Julie Blackman
I am a painter working in oil on canvas. My landscapes are sensuous renderings of organic forms capturing a personal sense of place. It is a human landscape – sensual and fragile, yet strong, vibrant and unpredictable. I try to beyond what my eye’s camera lens sees and transform my unique vision of a place – and my emotional response to it, into a fresh perspective. I am attracted to the huge variety of organic shapes, textures and contours and especially the light within nature.
I have been painting since I was a child and studied under Oregon artist, Frank Boyden, the founder of The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, at the University of New Mexico. I also studied at Washington University in St. Louis and received a BFA in painting fro the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukie. I have live in Bend, OR since 2013 after residing in Portland, OR for 36 years.
My work has been featured in the Bend Bulletin and Cascade Arts and Entertainment magazine. In 2019 Bend Magazine did a feature story on my work. My paintings are in private collections throughout the United States.
My Process
I stretch and prep my own canvases, for the most part, and use only Gamblin paints, mediums and solvents which are locally manufactured in Portland.
Most often I do a thumbnail sketch or study at the site and take a few photos. I bring these sketches and studies back to the studio with my vision of what I want to convey. Sometimes I do no sketches at all, but the painting evolves from the memory of my emotional response. In most cases, the painting takes on a life of its own which transcends what my eye’s camera saw. I paint in the indirect method using many layers of glazes to achieve luminosity.
Lately, I have been moving toward a landscape that is non-specific – evoking a mood rather than a particular place. I want viewers to be reminded of their memories, dreams, emotions or nastalgia for the three personal locations.