Julia Miller

Painting is how I best express the joy I find living in the Pacific Northwest and especially in the Kingston countryside.  The change of seasons, the dramatic cloud formations, our amazing wildlife, light and shadow in our mossy woodlands …Never ending sources of inspiration.

I was born and raised in Seattle.  My grandfather had come to Seattle from Ukraine in 1905 and opened a candy factory that supported seven offsprings. Somewhat in his footsteps, I ran popular neighborhood restaurants and a bakery for 20 years. All my life I imagined making beautiful paintings but didn’t get started until retirement.  I took some classes but preferred experimenting on my own.

Moving to Kingston, I joined the Kingston Gallery and was one of the founders of the Front Street Gallery in Poulsbo. During Covid, I started watching painting demos online. Making art is a life-long learning process and thanks to artists’ podcasts and YouTube tutorials, I am honing the skills I missed by being self taught. The marvelous paintings dreamed of in my childhood are still just a dream but every hour spent with paints and brushes, whether joyful or frustrating, perhaps gets me closer to that goal. In the meantime, I’m happy to keep on, trying to interpret in my own way the beauty of this world I am so fortunate to inhabit.