regular... Read more →