{"id":44006,"date":"2018-11-29T20:04:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T20:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=44006"},"modified":"2018-11-29T20:04:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T20:04:00","slug":"cardiff-character-julia-brooker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2018\/11\/29\/cardiff-character-julia-brooker\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff Character: Julia Brooker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through bold colours and brave strokes, Julia Brooker has made a name for herself in the art world, both at home and abroad<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Sitting in her luminous studio, Julia Brooker is surrounded by colour. She has created a world of her own, one that is inviting and radiant. Propped up on nearly every wall, her work welcomes you with huge expanses of electric blue, gold and silver. Her paintings are immense but not overpowering, tall and yet not imposing. They blend effortlessly into their surroundings, filling the room with light and warmth. <\/span><\/p>\n

Originally from Surrey, Julia did not start out an artist. Her first career was in housing development. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although her work offered a much-needed stability to raise her son as a single mother, she says art, and more importantly colour, had always been at the forefront of her mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

She recalls describing colours to her blind grandmother as a child and can remember to this day the patterns she was wearing even before starting school.<\/span><\/p>\n

A change of scenery<\/b><\/p>\n

It was only when her son left for University that she decided to learn more about painting. \u201cWhen he went away for Uni, I thought \u2018I want to do that too!\u2019 So I did,\u201d she remembers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then in her forties, Julia enrolled in a two-year pre-degree course called Foundation in Cardiff. She did not set out to practice art as a career but after the two years, decided to enrol in a full-time undergraduate course. <\/span><\/p>\n

To fund her studies, she chose to teach housing development and law at Cardiff University every Wednesday. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was weird,\u201d she says, \u201cbut working one day a week was enough to keep me going.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

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Colour and reflections \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It took Julia around five years to refine her style and decide on what sort of paint and material to use. She knew she wanted colour to be a focal point in her work and set out to find a way to accentuate this. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you use aluminium as a background, you can play with the light reflectiveness of it\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n

After finding inspiration through Jason Martin<\/a>\u2019s art on aluminium, she decided to paint using only that material. She explains, \u201cIf you use aluminium as a background, you can play with the light reflectiveness of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, the colours in Julia\u2019s work are almost iridescent when moved to the light. Of course, as with many artists, she initially had some trouble with the technique, \u201cThe paint always kept slipping off,\u201d she laughs. <\/span><\/p>\n

She says she often experiments with paint and will not hesitate to pour it on the aluminium or even swipe it on with rags. This gives her work an almost three-dimensional effect.<\/span><\/p>\n