We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia Vericella a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up in Los Angeles, and after years of drawing, I did a summer session at the Pratt Institute when I was 17. When I got back to LA I was fortunate enough to be mentored by Rebecca Marder, a southern California artist, who introduced me to mixed media art making. I felt so at home in her studio and I knew that I wanted to be a studio artist for the rest of my life. I applied to art schools and the rest was history.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for undergrad, and SAIC really believes in an interdisciplinary fine art practice. I had the best time learning sewing and embroidery, welding, painting, sculpture, woodwork, bookmaking, screenprinting, and photography, among other things. This interdisciplinary practice really set me up for success in my postgraduate work. I spent a lot of time painting and then absolutely fell in love with photography. I made my own sets, costumes, props and did hair, makeup, and art direction. I had my first solo show at the Kimpton La Peer hotel in West Hollywood where I showed my underwater series of portraits called ‘Water’. Then I took a studio photography class and everything changed- I really clicked with the pace of studio photography and did a series of photos called ‘Unholy’ about my experience growing up in a Roman Catholic household. Recently I found myself missing painting and drawing and I started making figure drawings and painting little additions on old postcards. I still do photography but I’m having the best time moving back and forth between mediums.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being part of a community of artists and sharing my craft with others. I moved to Savannah this past year and I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing artists who have been so generous in introducing me to other artists, telling me about upcoming shows and showing me the ropes in this city. I love the moments when I can contribute to that cycle- the moments when I can teach someone something, provide a resource, or take photos for an artist friend. There isn’t a lot of infrastructure for working artists so we’re here to help each other. I also started teaching photography classes this year and seeing students have aha moments makes me so happy. In a recent 50mm lens workshop I asked the students to shoot in black and white for one of our exercises and a photographer who had been shooting for over 10 years came up to me at the end and thanked me for that exercise- she had never shot in black and white and she was so excited about how much she was enjoying herself. It created that liminal space that breeds inspiration and being a part of that is wonderful.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There was a time in my 20’s when had four day jobs and was making art and participating in art shows. Each job had its own unique benefits. The art supply store gave me a great discount on art supplies, printing, and framing, the restaurant job I had paid me the best, etc. It was very hectic time, but I learned a lot about what I didn’t want to spend my time doing and how to spend the most time making art.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juliafrancesvericella.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliafrancesvericella/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliafrancesvericella
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-vericella-a9510a3b/

Image Credits
Daniel White Photography