I am an independent fine artist working in Boulder, Colorado. I am mostly self-taught, although I studied for many years with the renowned artist and teacher David Leffel, and I primarily specialize in representational still lifes and seascapes in the abstract realism style.

The work of the “Old Masters” has always mesmerized me. I spent hours as a little girl at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and later at the Louvre in Paris studying the works of Rembrandt, Chardin, Aivazovsky and Ingres. Living and working in Western Europe allowed me to observe the beauty, movement of light, and the balance of composition that made these masterpieces so compelling. After moving to the U.S. from the Soviet Union, I adjusted to American life as a student, connecting with my newly adopted culture through drawing, painting, and attending museums and galleries in my new home of Denver, Colorado. Eventually, I pursued an MBA and a successful career in marketing management  for over 20 years.

However, the pull of creating art was too strong to ignore, and I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a full time fine artist. Like the Masters, I believe oil paintings should evoke a feeling of beauty, elegance and the colorful pleasures of life; and my modern sensibility reveals this via color, light and subject matter.

Professional Accomplishments

Julia has exhibited her work at the Oil Painters of America National and Western Regional Juried Shows, The Swiss Art Expo in Zurich, Switzerland, The Littleton Museum of Fine Art Annual Juried Show, Greenhouse Gallery Salon International Annual Juried Show, Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction, Boulder Art Association’s National Juried Shows, where she received the corporate award of excellence two years in a row, and at the Art Students League of Denver’s Art & Soul Juried Show & Auction. Her work hangs in private collections in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Finland, Lithuania and Russia. Julia is an associate member of the Oil Painters of America (OPA), and a member of the Boulder Art Association. Julia is represented by Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder, Colorado; and the Singulart Gallery, in Paris, France.