One Line Journey: Exploring the Artistic Journey of Julia

In this podcast, Tali, the host of Orange Hatter speaks with artist Julia about her artistic journey. Julia's unique 'one line' artistic style involves using a single, never-touching or crossing line to create detailed, intricate artwork. After discovering this process in early 2000, she contributed her work to local markets, and now sells prints on her website: One Line Design. Julia expresses how this method of creating art is incredibly meditative and transformative. Aside from art, Julia has also channeled her creativity into designing and building her own home. While she has currently put her art on pause, Julia remains open to the possibility of resuming her 'one line' artwork when the time feels right.

00:02 Introduction and Welcome

00:23 The Concept of Bonus Episodes

00:52 Introduction to Julia's Art

01:10 The Origin of Julia's Art

02:21 The Evolution of Julia's Art

02:53 Julia's Influence on the Art Movement

03:34 Public Response to Julia's Art

04:14 The Process of Creating One Line Artwork

05:42 The Challenges of One Line Artwork

06:34 The Timeframe of Creating Art

06:58 Exploring Julia's Other Art Styles

08:03 The Business Side of Art

09:14 The Creative Process and Inspiration

10:35 Julia's Current Creative Outlets

11:08 Julia's Experience with Building Her Own House

12:34 The Future of Julia's Art

13:04 Art Education in Homeschooling

19:06 Encouragement for Aspiring Artists

19:59 Julia's Thoughts on AI Art

22:26 Conclusion and Farewell

***

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Please email questions/comments to tali@orangehatter.com

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I just started with the most basic thing of drawing a line and just,

2

filled the whole page with this one line

and it never crossed or touched itself.

3

And I looked at it afterwards

and I thought, Oh, this

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looks actually really nice.

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Tali: Hey, everybody.

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Welcome to Orange Hatter.

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Tali art: I wanted to roll this new

thing, I'm talking to all these women

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Bitcoiners about their Bitcoin journey.

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But if there's something in our

conversation that is unusual,

10

or I'm curious about, I wanted

to roll out bonus episodes.

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So people would have something other than

Bitcoin stories to Learn about almost

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like a lifestyle section of the newspaper.

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So that's the way I'm seeing this

conversation You're not necessarily

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going to tie it to Bitcoin, but it's

just a part of your life and it's really

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interesting So I wanted to explore it.

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Okay, so everybody already knows

who you are Julia And so we'll just

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jump right in to talk about your art

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Julia art: Okay,

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Tali art: Okay.

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So Julia, , I went on your

website and I checked out your art.

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I love the statement that you had on

the top page where you said the art

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comes out of you and your hand follows.

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Tell us a little bit about that.

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Julia art: so that's really how it

all started and it was, , I remember

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the moment because I had, I was young

and still single and was in the year

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2000 or 2001, I think 2000, I think,

um, and I would travel to Australia.

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Cause I'd made a contact there

and I thought, Hey, , I'm young

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and free and let's just go.

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And so I got my visa for three months and.

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Went over, and visited this person

and we had a pretty wild time.

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I won't go into details,

but not relationship wise.

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It was, you know, just party, party time.

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Anyway, I was sitting at Bondi Beach,

, with a piece of paper and a pen in

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hand and thought, okay, well, you know.

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What could I possibly do?

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And it just started, I just started

with the most basic thing of drawing

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a line and just, I just filled the

whole page with this one line and

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it never crossed or touched itself.

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And I looked at it afterwards

and I thought, Oh, this

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looks actually really nice.

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And so I did my first ones.

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They were just filling

out the page with this.

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Flowing line and, um, later on I

started to do the, the shapes where

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the line would describe the object.

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Tali art: The line would

describe the object.

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That is such an interesting

way of looking at it.

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So, okay.

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As we were talking about before, your

style, the one that you just described, so

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using one line that doesn't cross itself.

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To describe an object.

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I have seen a lot of artwork like

that over the last few years.

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you started this in the year 2000.

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Did you start this movement?

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Julia art: I have no idea.

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I mean, I, what I did when I

came back and I started having a

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little collection of originals, I

did print posters and postcards.

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And I just sold them at the local,

art and crafts and gypsy markets.

