Julie Gazounaud

Originally from Saint Etienne in France, I went to live in California for 6 years when I was 3 years old. The weekends spent on the Pacific coast quickly won me over. I think that's where I developed a close connection with the ocean.

We used to go to Seacliff, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Pacifica, Big Basin, Pismo beach, Wadell Beach.... When we returned to France, we spent our summers in the Landes. I had the chance to visit many countries with sumptuous landscapes but also islands like Hawaii, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia. All these magnificent experiences only reactivated my passion for the ocean and the big waves of my childhood.

Today it is the water and the play of lights that fascinate me. The power of the waves, this ocean that puts us in our rightful place as human beings. It reminds us that we are only temporary in this world. It has been here for thousands of years, and its strength reminds us of this.

I am also very attracted to other subjects such as flowers, mountains, lakes that I will treat in the near future. The world offers so many different and beautiful landscapes, I feel that the possibilities of painting are endless.

I started painting in 2018, at the end of my 3 year military contract in the Army. I still remember being on my last tour that the urge to paint came to me in a completely unexpected way. I was watching a series during a break and the actress was painting in a studio by the ocean. This freedom made me want to paint. 

I tested a few canvases, I liked it, but I was starting a new career: that of a psychology student, and volunteer fireman in my spare time, so I only produced about ten canvases over two years. It was during the lockdown, in 2020, that painting became a priority. So I created my Instagram page where I show videos of my life as an artist, and my website. 

This is where I started selling my paintings. I have since had the opportunity to exhibit at the Halle des Blancs Manteaux for Oceans Day in 2021. I have organized my own exhibition at the Sully in Paris in May 2022. I also recently exhibited at Cuiseaux Pays des Peintres for their 6th Biennial in the Princes d'Orange gallery as well as at their Home Exhibition.