About the Artists JULIE HOCKIN, SOFA The word 'Odyssey' sums up Julie Hockin's life over the last thirty years. Pencil drawing was her first love followed closely by miniature painting, and she used her talent for these to earn a living after she returned to Cornwall with her young daughter. Adventures along the way included painting on mother-of-pearl, agate and other semi precious stones to create jewellery from her miniature designs. Such was her skill that she was made a member of the Hilliard Society of Miniaturists and an associate of the Royal Miniature Society. Continuing this journey, she started designing and publishing bookmarks, and together with her miniatures, sold them at local Cornish Craft Markets. This led to joining forces with Henry Roberts to form Hockin & Roberts Limited. Through the medium of The Julie Hockin Collection her designs for gift stationery, greetings cards and prints can be found throughout the UK and in many parts of the world. Once she was part of a company, created especially to publish and market her work, Julie was able to experiment with new ideas and techniques. Larger watercolour paintings (A4) were now her metier, but when time allowed, miniatures were still the order of the day. Her skilful depictions of cats provided the entré to the Society of Feline Artists (SOFA). As time went by miniature painting became more of a strain. The technique also changed to soft, misty wet-in-wet watercolour backgrounds, but still with the detailed subject matter of her miniature days. In 2002 the journey came to a temporary halt due to a trapped nerve in the vertebrae in her neck. For eight months it was impossible for her to hold a pencil, let alone paint. The intense frustration of having a mind full of ideas and no way of putting them on paper can only be appreciated by another artist. The eight months dragged interminably. She began to wonder if she would ever paint again. Thankfully the trapped nerve healed, and Julie went back to her studio. Although miniature painting was no longer possible, the start of the journey from little to large will always be the inspiration for the detailed approach that is the hallmark of Julie's work. During the last 20 years Julie has exhibited with the Royal Miniature Society, the Hilliard Society, the Society of Wildlife Artists, the Society of Feline Artists, and at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London. She has also held one woman shows at Cotehele, Lanhydrock House, Marwell Zoological Park, Carlyon Bay Hotel, the Cornish Studies Centre and the Hibbert Centre at Trebah Garden. Her next solo exhibition will be at Lobb's Countryside Barn at Heligan in October 2005. in conjunction with her exhibition at Trebah, Julie ran a series of daylong workshops with local schools that proved so successful that they are being repeated at Heligan. These are also being continued at other venues, together with a regular series of adult workshops in Pencil Drawing and Water Colour Painting. Inspiring children (and adults) to venture into the world of art has given her a great deal of satisfaction, and enables her to pass on the knowledge gained from over 30 years of practical experience. And
so the adventure goes on. The beautiful countryside, coasts and
gardens of her native Cornwall have been the inspiration behind
all her work, and are reflected in the work shown on this website. |
