About

About Julie Gade

My story

I am Danish and live in the Copenhagen area.

I have spent the majority of my professional life working with digital design as a User Experience Designer in creative agencies and larger companies.

I started painting in my spare time in 2023 and rediscovered my childhood love of drawing and creative immersion and expression. I first left my corporate job part-time to prioritize time for painting, and since it was still not enough time to keep up with the demand, I am now a full-time artist.

When I started showcasing my work on social media, it went really well. Over the past few years, I've had exhibitions at art fairs and several solo exhibitions at galleries both in Denmark and abroad.

My inspiration

With my background in User Experience design, I am fascinated by human behavior and what drives us. I find my inspiration and answers in nature, and my work is a personal exploration of the animals and colors of wild nature. Before painting an animal, I study its appearance, size, habitat, and distribution. At the same time, a story unfolds in my head about the animal’s inner life: Where is it headed? Is it being hunted? Is it hunting? Or is it simply out for a stroll? These stories manifest in the titles of my work—for instance, 'A New Day' or 'Olga's Day Off' can be read as a fresh start or a day off for the bird or beetle in the painting.

My Proces

I embrace the contrasts in the process between the spontaneous and uncontrollable in abstract art, versus the precision and control in the naturalistic animals. I work intuitively and playfully, without making sketches. I build the artwork stroke by stroke and love throwing liquid paint, which often takes the form of candy-striped fantasy figures. I incorporate the frame as part of the piece, sometimes letting my birds and flies perch directly on it.

Exhibitions

Jan 21st-24th: Group show, The Art Fair “Kunst for alle”, Ridehuset, Aarhus, Denmark

Mar: Solo show, Norskehuset, Sophienholm, Lyngby, Denmark

Oct: Group show, The Art Fair “Kunst for alle”, Copenhagen, Denmark

Jan: Group show, The Art Fair “Kunst for alle”, Aarhus, Denmark

Mar 7th – 28th: Solo show, Gallery Knud Grothe, Charlottenlund, Denmark

Aug 14th – 16th, Group show, Cph Art Space, Nordhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark

Oct 2nd – 4th: Group show, The Art Fair “Kunst for alle”, Copenhagen, Denmark

Oct: Group show, The Art Fair “Art for all”, Copenhagen, Denmark

Sep: Solo Show, The Confederation of Danish Employers (DA) Art Club, Copenhagen Denmark

Aug: Solo show, “Hiding in Nature” Forest exhibition , Sorgenfri, Denmark

Jun: Group Show, ArtWeek, Kerteminde, Denmark

May: Group Show, Women Painting Women, Knud Grothe Gallery, Charlottenlund, Dk

Apr: Solo show, Hiding In the Wild, La Galerie Valérie Eymeric, Lyon, France

Mar: Group Show, Figurations, Knud Grothe Gallery, Charlottenlund, Dk

Feb: Solo show, PwC art association, Hellerup, Denmark

Oct: The art fair, Art for all, Copenhagen

Sep: Solo exhibition, If art Club, Hvidovre

Christmas: Solo exhibition, House of Crafts, Copenhagen

May: Group exhibition: ART EXPERIENCE, Lyngby

Mar: Group exhibition, Vitskøl KlosterKirke Easter Show, Løgstør

Feb: Solo exhibition: “Strokes Of Nature”, My Beautiful Art Gallery, Rungsted

Sep: Group Exhibition: ArtUnites, Copenhagen

Frequently Asked Questions

I have a studio in Lyngby, just outside Copenhagen. A lovely place between forest and city, and the building houses seven other artists.

I hold open studios a couple of times a year, where I invite people inside to view and buy art, as well as see where I work.

We can also make an appointment for a visit if you want to see a specific work, or pick up a purchased work.

I generally don't take comissions. I've tried, but it doesn't work with my process to work on comissions.

However, I would like to hear if you have any special requests regarding the size of a painting, as well as the background color. Then we can discuss whether it is possible to create a work that matches.

I have been collecting visual cues my whole life. It can be things in my everyday life, shapes from nature, or art at exhibitions, museums, and online.

I've always paid close attention to little funny things I see, like faces or animals in trees or electrical outlets.

In the back of my mind I have a huge library of visual cues and it is constantly growing. That's why I never run out of inspiration. Only time to execute my many ideas.

It has taken me a few years to practice the abstract strokes and learn the behavior of the liquid paint. I am still practicing and experimenting. But the actual act of making a stroke only takes a few seconds once I get going.

I spend a lot of time choosing and combining colors and composition. In addition, the strokes need to dry for a day between each color. So it takes about one to three weeks from when I start a painting to when it is finished.

Yes, I deliver throughout the EU and shipping is free.