It’s not a surprise that Julie Jacobsen became a fine artist. All of the women in her family have been artists in one way or another. Her paternal grandmother sold paintings in Laguna Beach. Her mother and sisters have all been fine art painters. “We call it the family disease and now my daughter has it too!” Grace just got her Masters in Fine Art. “We feel a constant pull to create in some way and sometimes it’s pretty annoying when you aren’t in the mood.”
Julie was an art major at the University of Utah but was extremely at odds with the department in the 1970’s. So she switched to Art History and gobbled that up. Life happened and when she was one year short of completing her degree, she had to drop out. She was very fortunate to have some excellent private teachers: Robert Rummel and Elaine Bradshaw.
“My painting career came to a halt at one point because I got very discouraged with marketing my art in Utah. I needed to go out of state but felt my family was too important.” So there was a lull for a while.
Julie has reinvented her art several times. She discovered mosaics made with broken china and glass. Then there was a flurry of work in the shape of hearts and names after famous literary heroines. “I had to throw almost all of the supplies away as I wasn’t painting any more. I didn’t want to lose my painting my painting talent!”
In 2016, Julie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and couldn’t sit up to an easel to paint. So she started doing watercolors – a medium she didn’t like – as she could sit at a table. It started with Easter cards for her grandchildren. She has done about 150 cards at this point and has had a successful card business.
Family is most important to her. She has a wonderful husband, 5 talented kids, and 10 gorgeous grandchildren. “We love living in Murray! Murray City has been very good to me. I’ve had many employees that are my customers and top of the list is former Mayor Dan Snarr!”
You can check out more of Julie’s work at laughinghorseart.blogspot.com
