ARTISTIC STATEMENT
My paintings are of urban environments at night time. I am especially drawn to the brief moment that occurs some evenings after the sun has set but before all the natural light leaves the sky. During this time the sky often turns magical shades of blue providing a contrast for the warmth of the city lights. The way light reflects off surfaces and the abstract patterns made by light in the darkness are central to my work. Like Whistler creating his nocturnes, I am always considering the minimum amount of light needed to define a scene.
These works are very small and intimate. I am literally and psychologically trying to contain the chaos of the city. I often use an exaggerated scale, such as a very tall
and thin format or very wide and short. This scale results in capturing an abbreviated view of a larger scene and serves my attempt to reveal a slice of life – a brief moment in time.
I often fill my images with moving cars and faceless people, waiting for the bus, hurriedly crossing the streets, all on their way somewhere. But whether the scene is still and silent or bustling and noisy, my desire is to convey the lonely anonymity of urban living, that sense of being alone in a crowd.
BIOGRAPHY
Juliette’s artistic journey has been anything but a straight path. She began her formal art studies at 13, when she attended the American Academy of Art part-time, while attending high school. She continued her art studies until she was 19, when she decided to study accounting at the University of Illinois at Chicago, receiving her degree in 1986.
Juliette worked full-time plus as a CPA for 10 years before returning to painting. She studied with Ingrid Albrecht, Robert Wade and Joe Fettingis, as well as attending watercolor painting, oil painting and life drawing classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Evanston Art Center, Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts and Old Town Art School. Ultimately, she obtained a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in May 2004.
Her work has been shown in numerous juried exhibitions including Womenmade Gallery in Chicago, Norris Gallery in St. Charles, Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College, A Shenere Velt Gallery in Los Angeles, Nippon Steel in Chicago and Clune Construction in Chicago. She continues to work part-time as a CPA whose practice focuses on taxation of self employed individuals and small businesses.