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I went every weekend with my little

stall and started to flock my work.

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And that was fun for a while.

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and eventually I got my website and, you

know, who knows, you know, it's just, you

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know, it's, it's, um, it's just a line.

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I mean, everybody can use a black

line to draw things, obviously.

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But yeah, it was , my thing 20 years ago.

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Tali art: So when you first started

to show your artwork to people at

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your stall, what were some of the

responses from those early days?

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Julia art: People loved it when once

they understood what it really was, i.

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e.

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the one line at first, you just see

a black and white piece of work.

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You don't know, you know, and then you

look in detail and you'll probably read

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the logo, which is one line design.

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And then there's usually the moment of.

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Suspense when they start thinking

and looking again, and then they

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ask, is this really one line?

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And I would say, yes, take

all the time you need.

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Um, and then, you know,

I did sell quite a bit.

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Sure.

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Tali art: Okay, so walk me through the

process of creating a one line artwork.

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I've looked at, , some of , the

pieces you have on your website

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and they get very intricate.

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So do you see the image in your mind

and then just start tracing the outline?

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Do you start from a dot in the

center and you work your way out?

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What is that process , for you?

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Julia art: Uh, usually I find, uh, uh,

a photo or an image that speaks to me.

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And I will then take that and copy

it onto my, my piece of cardboard

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or paper that I'm working on.

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And I will outline it with

a very fine pencil line.

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I will draw the object, um, or

whatever, if it's got writing on

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it or, you know, the very, and that

gets, then later on I will erase that

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very, very fine pencil lines just

to help me remember , where I'm at.

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And then I just think about where

do I want to bring in the black

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line and where do I want to take

out the black line and then I start.

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Tali art: Is each artwork literally a, you

sit down, you start and you finish project

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or is this something that you come back

and fill in and come back and fill in?

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Julia art: Um, it's

pretty straightforward.

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I mean, it doesn't mean that I draw

the whole thing in one setting.

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But, um, it's not something where I

can't, you know, I can't change my

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mind in the middle of it kind of,

you know, I can't really change the

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design around once I've decided on it.

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But I can take my pencil or

my ink pen off the paper, yes.

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Tali art: For something like that, where

it's not like you're layering on like

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oil painting or even, watercolor.

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have to be so strategic when you're

planning out where you put your pen down.

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So is that just the way

that you see things?

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You know how some, some artists, they

just see the world in a certain way that

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is just different from everybody else.

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Is that the way you see the world?

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Julia art: I don't know.

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I don't, I've never looked

through anybody else's eyes.

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How do I know how you see the world?

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I don't, I mean, um, yeah, but

you have to be strategic in a way.

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Cause you know, I've, I've messed.

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It also happened that I made a mistake

and then I can throw the whole thing away.

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Cause if I put myself into a dead

end kind of thing, then that's it.

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So I do have to think about how

I'm going to pull that through.

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Yes.

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Tali art: So if you're creating a piece

of art, like one of the ones you have done

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on the, like the horses, how long does

it take usually from beginning to end?

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Julia art: So you're talking

about the horse head, I guess.

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Yes.

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That's um, that's a big one, a bigger one.

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Uh, so beginning to end, if I have

the time to work on it, I would

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say between one and three days.

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Tali art: I mean, it's very

intricate and very, very beautiful.

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You also have two other styles.

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One is with dots and one is just

with literally straight lines.

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Julia art: And another

one, which is the scribbly

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Tali art: scribbling one.

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That's right.

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That's right.

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Julia art: Yeah, so it's vertical

lines, dots and scribbles.

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Yes.

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Tali art: Okay.

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So the vertical lines, do you also

outline what you want in the middle, in

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the negative space and then just fill

in lines in the, okay, got it, got it.

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What about the dots?

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I love the dot, especially that

child, with the head , in his knees.

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Julia art: Yeah, that was, I would, for

me personally, that was probably one of

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my, I would call it masterpieces because

the dots are way more time consuming.

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So, you know, that way more, it

takes hours and hours and hours

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because you can't slur every dot

has to be put in, in a precise way.

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, and that took me many hours.

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I don't know.

