Statement

I have two series ongoing at all times.

My abstract landscapes are expressionist interpretations of what I see around me and what I have seen other places. I often combine several mediums, including oil, acrylic and graphite and work on canvas, board or paper. The landscapes are constructed in an intuitive manner in the tradition of post-modern expressionism. I start first by introducing color, shapes and line, and respond to their development. Constantly moving things around by sanding, scumbling and rearranging, the painting comes together after many layers have placed on the support. The work pushes and pulls to completion. The inherent rawness does not take away from the painting’s sensitivity and sophistication. My painting heroes and influences are Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan and San Franciscans Jack Jefferson, Edward Dugmore and James Budd Dixon. I especially like the boldness and complexity of their work and unique compositions. Despite their influence, I have gone my own way to create diverse, bold and dynamic works.

The paintings in my figurative series arise organically from the paper, canvas or board and appear through subtle layers of paint that are applied and partially removed over a heavily textured surface. The textured, layered, ambiguous forms of the figure produces an image that appears to have been uncovered, discovered at an archeological site. The figures mix a feeling of the ancient with the contemporary. The additive and subtractive nature of the process of their creation furthers this quality. The paintings present as abstract shapes, lines and colors that suddenly comprise a recognizable figure or group of figures. The figures are the story of relationships. For this reason it does not matter if their gender is always obvious, although they are clearly human. They contain all of humanity and present as a timeless and unique genre.

Bio

Julie Schumer was born in Los Angeles, California in 1954. She attended UCLA, graduating magna cum laude in 1975 and went on to law school. She has been a practicing attorney for the past 29 years.

Schumer began painting at age 5 and continued through high school. Once in college her practical nature asserted itself and she became a lawyer instead of an artist. In the following years Schumer collected art, wishing all the while she had painted what she collected. Finally, in 2000, she reconnected with an old friend, artist James Koskinas. He sensed her long suppressed desire to create art and asked her why she wasn’t painting. Schumer answered she didn’t know. Koskinas brought her several pieces of wood, acrylic paint and a few brushes and said, “Paint.” Schumer hasn’t stopped painting since. She and Koskinas joined forces and moved to New Mexico in 2002. They paint companionably together in their Lamy studio, a modern day Jackson Pollack and Lee Krasner.

Since reengaging with her art, Schumer has studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California and with artists Robert Burridge, Mira White and Edward Gilliam. Her paintings immediately resonated with viewers as other artists in workshops she attended wanted to buy them. Her work has been exhibited across the United States and most recently in Europe.

1954

Born, Los Angeles, California

Education

1975

B.A. English, magna cum laude, UCLA, Los Angeles, California

1978

J.D., Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, California

Art Studies at Art Institute in Los Angeles, California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, with artists Robert Burridge, Mira White, Bob Winston and Ed Gilliam

Exhibitions

2007

Group Show, Marziart, Hamburg, Germany

Group Show, Four Starr Gallery, Stonington, Connecticut

Two-Person Show, 1228 Parkway Art Space, Santa Fe, NM

Group Show, Farrell Fischoff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Show, Four Starr Gallery, Stonington, Connecticut

2006

Two-person Show, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky

Two-Person Show, Farrell Fischoff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Show, Lyman Allyn Musuem, New London, Connecticut

Group Show, Four Starr Gallery, Stonington, Connecticut

2005

Two-Person show, Farrell Fischoff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Show, Farrell Fischoff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Two-Person show, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky

Emerging Artists Show, Scottsdale, Arizona

Group Show, Farrell Fischoff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2004

Two-Person Show, SKF Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Juried Show, Master Works of New Mexico Sixth Annual Spring Arts Show

2003

Group Juried Show, 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of the Southwest, Dallas, Texas

Awards

2003

Award of Merit, Pastel Society of the Southwest, 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition

Press

• September 2010, Pasatiempo, Santa Fe, NM (photo)
• Tops Magazine, Lexington, Ky (photo)
• Fall/Winter 2007, Trend Magazine, Santa Fe, NM (photo)
• October, 2007, Internationale Kunst, Hamburg (article)
• September, 2007, Santa Fe Reporter, Santa Fe, NM (photo)
• 2007, Book Cover, The Meaning of Others, by Ruthellen Josselson, et al., published by the American Psychological Association
• April 2006, Stonington Times, Stonington, CT (article and photo)
• June 2006, Pasatiempo, Santa Fe, NM (photo)
• December, 2005, Albuquerque Journal North, Santa Fe, NM (photo)
• Summer, 2005, Arts and Antiques, Magazine (photo)
• May, 2005, Lexington Herald Leader, Lexington, Ky (article)
• May, 2005, Nougat Magazine, Lexington, Ky (article and photo)