Julie Bowland

Artist Statement, 2009

 Give me some reds! Give me some greens!

-Henri Matisse on his deathbed

I am a landscape painter, usually working directly from nature in a thick vigorous oil paint impasto with a strong emphasis on color.  Color is everything to me, expressing intensity of emotion, as well as defining space.

Color and form are freely interpreted, but it remains important to me to work from nature.  I love the directness and energy of dealing with the dynamically changing conditions of nature while making art. Bugs, heat, cold, wind, changing light, and the smells, sounds and sights of nature all contribute to the overall experience of painting.

It isn't a particularly relaxing or controlled way of working but I enjoy the spontaneity. An Expressionist at heart, I am not so much describing a place as expressing feelings. My interest is in the paint, the color and brushstrokes; I want to see the paint do something that I haven't made it do before.

 I also enjoy working in encaustics, an ancient technique combining oil paint and wax for a multi-layered build up of color in various states of transparencies and opaqueness.

 Drawing, usually in charcoal and/or pastel is another media I enjoy exploring, either plein air or in the studio.

 "Bowland paints the way Janis Joplin sang-bold, gutsy, colorful and passionate."

-Mark Hinson, arts writer for the Tallahassee Democrat