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I didn't count the time, but

yeah, it was a very It's also

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quite a large, uh, original.

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So it's probably 60 by 80 or something.

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That's a lot of little dots.

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Tali art: are you selling the

original or just the, , reprints?

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Julia art: Uh, at the moment I'm

really not selling anything much.

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cause I.

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find it really quite

hard to sell my own work.

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You know, artists are often pretty

bad at selling their own art.

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but I decided to leave the website

up and running because I want people

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to be able to contact me through

it and to see it and, and so on.

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So reprints, yes.

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Definitely originals.

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No, I don't sell.

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I have given a few away.

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I have had one commission work,

which obviously I did sell.

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but only the, the, how many of my

paintings did I actually give away?

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Maybe two or three very, it

had to be very precious people.

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That gained an original.

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So yeah, it's, it's there

mostly here in my house.

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Tali art: So, when you choose something to

work on, to create, on, is it on canvas?

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Julia art: No, it's, I, I've worked

on Canvas, but I prefer to work on

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a really strong white cardboard.

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It's a, it,

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Tali art: when you're deciding what

image to create what kind of...

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, Criteria do you have?

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Maybe criteria is not the

right word for artists.

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But how do you feel led to

create what you create on paper?

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Julia art: well, I must find the, the

image attractive and, uh, inspiring.

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Hey, um, could be, could

come from anywhere really.

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Um, I just need to feel

a connection to that.

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visual piece of art, whether

it's a photo or somebody else's

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work or whatever it may be.

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Tali art: And is this

something that you have?

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You said it was kind of a

dormant part of your life.

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People when they don't have the

opportunity to self express, feel

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like something is missing.

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So Do you have any of

those feelings right now?

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Is there a particular

reason why you stopped?

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Julia art: Well, at the time it

was, it was a very strong pull

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and I really needed to do this.

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So I had a very intense,

intensely creative time for

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a while in my early twenties.

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And then life went on and faded

out of my life again, but I've

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naturally very creative person.

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So it doesn't really matter to me

if I build my house or if I paint

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a picture, this is all creation.

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Um, so I don't feel like I'm lacking

creative outlet because my whole life

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is a creative outlet, if you will.

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Tali art: I love that.

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So , how are you expressing

yourself creatively these days?

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Julia art: Well, I'm raising children

and um, you know, I've created a family.

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That's not bad.

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Um, I have designed my own house.

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I have, um, designed my own

piece of land and I don't know.

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It's just, I feel like, um,

creation is also manifestation.

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So you create your life, you

manifest your life in a way.

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So I feel that's all creative outlets.

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It doesn't have to be pen and paper.

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Tali art: you said you created your house.

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Did you draw it out and

have your husband build it?

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What do you mean by that?

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Julia art: I bought, I bought the

house before I met my husband,

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um, just before, funnily enough.

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Um, so I, I bought a ruin.

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It was, it was just the, the

outer wall standing and it had

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completely collapsed in on itself.

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But I've fallen in love with the

place and the house and the location.

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And so I went on to this adventure and I.

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I took what was left and I believe I

created something beautiful out of it.

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I mean, I get a lot of positive,

feedback from people who come here

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and they say, Oh, this is, this is

so beautiful and you know, well done.

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And so, yeah, it was a ruin

and now it's a, our home.

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Tali art: So did you build it by hand?

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, or did you just sketch it

out and hire contractors?

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How did you do that?

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Julia art: Yeah, I sketched it out

and hired a contract, contractor, yes.

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I mean, the, the rough stuff, huh?

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Later on, then obviously a house

never finishes, but we did lots

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over the years, bit by bit, but

the, the course rough first draw, i.

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e.

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putting the roof on the ceilings and,

you know, putting the windows in and

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everything that was done by a contractor.

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But then all the interior, the

tiles, et cetera, et cetera,

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that was done by us mostly.

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over the years.

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Tali art: So is there any plan for you

to return to the one line artwork that

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you were working on, or is it just going

to be something that you did in the past

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Julia art: Uh, we'll find out if,

you know, I don't have the plan,

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but then I don't have many plans

and life just hands them to me.

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So I'm open, you know, at the moment

I've still got, I don't, at the

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moment, it's not the right time

for me to sit down and draw, but

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when the time comes, I will know.

