Julie Grantz

I was born in 1982, and live in Northern California with my son. While I have no specific formal training in fine art drawing or painting, I have a BFA in Graphic Design from the Academy of Art University (2005). In 2021 Annie Murphy-Robinson became my mentor in charcoal drawing. 

I am a figurative realist, working in charcoal. The intent of my work is to revisit my past experiences and traumas by creating sincere tributes, which become a channel for the heroic spirit of my childhood, younger self, and mother self to emerge. By looking at my past in this way I create a more compassionate rendering in my mind of these painful events. Separating my memories from my experience allows me to see what I have made of myself through the experience, and what from the experience I admire about myself. In this process of learning and creating self-admiration—rather that continuing to live inside of the survival belief that “I am the trauma”—I find release. 

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.