JULIANNE DAVID

Interview by By R.CALIGARIS photos by Sammie Saxon

Columbus artist Julianne David attended Savannah College of Art and Design where she majored in fashion design and got her minor in photography. It was there, while learning how to draw her designs of the human figure, that she discovered her love of painting and sculpting the human form in all its poses.

Julianne David, originally from Mobile, Al, and now living in Columbus uses an array of media from watercolor pencil to oil paints. She is wildly inspired by colors and textures and she is constantly trying new combinations of both to bring out the best in each of her pieces. Julianne spoke to SVM about her art training, and how the South influenced her art practice.

At what age did you decide to become an artist? From as far back as I can remember creating art has been a part of my life. I remember in 1st grade begging to stay after school to work on projects with my art teacher, or being late for carpooling because I had rushed to the art room to finish something that I had started earlier in the class that day. I have always known that creating art, and being creative is a part of my God given makeup.

Fast forward several years, Kendrick and I were married in 2008 and I started to focus more on sketching and painting. The year I had my first show was 2015, in my early 30’s. I hosted the show at my home, and it was pouring rain that morning. I remember thinking to myself “well this is great, my first show and a massive storm is going to ruin it!” I was anxious to show my work. The pieces were some of my favorite ones and I had never done a showing of my work like this before. It’s a vulnerable position to be in as an artist to just “put it all out there” for the first time for others to see, judge, like, not like, etc. I just knew I wanted to do it because the rush of excitement outweighed that anxiety and I loved every second of that show that day and I had an amazing turn out, even with the rain. From then on, I knew that I wanted to focus on furthering my art as a career.

In what media do you primarily work? I am always wanting to try new media. That’s the creative part in me. Right now I am working in pigment sticks and oil, but I have worked recently with clay and sculpture and I have fallen in love with it. I work with watercolor as well.

Where did you receive your art training? I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, but I never took any painting courses. I majored in fashion design and took a number of photography classes, which I can wholeheartedly say taught me so much about what I paint today. My fashion sketching class is where I learned how to draw the female figure. I had to learn how to draw the figure correctly because I then had to draw my designs on the figure and if I couldn’t draw the figure correctly then my designs wouldn’t look the way I had envisioned them. Watercolors of the female figure is where it all started. The elements that I learned in photography about the layout of a photo and placement of shapes and items in that photo are elements and rules that I use in creating abstract paintings today.

Did you have an artistic inspiration that influenced your early development? There were a number of artists that I looked up to but I can honestly say that my growing up in an artistic, creative, and encouraging family is what has influenced me the most. My mom, Lynn Roberts is a beautiful artist and painted a lot as we were growing up. My mom also worked in interior design and has a beautiful eye for that. My father, Johnny Roberts designed most of the houses that I grew up in. He has this insanely incredible eye for architecture and today, as we speak, is renovating a home that he and my mom just bought. My older sister, Marti Foster is a beautiful painter and recently has started sculpting, and graduated in interior design. My oldest sister, Joy has the most amazing singing voice, as well as a gift with interior design and lighting layouts. I have a twin sister, Maribeth Dennis, that is an artist as well, and she started taking her abstracts to the next level and is in the process of creating fabric for clothing from those paintings. When you are surrounded by all of that wonderful creativity it's hard not to be influenced and excited about art!

How did living in the South influence your art practice? Living in the South I am constantly surrounded by open armed, supportive people. The people that I am grateful for are those who inspire me to try new things in technique or materials, and those who challenge me in a supportive way.

There have been numerous talented artists that I have met living both in Mobile, Al, and here in Columbus and all have been influential in my creating art in some way. Growing up on the water, Mobile Bay and Gulf shores area has also proven to have a great influence on me.

What is one museum you would like to visit? I would love to go to Barcelona to the Museu Picasso. It has one of the largest collections of his work. What I really find interesting is seeing where the artist actually worked. I’m not sure that any type of museum of this sort exists but, If I could go see the actual studios of some of the artists that I studied at SCAD, that would be a dream. There is something about being in the same exact space and seeing where that artist sat, stood, thought about and created these beautiful pieces of art that have lived on for decades.

What work of art have you looked at most and why? I look at all different forms of art. My favorite, at the moment, is abstracts. I will look at abstracts for hours, no artist in particular. I will say that right now though, William McLure is an artist that I always look forward to seeing on Instagram. He is one of those people that is creative in every aspect of his life, from his large scale abstracts to renovating his home, and to me, everything he does is beautiful. I have also loved Peter Keils work. He does these amazing faces that I am just drawn to.

What do you want people to take away from your art? It’s simple really, I just want people to love what they see. When a piece of art “speaks to you,” you can’t help but to feel. That’s what I want, my art to evoke a (hopefully joyful, good) feeling in people. I also want people to realize or take away from my art the fact that the things they want are not going to happen overnight but that you have to start somewhere. In whatever you want to pursue you’ve got to just start, and pray, lots of praying!