Julia Godden

Gloucestershire based artist Julia Godden has been developing a visual language for a number of years, where painting non-representationally has been the primary practice since 2009. Returning to Art school later in her late 30's but not continuing with formal art education due to life transitions and a move focused move into counselling however, she continues to study and have regular mentoring and critique, as well as working therapeutically with people she has also begun to teach. I create colourful, bold abstract artwork. Many stories unfold and possibilities emerge rather intuitively throughout the layers of paint. Painting comes together through choices that are both deliberate but also unplanned for. Each mark informs the next. Despite some use of oils, I mostly enjoy the mixed mediums of fast drying acrylic paint, inks, crayons, graphite, collage elements and at times transfer techniques to build up the surface where interesting textures are formed almost accidentally but with the element of surprise and spontaneity. Marks are added gesturally with a painterly, energetic approach in both opaque and glazed applications, scribbles and colour blocking where in the end, the compositions are composed of both enthusiastic energy and calm. I might include loosely formulated ideas in the process as a starting point about inhabiting a space or something I feel strongly about attempting to express. Or the influence of ever-changing landscapes, or musical beats, for example. The unknown aspect excites me, and yet the work inevitably reaches a point where it’s time to stop. I know when that point comes, because I am left deeply satisfied and the overall composition works well, and I have given the piece all I can. Inspiration arises within an inquiry of what it means to be alive. Therefore, attempting to bridge the gap between external; the physical experience and the internal; emotional or feeling and sense. I’m invested in the process, as well as a satisfying outcome. The journey of my artistic expression has very much been a commitment to explore ideas and questions about life and self, more deeply, through the very act of painting. The process is a continual inquiry involving deep listening and engagement with the substrate. It provides me with a way to connect with another, the viewer, in a way that is beyond words.