Julie Freeman
Julie is a self taught photo realistic artist, who over the years has developed her skills in working with pastel. Her subjects are varied and include wildlife, landscape, seascape and still life.
Julie a self-taught hyperrealist artist has refined her skills over the years, specializing in pastels. Her dedication to realism is evident in her work, which has earned her significant recognition.
She holds many prestigious titles including Master Status with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS), Master Pastelist with the Pastel Artists of New Zealand (MPANZ) and Australia (MPSA) and she is a Signature member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA).
Her fascination with realism began in childhood, where she found joy and a sense of accomplishment in sketching and painting realistic images. After working with coloured pencils and white charcoal for several years, Julie discovered pastels in 2009. Utilizing pastel pencils and soft pastel sticks, she expanded her subject matter and gained wider recognition for her work.
Julie aims to create works that achieve realism beyond the photograph and when not in her studio, she seeks inspiration from the environment using her own reference images. Her diverse subject matter includes animal and wildlife portraits, coastal and nautical scenes, and native flora and fauna. More recently, she has been exploring still life compositions.
Julie's artwork has received numerous national and international awards, and her pieces are in private collections in the UK, USA, and New Zealand. In addition to creating her own art, Julie loves sharing her knowledge and skills with others. With her husband Michael she offers workshops upon request and provides private tuition from her studio in Auckland, helping aspiring artists to develop their own talents in the medium of pastels.