The Kids Art Academy art school sutherland shire

I grew up in a family of artists, living next to the family's 3rd generation Stained Glass Window Studio, where I played and watched Dad do 'real' art.

Fashion Design

I started my own 35 year art career as a fashion designer for "Mr Christian Shoes and Bags", thanks to Barbara Adams. (If you're a girl my age you would remember it ...don’t you?), a coveted name in high end fashion in the 70’s.  I think it was the first Australian company to design our own, sometimes outrageous, flavour and not copy Europe.  What a rebel!   Great memories of sitting on the floor with the 'out there' boss dinamo and creating, in the gorgeous mahogany office come showroom.  The same as with Dad I guess...only this time I got paid AND I had the pleasure of being in the occasional mag, and seeing my designs walking in the streets. Thanks Barb x  Mr Christian designs were sold throughout Australia and overseas in beautiful boutique stores, designed like little churches.

Animation

Next stop...animation for Hanna Barbera, Burbank Studios and Disney, eventually preferring to work from my home studio, with my dog. I'm seeing a pattern here.

Fashion, Art and Kids

In the eighties I had a kids clothing business, where I designed, co-ordinated and screen printed ranges for toddlers. The Girls was named "Giggle Gutz" and the boys "Yahoo Splatt !" ...Inspired by my kids ! And again I played. I also did many tech courses to keep sane.

Art School

After  having children, I went back into animation for Saturday morning T.V.             I had just finished a show, when those CRAZY ladies from my CRAZY tennis club INSISTED that I teach their kids !!!! Hey, I'll do anything for a cuppa tea (lol) Funny how all my friends' kids seemed to be artistic...what's the chances of that happening??? Anyhow, next thing I knew, business exploded and I lost 5 years of my life ! We had 300 kids and around 6 staff. Out of those original 7 kids, 3 have careers in art now and possibly another 2 ( I must ring and find that out).

When I started the art school I realized it was just about the only subject where they hand you a brush and it's supposed to magically explode into art...or not.       I thought "that's ridiculous, it's like handing you words and saying write a book" without teaching the fundamentals. I saw things differently because I came from the art and design industry.  An organized skills method was the way to go.  Build a library of resources to draw from. No pun. We teach the skills that others try to hide. It takes a lifetime to learn it by yourself, so we believe in teaching them young when they have time to practice. There are great careers out there for our future artists, especially in computer graphics.  My son is now a graphic artist and my daughter is in multimedia design.

'Studio Jooles'

And now for my next trick.... introducing 'Studio Jooles'. My whole world has opened up since I bought a mobile home and I take art trips often.  I am continually learning and experimenting with new art techniques back in the studio. I'm becoming a nutty scientist of the art world lol 

I have developed a 'no fail' kind of art form for my adult students. I teach many medias and techniques, all of which can blend together quite happily. 

I have an Etsy shop as an outlet for my own art www.etsy.com/shop/studiojooles, where you can buy originals, Limited Edition Prints and Exquisite Art Wear. And of course I love painting personal commissions, so please contact me for more info. I am also a qualified Graphic Artist and love designing logos....or anything, really.

Anyway,

smiles from Julie