Julia Gottlieb

I’ve been messing around with art since I was a child.

Transfixed by the jewel tones in my first pack of Crayola Bold Markers, this soon transpired into a much-loved tin of 72 Derwent pencils, my uncle’s 1960s SLR camera (affectionately named ‘Elvis’) and — importantly — one of the very first versions of Microsoft Publisher.

I snapped thousands of frames in my teens, before embarking on a career in graphic design and brand strategy. I’ve made a living from playing with colour, form and typography for the past 20+ years, however, it was not until the Covid-pandemic years of 2020-2022 that I picked up a paintbrush with any intent.

“Sunset at Richardson’s Bend” 2022

The Murray River at Barnawartha North, where I spent countless summer evenings swimming.

The Australian Landscape

My love of the Australian landscape also began as a child, spending weeks on end every year at my grandparents’ farm on the Murray River in North East Victoria. I came to appreciate the tones that would bathe the countryside at different times of the day, the sun casting long or short shadows, depending on the time of year. I lived for time on the farm, counting down the days until school finished and we could leave the city behind.

I’ve since lived up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia. Each part awash with beauty in its own unique way. I’ve loved the broad, hot sunlight of summers on the Gold Coast and Northern NSW, the fragrant heavy air of inner Sydney, and the thin, cool light of Melbourne winter.

I’ve finally settled back where I feel it really all began — Wangaratta, in Victoria’s North East.

My creative practice

Back to the pandemic. Sick with anxiety about the world at large, and desperately missing my family and friends, I began drawing and painting their houses and neighbourhoods using pen, ink, and watercolour. It whiled away the hours, and brought a sense of connection to the people and places that I missed the most. I started finding and following more and more artists on Instagram. Inspired, in mid-2022 I finally signed up for a landscape painting course at my local art school. Giving up four hours during the day in the middle of the week felt like an enormous luxury in the midst of client work and family life, but it soon became something I couldn’t miss.

In July 2023 I finally found myself doing what I’d always dreamed of: I moved to the country. To the wonderful North East of Victoria: her beautiful lands my greatest muse. It’s with such pleasure I now live and paint here, and find — at last — a sense of returning home.