Julie Schumer /USA
I’m a thrill seeker. I revel in being scared, for me painting is like jumping off metaphorical cliffs as there is no rush greater than confronting a blank painting surface with my task being to bring it to life as though it were a puzzle of some kind. Painting fulfills my need to be at the edge of whatever I feel I am at the edge of at any given time. For many years I indulged this desire by slashing and burning my way across my paper, canvas or panel, creating highly energetic, brightly colored works. In 2018 this all changed abruptly as a result of my spouse, a Vietnam Vet, having a severe, prolonged and debilitating mental health breakdown several years earlier. My cliffs became narrower in vision and all the color literally drained from my work. I was adrift from myself and my work. This lengthy illness compelled me to explore and focus on my own interior and emotional landscape as a survival strategy. My current work mirrors this ongoing journey, involving the creation of luminous depth on my painting surface with multiple and seemingly endless layers of transparent acrylic paint in primarily a neutral palette, alternated with a variety of marks, both agitated and controlled, made with drawing tools such as graphites, crayons, pastels and charcoal. These tools enable me to portray the various intense emotions involved in this struggle while the more open veiled area provide both the viewer and I with a contrasting sense of calm, a hope for the continued return to normalcy. The result is atmospheric, introspective, moody and mysterious, meant to invite the viewer into my world, take a look around and ponder its depth. My purpose is to give authentic voice to what is felt but unseen, through the harmonizing of line, shape, color and texture.
Julie Schumer was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. As a very young girl she covered herself in Kelly green paint one day, luxuriating in the sensuous feel of paint, thus beginning her infatuation with painting. At age 5 she adopted an abstract expressionist style, continuing in this vein through high school. Julie ultimately became a criminal defense lawyer, returning to her art practice in her mid-forties. She relocated to Santa Fe, NM from the Northern California area in 2002 where she has dedicated herself to her painting process. She began her painting career with very colorful and energetic abstract work that has over time evolved into work that is more introspective and contemplative. Over the past 20 years Julie has shown her work in various Santa Fe galleries as well as galleries and other venues across the nation. Her paintings are in numerous private collections as well as the public collection maintained by the Tucson airport and have been featured in numerous publications.
