Julianne David: one artist’s journey from Instagram to Columbus’ newest fine art gallery
Julianne David works out of her dining room. The space is intended to be a dining room, anyway, but is given over entirely to canvas and paint. Not that David has much time to work.
“I squeeze in [art] during nap times, after bed, before they wake,” she says of finding time for art while raising three sons. “They like to help me paint.”
Painting was not her first path, or even her second. She started college at Auburn, but transferred to Savannah College of Art and Design in her junior year, where she majored in fashion and minored in photography. After an internship with Jenny Hilfiger, she found herself working for her more prominent brother, Tommy Hilfiger. After a year with the powerhouse fashion brand, Julianne became engaged.
“Being in the heart of the fashion industry was amazing,” she admitted, but the hours are long and demanding. She wanted a creative outlet she could better balance with family; however amazing, the fashion world was not one to which she could commit.
Moving to her husband’s hometown of Columbus, Julianne first began making stationary. Soon she was drawing on her fashion experience, painting female figures. Four years ago, she posted one of her figures on Instagram (you can find her @juliannedavidart). The figure sold immediately. She kept selling.
Her first show was at her parent’s home in Fairhope, Al, a small city across the bay from Mobile. She was surprised by the turnout, and six months later had a second show at her own home in Columbus, another motivating experience. Ted Johnson, of Leigh & Paige Fine Art Gallery (1309 Wildwood Avenue, Columbus), like her first customer, found Julianne on Instagram. Julianne says she was surprised when Ted asked her to show work in the gallery, and she welcomed the additional outlet for her work, the extra motivation to “keep doing what I love to do.”
Julianne’s work tends toward three forms. The female figure, her first form and still an energetically pursued subject, is most prominent, and is explored in a wide range of palettes and poses. She also works in abstracts, which she started out of love, and enjoys the challenge of organizing color in subtle ways to direct the viewer’s gaze. Her faces series are free flowing portraits of post-war icons—Judy Garland and Albert Einstein are recent subjects—and capture these well-known figures in her signature style.
The Art of Julianne David opened at Leigh & Paige on April 20, with a bustling turnout. The show runs through May 16.