Conversations with Julia C R Gray

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia C R Gray.

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a native Californian, born in Los Angeles and grew up in Southern California. I loved the beach and camping with my family, escaping into nature has been a lifelong influence on my art. I was 13 years old when my hard-working Father signed me up for oil painting lessons hoping to give me a positive direction. Working with oils was a formative experience; I felt like I was completely myself when painting. I also explored other painting and drawing mediums. I started painting murals when I was 16, usually, painting album covers on my friends’ bedroom walls (when their parents would let me). I was painting mural commissions in Alpine Meadows and working in a gallery in Tahoe City, California when I was 20. While I was working, my future husband Dana wandered into the gallery. We fell in love in that first meeting. We were married at Lake Tahoe and moved our young family to the San Diego area a few years later. My mural and painting commissions helped support our family as we were raising our three sons. 

After decades of painting commissions and selling original oil paintings in galleries, I felt an overwhelming need to put my energy to continuing my art education. I was awarded scholarships and art grants at San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art. I chose to concentrate my studies on sculpture. I’m so glad I made that choice. My experience at SFAI was a big step in my understanding of art and the importance of focusing on my art practice. Dana continued to live in our Cardiff home (in north San Diego) while supporting me to live in San Francisco for the two years it took to complete my BFA. Those years apart were very difficult and also so essential to my artistic growth. Through my studies at SFAI, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The experience of learning about artists whose narrative covered the horrific subject of Argentina’s Dirty War added depth to my art studies. I graduated with academic honors in 2014 and was awarded the Davis Projects for Peace Grant to do art and environmental work in Bali, Indonesia, that summer. When I returned home, we decided to invest in building a ceramic studio at our home so I could develop a professional ceramic art practice. I re-emerged as a ceramic sculptor and that has been my focus for almost ten years. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Early in my art career, transforming from my mural business to a studio practice took a great deal of work and commitment. Our three sons were of ages that spanned elementary to high school when I felt it was time for me to transition to a self-directed studio practice with oil painting. As much as I loved collaboration with clients, I felt I had so much to say through my own artwork. It took me a year to create a body of work for my first solo show. Jack Quick, the owner of Rhino Art in Solana Beach, generously gifted me gallery space behind his art store to install my solo oil painting exhibition. During that time, I worked for a big box home store teaching faux finish, as well as working with my own clients and raising our young sons. Early each morning, I put brush to canvas for at least a 1/2 hour or so before starting the regular day of work and family. In that year, I created a full body of oil paintings for the solo exhibition by painting every day, even if it was only a short time. I celebrated my 40th birthday with an opening reception of my solo exhibition Matters Of The Heart. It was a success with great attendance and some of the work selling to new collectors. When I transitioned my art practice a decade later, from painting to sculpture, it took even more time, work, and determination. Fortunately, I have a spouse who views my art as my life’s work and is willing to go through the challenges with me. It is essential for me to be committed to my art practice, which includes following the muse and always growing my skills and understanding of the art I create. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
If I could stare long enough at the perfect spiral of a shell, I might merge with the consciousness that created that golden ratio. The Biophilia hypothesis is the idea that humans possess innate tendencies to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. I have yearned for this connection my whole existence, and this connection has always felt both mysterious and essential. My search to connect with nature compels me to walk on the beach at sunrise, transferring that mysterious consciousness when I return to my ceramic studio. I work with the female torso to communicate these matters that touch my heart. My art practice and ocean ritual come full circle when I bring my ceramic Coral SHE torsos to the beach to photograph with seaweed and ocean treasures. 

I choose the female torso as a consistent form to communicate my concerns on contemporary life, from women’s rights to climate change. The ceramic Story Torsos have a textured outer surface that holds a secret inside. When the torso’s six columns are installed inches apart, the viewer can see tantalizing peeks of the detailed glazed paintings hidden inside. Separating the outer columns further reveals storied imagery on the columns’ inner surfaces. I paint representational images informed by personal experience, historical art, environmental, and current events. I believe my experience as a painter, who builds the forms I paint on sets my work apart from other artists. I apply my years of experience painting to pushing the usual expectations of commercial glazes. I layer multiple colors as if I am working with oils and see the actual result when the glazes are fired. 

My ceramic sculpture series—Coral Reef SHE-Shell and SHE Sea Wisdom—feature glossy female torsos with deeply textured coral-inspired shapes attached to the body and base. Viewers often wonder if I am adding mixed media, I do not. All the features and textures I create with clay. The opalescent shine and matte, and even the gold, I create using layers of multiple glazes. These glazes are fired three separate times because I work with three types of glazes: mid-fire glaze, low-fire underglazes, and very low-fire lusters. Each sculpture is a gratifying experiment informed by my experience. 

How do you define success?
Achieving the goals, I set for myself defines success for me. When I graduated from SFAI and re-emerged as a sculptor, I chose to focus on exhibiting my work in Museums and civic galleries. This is so important to me because of the small percentage of museum space that is offered to women. I can see this changing for women. I am fortunate to have had some success exhibiting my work in museums nationally. I am especially grateful for the accolades I have received from judges in the juried shows my work has been accepted in. Each time one of my sculptures is collected, I am filled with gratitude; from my mini sculptures to my signature pieces, I value each one. An unexpected and most joyful success is the friendships I have found within the art communities across the US. My newest goal is for my work to also be purchased and collected by museums and significant collectors. 

Pricing:

• 5” Mini SHE torsos $175.
• Coral SHE Torsos $375. to $1100.
• Coral Reef series: $1800. to $3600.
• 24” SHE Sea Wisdom $5500 to $11,000.
• Story Torsos $12,000.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juliacrgray.com
• Instagram: @artistjcrgray
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliacrgray

Image Credits
Armando Silva