Two’s Company
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Artist Proof (Edition of only 10)
Framed Size 15″ x 19″

$395.00

Fall Guy
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Framed Size 15″ x 19″

$395.00

Bird Box
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Embellished with additional Beetle
Framed Size 18″ x 22″

$425.00

Old Rose Garden
Hand Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Framed size 17″ x 21″
$495.00

Birds Eye View
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Framed Size 16″ x 28″

$495.00

Sunflowers And Chickadee
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Framed Size 21″ x 25″

$495.00

Peonies And Chickadee – SOLD OUT EDITION
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Embellished with additional Lady Bug
Framed Size 21″ x 29″

$550.00

Birds Eye View II
Embellished Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas
Embellished with additional Hummingbird
Framed Size 16″ x 28″

$625.00

Julia Hargreaves

     Julia Hargreaves was born in Burnley, United Kingdom in 1956. Burnley Lancashire is an industrial town 30 miles North of Manchester.

     Julia Hargreaves’ education includes a Masters of Art, Masters in Business Administration and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

     She met her husband in 1980 and in 2001 they immigrated to Canada after visiting Vancouver on a day trip from Seattle. They now live in Kelowna, British Columbia, with their cat and a 5 year old Siberian Husky Cross dog.

     Julia remembers the thrill of receiving her first box of paints at 7 years old, and she gets that same feeling today when she walks into an art store.  When she was young her Mother would take her on country walks pointing out plants in the hedgerows.  This instilled in her a passion for nature and the dream to become a professional wildlife artist.

     Julia paints birds and small animals in her neighborhood settings.  She likes adding insects to her paintings as a sort of “find Waldo” feature.  She has books on insects to learn more about them prior to adding them in her paintings.  Many people often search for the half hidden insects in her paintings, which is becoming a feature in her work.  Her typical 12” x 16” painting takes approximately 50 hours to complete and a 16” x 24” painting probably 100 hours or more.  Sometimes she spends a long time on a painting just to accomplish something new or to challenge herself.  Of the many wildlife artists, she chose Ray Harris Ching as her inspiration.  He was the first bird artist she saw that took her breath away.  Julia says that his birds are so real with feathers so delicate that you would expect a breeze to ruffle them.  Julia uses tiny brushes and works in layers.  Since the finished pieces are so smooth, many people don’t believe they are paintings.  Always on the lookout for interesting subjects to paint, Julia takes many reference photographs and has a collection of feathers, branches and stones as reference material.  She is always thinking about what would make a great painting, and when ever she can Julia sketches and paints outdoors in order to keep her work fresh and accurate.

     In 2007 she illustrated “Birdscapes A Pop-Up Celebration of Bird Songs in Stereo Sound“ for a publishing company.  The book is a pop-up type which includes stereo recordings of bird songs.  Julia said the paper engineering for the pop-up section was amazing and she had to paint all the tiny pieces that would become the most fantastic 3D spreads, from the Sonoran Dessert to the Artic Tundra.  Some days she was painting from 7am until midnight to meet the critical deadline.  The book was published by Chronicle in 2008 and it appeared in the December 2008 Oprah Magazine as one of her top 20 recommended books to buy as a Christmas present.  In 2009 she was accepted for the exclusive Leigh Yawkey Woodson Birds in Art exhibition, where her work appeared with top international artists like Terry Isaac, Robert Bateman and Carl Brenders.

     In Julia’s own words: “If there is a message in my work, it’s conservation first and last. It devastates me to see how so many people don’t make the connection between wasteful habits and protecting the environment.  This planet is our home, we all live in it and conservation is essential, not just for other animals but for our own survival too, every one of us.  It’s just that fundamental.”

Robert Paul Galleries is proud to show the works of Julia Hargreaves to the American collector.