Julie De Young is proof that it’s never too late to pursue a new passion. Since 2007, the Evansville artist has been painting landscape, still-life, and abstract works in watercolor.
“Color has always fascinated me,” she says. That passion launched her second artistic phase as a painter, a creative pivot that followed 35 years as a floral designer. The change was healing.
“A facial pain disorder required me to have surgery in 2006,” De Young says. “That forced me to give up my floral business and reinvent myself.”
Watercolor painting was the perfect path, she explains. “I could paint when I felt up to it and use all the great colors I enjoy.”
At first, it was challenging. The Montana native had last picked up a brush 40 years earlier when she and her grandmother took an oil painting class together.
Soon, though, it all started to click. De Young gained confidence studying over the years with respected watercolorist Gloria Baker.
“Not only did I learn techniques for washes and backgrounds, I gained a wonderful circle of friends,” she says.
Look at De Young’s paintings, and you can see what sets her apart. There is density to trees and weight to buildings.
“Julie puts very rich, dark colors in her paintings,” says Jessica Inman, co-owner of Inman’s Picture Framing.
While most watercolorists apply paint in washes, De Young puts hers to paper right from the brush, one stroke at a time. It is a unique style.
“Julie is part of a vibrant community of artists in Evansville, and we love to see talent like hers,” Inman says. “Even her subject matter is unique, pulling from her life and Dutch heritage.”
“My husband and I have Dutch ancestry, and two artists who inspire me – Vermeer and Van Gogh – are from the Netherlands,” De Young says. “Windmills are natural subjects and use my love of architecture.”
De Young’s recent work is heading in new, exciting directions. She created a collage for her Chicago, Illinois, neurosurgeon that combined Windy City and Evansville scenes. It hangs in Northwestern Medicine’s neurosurgery department. Inman’s grouped three of her small blue-and- white tree paintings into a triptych evoking delftware, a type of tin-glazed pottery. De Young also has started on a commission from St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in Newburgh, Indiana, for paintings depicting Christ’s path from resurrection to ascension.
“I’m excited to do this because I have been a person of faith my whole life,” she says.
The best way to view De Young’s work is to visit Inman’s Picture Framing at 2828 Lincoln Ave. — it has been her primary representative since she began exhibiting art in early 2023.
