Julea Boswell
Ottawa, ON &, Frenchfort, PEI
ABSTRACT ARTIST "I see the world around me as a mood-boosting dance that I put into paint."
MessageJulea Hope Boswell is an abstract artist based in Ottawa and Prince Edward Island. She has also lived in Toronto, Edmonton and Berlin. Julea has deep Island roots in PEI where, growing up, her artistically-inclined family nurtured her talent in many expressive outlets — art, dance, music and theatre — and she has been creating art ever since. After graduating from the dance program at Ryerson University's Theatre School Julea spent early years in the dance world before she switched gears, earned an MBA, and added over 20 years of marketing and management experience to her multifaceted accomplishments. All the while, she was evolving and expanding a portfolio that now includes textile-art, drawings and paintings. In 2022, Julea fulfilled an ambition she had set aside early on when she received her BFA in Visual Art (with distinction).
Julea is currently showing at The Dunes Gallery (PEI) and at Agora Gallery in New York City. Since Julea began exhibiting her art professionally in 2018, her work has been featured in solo and group shows in Ottawa, PEI, NB and NS, in dance-theatre and outdoor performance events, and at ArtExpo NY with AGI Fine Art. In addition, she has been awarded a City of Ottawa Artist Creation Grant, invited to serve on arts award and exhibit juries, and led cross-disciplinary collaborations with performing artists including musicians, composers, and dancers with/without physical disabilities and neurodiversity. Her work is in collections in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia and Mexico.
Statement
As a dancer turned visual artist, I see the world around me as a mood-boosting dance that I put into paint. Primary influences stem from my involvement in visual and performing arts from a young age, and from growing up surrounded by the amazing natural beauty of Prince Edward Island. These experiences instilled my motivation as an artist which is fuelled by the power of art to spread joy and bring people together. I use a kinetic and tactile process of discovery to capture and express the energy and emotions sparked by interflowing themes of nature, dance and music. My paintings are full of movement and colour and range from stylized imaginative interpretations of nature to purely abstract lyrical pieces.
I never sit when I paint—I move to music. As part of the process, I move the canvas freely back-and-forth from wall to floor as I progress. Instead of brushes, I use palette knives and rags (linen, cotton, paper) to apply, blend and erase paint, sometimes mixing it with modelling paste to add texture. I keep it fun and spontaneous by using squirt bottles to draw improvised patterns and embellishments. I'm a fan of working on unstretched canvas so that I can position and crop the final composition. And I’m not afraid of colour! I love to use fluorescent and metallic paints.
"Wow! Such colour and freedom. I love your expression of movement." - solo show visitor
”The paint dances across the canvas.” - exhibitor's comment
"I’ve seen ten thousand waves on canvas in my lifetime and none are as evocative as this. Exquisite." - Facebook comment
“A breath of fresh air! Breezy. It has such a lightness and positivity that make it pretty irresistible." - Instagram follower
"Your joyful work is exactly what the world needs!" - Artwork Archive blog author
Julea's Art News subscribe
Instagram @julea.boswell
Facebook @JuleaBoswellArt
Contact: [email protected]
© 2024 Julea Boswell
Powered by Artwork Archive