“I speak with my hand,
You listen with your eyes”

(Tao proverb)
Julie always wants her art to have something to say, and her work, whether created in watercolour, oils or mixed media, is constructed with gestural marks, shapes and colours which evoke not only recognition in viewers, but emotion, mood, interest, pleasure, sympathy, excitement, even sadness, and so much more . . .
Vision, interpretation, energy and ‘heart’ are all important to Julie’s work, in which she makes a personal statement, with viewer participation encouraged by her individual, painterly style.
Although Julie has a doctorate in literature and is a published academic author, she finds she cannot exchange a set of words for her paintings, which are often intuitive and instinctive and search for the very essence of the subject.

Although Julie paints across all genres, and has won numerous awards for her non-animal work (she was the Society For All Artists’ ‘Artist of the Year’ in 2013 & 2015, Abstract or Experimental category), Julie finds herself continually drawn to animal subjects.  As a child, she was never away from horses and dogs and, as an adult, has travelled to Africa to see endangered wildlife first hand.

Julie won the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year (World Mammals category) in 2012 and 2013, winning the Christopher Parsons Award for Artistic Excellence at TWASI in 2014 and a silver citation in 2013 and 2015.  She has also been a shortlisted finalist in the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition every year since its inception and regularly has work chosen for the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art in Cheshire.  She also exhibits with the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Society of Equestrian Artists, and the Society of Women Artists at the Mall Galleries in London, and has had paintings included in the prestigious ING Discerning Eye exhibitions.   Julie is the winner of the prestigious Harold Riley Sketchbook prize at Buxton Spa, 2015.

Julie lives near Leeds in Yorkshire with her family and two dogs and is a signature member of the prestigious international organisation, Artists for Conservation.

 Her work can be seen at www.juliecross.co.uk

Email: julie.cross@btconnect.com