Contemporary Ink Painting

My work comes from no formal schooling in drawing or art, but from an immersion in all things artistic beginning in childhood. My grandmother, Carley Craig*, was a fashion designer and lifelong artist working in all media. As I grew up I developed a sensitivity to aesthetics and an appreciation of form, color and line. That appreciation deepened into a fascination and eventually a passion as I was exposed to the art and lifestyle of the Japanese. My five-year stay in Nagasaki, Japan in the 1990’s utterly transformed me, compelling me to set aside previous career and life goals. I now pour my energies into creating artwork that defies genre classification, borrowing from both Western and Asian traditions.

My early pieces were mixed media compositions featuring layered kimono† silks and ink line drawings. The work continues to evolve and current pieces are most likely to be purely ink paintings on paper. I use traditional Asian calligraphy brushes and sumi, a charcoal-based ink. Sometimes watercolor or acrylic paints are added for touches of color. I work on silk, canvas, rice paper and watercolor paper, each surface demanding different techniques and offering different effects.

“A cursory glance at one of Jul’s paintings will reveal a simple brushstroke drawing; a second perusal evokes a perception of what has not been drawn, but merely imagined. Herein lies the essence of her achievement. Elegant in its simplicity, subtle in its design, bold in its grace, this art can elicit profound responses.” ~ Mary Ruth Curtis

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." ~ Leonardo Da Vinci