Julie Childers grew up in the small village of Bow Valley in northeast Nebraska. She attended Cedar Catholic High School, Wayne State College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Southeast Community College. While at UNL, she attended classes in drawing, design, and photography. She is influenced by those classes, but she also takes her inspiration and some techniques from Gerhard Richter and Jackson Pollock. Her favorite quote by an artist comes from Richter: “I have nothing to say, and I am saying it.”
Inspired by other artists, and curious just to see how well she could express herself through it, she started painting in 2014. It provides a quiet pastime but also a way for her to creatively show emotion through color and shape. Instead of a brush, Julie prefers to use palette knives or her bare hands to manipulate the acrylic paint. Julie loves to experiment with new techniques, sometimes choosing to sand down or scrape away the layers to reveal what’s underneath, creating a new image. In her mixed media pieces, she uses torn pages from old books, decoupages them to the canvas, then paints over them and sands down through the paint to reveal pieces of the paper. She considers herself a tactile person and enjoys playing with the weight, body and viscosity of the paint as it moves on the canvas. She usually doesn’t start with a finished picture in mind. Instead, she picks her colors and technique, building up layers into an image.
In 2015 Julie won an Award of Merit for her piece, “Untitled”, in the Lincoln Artists’ Guild 2015 Winter Show. She won the People’s Choice Award for her piece, “White Swirl”, in the Lincoln Artists’ Guild 2015 Spring Show. Her piece, “Blur”, qualified to go to the 2016 Association of Nebraska Art Clubs statewide competition. Julie gave a presentation on her art and techniques at the Palmyra Memorial Library on June 5, 2016. She showed her pieces, “From a Great Height” and “Blue Swirl” at the Seward Civic Center in June-July 2016. Julie is also a member and volunteer with the Lincoln Artists’ Guild, serving as Board Secretary, on show committees, as well as Webmaster since March 2016, and promoting the Guild through social media and advertising. Julie lives in Lincoln, NE with her husband and four cats.
Julie’s artwork is available for purchase, and she also does work on commission. To see her full portfolio online, go to julieachilders.wordpress.com. Contact her at julie.a.childers@gmail.com or 4027708714.