Julie Parkinson © All rights reserved.

I am a Cumbrian but moved to the North-east to study in 1974, and I have lived and worked in and around Durham until this year. I now live in North Yorkshire.

My first exhibition of paintings was at the Kemble Art Gallery in Durham in 1977, and this was followed by many other one-woman and shared shows over the years.

I went back into education in 2007, achieving a 1st class Honours degree followed by an MA (with Merit) in Fine Art in 2011.

I have always had a driving passion to explore the use of different types of mediums and materials, and I love the challenge of learning something new and focusing on it until I have done the best I can with it.

The natural world and landscape have always fascinated, intrigued and excited me. I love the light and colour and space - it has always signified mystery and familiarity in equal measure to me.

What excites me is the landscape itself, devoid of people, and the way that nature takes over so quickly and hides man's efforts to change it so effortlessly.

I’m fascinated by the  claustrophobia and intensity of forests, by the shifting, jewel-like quality of reflections on water, by the moodiness and immensity of the sky, by nature’s endless patterns and textures.