Linus Galleries, Fine Art Gallery
2015 Artist Interview Series
Julie Crews
Linus Galleries, a Los Angeles contemporary art gallery, presents The Artist Interview Series. Our Linus artists are from all over the world and come from a variety of different practices and backgrounds. Read on to gain insight into the creative process and personality of our featured artist. This week we feature artist Julie Crews who recently exhibited one of his pieces for our Portraiture exhibition.
My name is Julie Crews and I am an Oil Painter residing in Northern Louisiana.
Are you self taught or did you formally study art?
I consider myself somewhat self taught but I know I would not be where I am today with out the tutelage of respected artists like Nicole Duet and Bjorn Thorkelson.
What subject matter appears most in your artwork? What do you love about that subject? What do you dislike?
I paint what takes me out of the studio: the life it takes to nurture a family. When I am in the studio I escape certain domestic tethers momentarily. Yet, on canvas, there remains before me the scenes of my life: unmade beds, dishes stacked by the sink, and waiting in the car line. How areas of the home are treated, the traffic and landscapes encountered while running errands, and the moods of people engaged in banal tasks influence my life, and therefore, art.
Painting about my life teaches me about my place in this world as an artist, wife and mother. When I work, my personality develops more fully. I cannot think of anything that promotes and facilitates my artistic and professional growth more and exposes the delicacy of monotony and repetition regarding domestic life.
What did everyone else think you would be when you grew up?
A horse rustler probably, or the curator at a wax museum or a paper engineer.
Which artist living or dead would you want to have drink with?
Can I name two? John Singer Sargent and Tai-Shan Schierenberg, but we’d have to enjoy some good hot chocolate or sip some San Pellegrino or something like that, because I’m a Mormon – coffee and wine are out.
This is a hard choice for many visual artists, but what is the first answer that comes to mind when you think of your favorite color?
I tell my children when they ask that I can’t discriminate. But if it were a life or death situation I would have to say…yellow. Yes, yellow. And red. OOooo…that Cadmium red! and Grumbacher’s cobalt turquoise…. Maybe this life and death situation is not going to work out so well for me…..
Do you have any secret talents or party tricks unrelated to your art making?
My secret talent is getting to bed right after my four children do and waking up at 4am through the summer so I can get the painting I need done without stealing all my time from them during the day.
What musical artist/band are you currently listening to when you are creating?
Joanna Newsom. the Shins.
Any parting advice for budding artists?
Paint like a rich man. That, and listen to Ira Glass speak about “creativity and the gap“.