Julie Elliot

Artist Statement
"The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination." - John Schaar

This quote illuminates the process I use as an artist. I do not begin with a predetermined outcome for a painting, rather I paint until meaning is found. It is in the doing that the future is made. My method is to begin by printing abstract monoprints on my etching press. I create lines and patterns on rag paper and then collage these papers onto prepared wooden panels. The paper is sealed with acrylic medium and then I layer paint and more monoprints, alternating between building up and breaking down the surface. Eventually a visual resolution is found. Eventually a theme or idea emerges.

I am interested in the idea that life is a journey; one of constant change. There is a time to let go and move on, yet there is also a time to send down roots and stay. I see this contradiction as a continuum, which is defined by Wiktionary as "a continuous series or whole, no part of which is noticeably different from its adjacent parts, although the ends or extremes of it are very different from each other." Some of the recurring visuals in these explorations are horses, fruit trees, root shapes, leaves, spheres and archways.

The combination of layering paper and paint produces a richly textured surface that retains fragments of the previous layers. I try to create a sense of movement; a sense that the picture plane is not static but has evolved and changed over time. This is well suited for the essence of my investigation: Where are we going? What is ending? What is beginning? I am committed to this pursuit with its open-ended possibilities. I may have only a glimpse of where I am going but I know absolutely when the future has arrived.

Crossing Borders Mixed Media on Panel 22 x 32 inches

Viriditas XI Mixed media on Panel 24 x 8 inches	Viriditas XII Mixed media on Panel 24 x 8 inches	Viriditas XIII Mixed media on Panel 24 x 8 inches

New Moon Mixed media on Panel 30 x 30 inches

Biography
Julie Elliot's mixed media paintings are an innovative combination of both printmaking and painting. She studied these disciplines at Okanagan College in 1989, completing a Diploma of Fine Arts with Honors. Over the past 20 years she has developed a process that employs monoprints as a substructure for layers of paint and mixed media. Her work is marked by distinctive textures, line, pattern, strong flat shapes and bas-relief qualities.

Themes of journey and "moving on" have preoccupied Julie in recent years. At the other end of the continuum, she has explored ideas about being connected and deeply grounded in one place. Her paintings are abstract with suggestions of horses, birds, gardens and orchards that surround her studio in Oyama, British Columbia.

Julie’s reputation has grown steadily since she began exhibiting. Her work has been shown in a variety of juried exhibitions across British Columbia. Solo exhibitions include the Vernon Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of South Okanagan, and the Kelowna Art Gallery (two person show). Her work is in the permanent collections of the Governor General of Canada, the Kelowna Art Gallery, UBC Okanagan and the District of Lake Country.