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And I will draw who knows.

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Tali art: and you homeschool your kids?

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So what kind of art projects

do you have them experience?

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Julia art: Yeah, that's interesting.

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The kids actually, because we

have, , great art teacher in the

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village and she runs weekly art

classes, , over the school terms.

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And she's really, really

offered them a great variety of

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projects and, and approaches.

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And my daughter is very much, you can see.

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my work in there.

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She does intricate black

and white drawings.

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It's really interesting, huh?

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And actually thinking back to my

own school work, um, and I did

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keep a few of my school pieces.

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I was always drawn to intricate

black and white stuff.

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So it runs in the family.

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Yeah.

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Tali art: Do the two of you sit down side

by side and draw together, or do you work?

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sometimes together in the same art piece.

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Julia art: No, she does her work and

I'm not actually drawing at the moment.

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So, but that's okay.

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You know, I appreciate her work a lot.

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And I, I tell her how

much it's like my work.

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And so my son is very different and

he's very bold and colorful and yeah,

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just a completely opposite style really.

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Tali art: I love how free

children are when they draw.

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I have pictures from my son when

he was five or six, and it's

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just piece of paper and a pen.

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And he would draw these elaborate

battle scenes from aliens and

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stuff like that, and there was no

feel like every stroke is so free.

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And The images are really full of

emotion versus, , when they get older,

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they start to critique themselves

and the lines get less and less bold.

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And then eventually just, they

just say, Oh, I'm not an artist.

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I can't draw.

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And I think that's.

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really very sad.

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And I keep telling my

kids, nobody's judging you.

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This is just you drawing.

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Do you see that kind of tendency?

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You have a 12 year old, right?

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So, um, by the time my son

was 12, he, he has stopped.

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Julia art: Uh, my daughter is 10.

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So, um, and I, um, I can't, I mean, yes,

she's, um, I think she's more critical

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of her own work than my six year old.

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Sure, I think that's normal and that's

kind of, that's not even a bad thing.

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I mean, you do need to look at your

own and work and compare yourself.

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So you know where you are and

where you want to get to as well.

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but I don't think she's being

discouraged from anywhere because...

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you know, that's just, it's cool.

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It's good where you are and keep

on working and that's all good.

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It's all, it's all great.

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Yes.

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Tali art: Your homeschooling, I'm

guessing you have, you're part of a

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homeschooling group where you are.

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Julia art: Kind of, we try to

do as much as possible together.

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Um, like art, for example, is an

easy one, but, um, we have different

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nationalities and very different

levels of schooling with the kids.

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And so the, the base layer stuff, I

feel that mostly the parents do it

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at home with their individual child,

because it's very difficult to throw

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them all in one room and expect them

to learn one language and one writing.

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And it just doesn't work.

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They need to, you know,

they, you need to be able to.

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to join them.

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Uh, so that works for, for excursions,

history, uh, art, all that kind of stuff.

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But for the basics, mathematics,

writing, reading, uh, it's probably

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mostly done at home, individually.

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Tali art: So is it a situation

where the parents will step up and.

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Just teach extracurricular classes.

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I'm, I'm trying to see if

you would be willing to teach

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art in a setting like that.

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Yeah.

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Julia art: Oh, no, not willing.

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Like when I see what the other mother

does, she's a, she's a true artist.

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Let's say, I just had this pull at

that point in my life, but she really

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understands paints and colors and shapes.

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And, you know, she

understands the whole thing.

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I don't.

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You know, I'm, I just can do my

thing and I do it when I feel I need

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to, but I don't think that I would

be a good art teacher at all, you

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know, it's all about know thyself.

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Uh, no.

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Tali art: I had a friend years ago

who used to write poetry and she

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said the inspiration will come into

her mind and she had to hurry up and

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jot it down because it might leave

before she's all done recording it.

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Is that kind of.

321

What you experienced.

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Julia art: Yes, exactly.

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You know, you gotta do what you gotta do.

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When you feel the call and that's that.

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Yeah.

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You can't really wait with these things.

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It's, um.

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It's an urge.

