Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Martens. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Walking into the world of full-time artistry is something that no amount of internet searching can prepare you for. I grew up knowing that I wanted to be involved in the world of art, having invested a lot of my time while growing up by watching YouTube channels of artists who were doing this as their occupation. It was just a vague idea, “I’ll be an artist”, with no real structure behind it.

When approaching the end of high school, I had filled my final year with only creative courses, and graduated with two scholarships in visual arts and top grades in my art classes; but I knew I didn’t want to pursue university afterwards. I wanted to be an artist right aways.

But no amount of Googling or asking around would carve a path for me; being a creative really is a lonesome and independent journey. So I took many odd jobs (some terrible concession and retail jobs), and started towards the direction I believed would lead me to the illustrious “artist career.” I made a website, painstakingly kept up to date with and applied to open calls at galleries, entered competitions; I was building up my artistic resume in hopes of being “discovered”. I joined social media, created as much as I could after work, and posted it online.

At this point I was creating simply to flourish online, thinking if I made what people wanted to see, my career would grow. This caused me to be placed in a very small box, and I wasn’t actually creating what I wanted to create. I was doing realism, I was stressed while making art, and my passion was dwindling.
Then the Pandemic shut the world down, I stopped my odd jobs, and found myself with a lot of thinking space. I decided I wanted to specifically be an illustrator and used my every waking minute to apply to agencies. I grew my portfolio, dismantled my box I was trapped in, and my passion for art started trickling back. I never got accepted into an agency, which was for the best, because at this point my career began to grow. Interestingly, when I started posting work I had made that I was passionate about, more people began to notice it. I think people can tell when work is made from love and passion for one’s craft.
I was still actively applying for open calls, and at the end of summer 2021 I was accepted into a mural project in Abbotsford, British Columbia, with a local gallery. This broadened my connections, and gave me a much more open eye towards what being an artist can be. I realized that I want to be an artist because every day is different, every opportunity is a new and exciting project. With these connections, and posting work I’m passionate about, opportunities seemed to come at me unprompted. I did workshops, worked with brands, did music album artwork, got accepted into an art residency in Norway, illustrated books, did set design, murals, craft markets, and even ended up growing a following that was interested in me running my own online shop with prints of my work.
All of a sudden, I was busy, and making a full-time living. The world shifted back to being normal, but I wasn’t going back to my old jobs. I was being an artist.

I think that’s why there is no cut-and-paste rules to becoming a creative; every path is so different and unexpected.

I love that every day is different, every week I open my emails to a brand new endeavour to embark on. I have a lot of goals for my personal career, but I also love how it takes me on a path with opportunities I never would have expected.

Julia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Julia Martens, and I am a self-taught artist, born and currently residing in the west coast of Canada. I sell my originals and prints on my website and at markets, as well as doing commissions in my style, exhibiting my work, illustrating book and album covers, murals, and doing set design for film. I also make monthly videos on YouTube documenting my journey as an artist.

I use watercolour, gouache, and ink to pay homage to The Golden Age of Illustration, a style popular in the mid 1800s that is no longer in fashion in our current day. In an age where everything is progressively getting more digital, I am fully reverting into the traditional methods of art and illustration. My goal is to keep it alive, as it brought me so much joy and inspiration as a child.

I desire to bring forth feelings of nostalgia, wonder, and curiosity in each of my pieces, invoking twin feelings of beauty and uncomfortableness. My goal being to make viewers believe that my work is from 150 years ago.

I use my pieces to tell a story; I have my own personal meanings attached to the pieces I create, but invite viewers to create their own. Often, my pieces are connected with one another.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

People still have it quite ingrained in their heads that creative jobs are not real jobs. Even when I was a child or teen, and an adult asked what I wanted to do with my career, and I replied with, “I want to be an artist,” they always widened their eyes and said, “oh that’s… nice,” with condescension and disbelief thick in their tone. People who are non-creatives don’t understand the need or drive for a creative path; to them, it is simply wasting time. I don’t think they truly understand how much creatives fuel our society. Without us, they wouldn’t have movies, pretty cities or towns, music, etc. Sure our jobs are not conventional, but we are needed.

I often get comments like, “when will you get a real job,” or, “all you do is colour all day,” from friends and family. My grandparents don’t even think I have a real job!

They don’t understand that if I don’t paint I’ll burst, and that there are so many people who find joy and peace and life within art; I’m so humbled and grateful to say that people have reached out to me to say that my art has helped them more than I’ll ever know.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think the hardest part of being an artist these days is how our art is perceived online. My work is lost in the endless postings online, deep in my Instagram grid, posted once and forgotten about. Perhaps when I post it my viewer looks at it for a count of five seconds, and then scrolls past. For my 10-20 hours of painting, I get someone’s attention span for five seconds. I think if you are looking to support artists and creatives, give them the attention you would give if it was a physical gallery show. Step closer to the painting, gaze for a long time. Perhaps the artist is there, so you approach them and talk about the subject and technique. Maybe you share what it means to you. You ask to see more work, taking your time, and even reach out later on to inquire about purchasing something. You tell your friends to visit the exhibition, even.

The same can be done online, one can comment questions and thoughts, share the post with friends or on your story, visit the website, etc.

As over-stated as it is, interacting online really truly does help. It is essentially the only way our work is shown effectively now, as we don’t have easy access to galleries and exhibitions as fine artists once did back in the day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juliamartens.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliafmartens/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/juliafmartens
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/XL2ny0Dxa1o
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juliafmartens