Pet Portraits by Julie Hullverson Barnato
"I have been drawing and painting animals ever since I can remember. As a child, we had horses, cats, geese, ducks, sheep and dogs so I had access to a steady stream of live models.
I followed my interest in
painting and studied at Parsons School of Design in France and New York City
while still in high school, then spent two years at the Art Institute of Chicago
before graduating from Tufts University in Medford, MA in 1992 with a bachelor
of Fine Arts degree.
After college, I totally shifted away from art and worked in Los Angeles in film/TV/entertainment industry for several years. I was very lucky and had wonderful, exciting jobs but something always seemed to be missing. I realized it was painting and creating that I needed to be doing – full time and that I needed to have a creative outlet in my work life to be fulfilled.
So, in the fall of 2001, I began painting again. At first I did portraits of dogs and people for friends and over the next few years, I focused solely on animals - dogs mostly. I love dogs and am so thrilled to be able to do what I love and get paid for it! I love working in oil paint and the process of painting. I live just outside of San Francisco and have a studio in the ICB Building in Sausalito.
I relish the challenge of capturing the exact essence and spirit of a dog on canvas. My absolute love of dogs along with an understanding of their personalities and anatomy has helped me with my paintings. I feel at home working with dogs and enjoy getting to know them through the process of painting their portrait - which involves several hours standing at my easel with their photo in my left hand and a paint brush in my right.As long as I can see a dog’s eyes in the photo, I can ‘get’ him or her, so much of who they are is spoken through their gaze and when I start to paint, it is usually the eyes I paint first."
Bio
Julie
Hullverson Barnato
grew up in St. Louis, MO, and attended Parsons School of Design in
New York and France, and the Art Institute of Chicago and earned her BFA in 1992
from Tufts University. She then moved to California and worked in the
film and television industry for the next nine years.
Julie worked in several aspects of the industry from storyboard artist, to associate producer for commercials, music videos, feature films and TV and has worked with many entertainment figures including John Wells, Goldie Hawn and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Julie has written freelance articles for magazines and the Internet since 1993 and was the Editor-in-Chief of the on-line magazine Kitchenette.com, covering the food, wine and restaurant scene in the San Francisco Bay area. She has written a book and made several short films.
However, in 2001, she left all things entertainment related (except for many of her clients) and returned to her love of art and animals and began painting pet portraits full time. She lives in Marin, CA with her family, their cat Lucy and fat dog, Carl.
Click here to read a story about Julie from the Marin Independent Journal, May 2006
Click here to read a profile of Julie from the St. Helena Star, December 2004
Resume Other Art Work Writing Samples
Julie Hullverson Barnato
480 Gate Five Road, Studio #259
Sausalito, CA 94965
415-332-2739