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Tali art: So would you agree with

the statement that creativity doesn't

330

necessarily stem from inside of

you, but it is, it is also outside

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of you and you become sort of a

conduit for inflow of information.

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Julia art: Yes, I think so.

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Yes, totally.

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That's how I feel mostly

when I did my work.

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It's like, I don't know

where this comes from.

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It's just something I feel I need to do.

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And so I did.

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Tali art: Cool.

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Oh, so your website is called

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Julia art: One line design.

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Tali art: One line design.

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Okay, I

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Julia art: One line

design and then it's info.

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Unfortunately,

345

I was mal advised at the time and we

didn't buy the com, which was stupid,

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but there, there we've got info.

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One line design info.

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Tali art: Okay.

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And you are still selling

prints for your artwork.

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Julia art: I could, in theory, I

would have to think long and hard

351

about it, but yeah, I still have some

pieces around the house, uh, prints,

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which I could send out and sell.

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Tali art: Okay.

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And what would you like to tell

aspiring artists out there who don't

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think that they're necessarily an

artist, but they just feel an urge to

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express themselves in a certain Um,

what would you say to those people?

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Julia art: Um, do what you have to do.

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You never know what comes out of it.

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Um, if you feel, if you feel that

this is something you want to

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do and need to do, then do it.

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And don't question too much.

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Just try how it feels when you do it.

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So I find that my is

maybe especially my work.

364

It's incredibly, I think it really

think it does something to your brain.

365

It's a very meditative thing.

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You, you tune.

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I think it's different

brain waves taking over.

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It's like meditation in a way, I guess.

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Tali art: Okay.

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You know, I have to ask this

question because you do art.

371

What do you think about

what's happening with AI art?

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Julia art: Huh?

373

I mean, I love some of it.

374

It's, um, I really do love some of it.

375

And I do think that AI art is

going to take over just as AI in

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general is going to take over a lot.

377

But that, like, AI can't sculpt, or

it probably will be at some point.

378

I don't know.

379

We will just see.

380

It's, it's this, uh, this journey with

AI is very, very interesting, huh?

381

Um, and I think the only thing

we have is to stay open minded

382

because we can't fight it.

383

We can't get rid of it.

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Uh, we mustn't glorify it too much either.

385

I think it will just find its

natural place because we've

386

had other threats, so to say.

387

I think the internet itself

was threatening at the time.

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of emergence to many people.

389

It's okay.

390

It will be, it will level itself out.

391

I believe.

392

I hope

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Tali art: My daughter sketches and

she's super critical of her own work

394

and every piece of art she shows

people, she would say, this was terrible.

395

And and I kept telling her, I said, I

do think you have a gift because I hear

396

some from somewhere that if you draw

a face, the hardest part about drawing

397

the face is to make the eyes look alive.

398

Otherwise they look dead, right?

399

She can make her eyes look alive.

400

So I said, that's, that's already

something that's incredible.

401

But no, every piece of work she

does, she's like, I'm terrible.

402

I'm, I can't draw.

403

I'm like, yes, you can.

404

But yeah, artists can be

very critical of themselves.

405

But I think what you did,

I mean, the lines and dots

406

, they're just very beautiful.

407

So simple.

408

It's minimalist and It's such a contrast

to, I think, like the AI generated

409

stuff, which is just layers and layers

of, you know, stuff and so colorful and

410

I don't know this, I love your style.

411

So, and I think it's very exciting

that you build your own house.

412

That's, that's so cool.

413

I hope to see it one day.

414

Julia art: Okay, cool.

415

Let's make it happen.

416

Tali art: All right.

417

Well, thank you so much.

418

That was really fun.

419

I hope a lot of people will, , go

and check out your website.

420

, and maybe one day you'll pick up the

pen again when the time is right.

421

You know, that we go through seasons

and your season right now is, Your kids.

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So, yeah.

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Julia art: I think I'm probably just

gonna about to start a new job as well.

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So yes, I've got other things to do.

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Tali art: Yeah, you were going to

start the yoga horse therapy thing.

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Julia art: No horse training.

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Yeah.

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So let's see.

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Let's see

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Tali art: I think that's so exciting.

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Thank you so much for your time.

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I really appreciate it.