At 7 years old, thinking that her mother would never find out, Julie snuck into the studio, adding to the latest work in progress. As an accomplished amateur oil painter and water colorist, “mom” knew the importance of enabling the creativity within at an early age. She was Julie’s first inspiration to express through art.

“Masterpiece”, a popular board game that Julie played in late 1960s/early 1970s, created further interest in artists such as Jackson Pollack, Hans Hofmann and Marc Chagall.

As a youth, Julie took a variety of art classes, exposing her to water color, acrylic, mixed media, block printing and silk screen. Even a little bit of plaster sculpting.

During her 4 year tenure at college, she progressively trained in drawing, painting, graphic design, illustration, photography, wood and clay sculpting, and print making. Subject matter varied from the human figure, portraiture, still life and landscape. Eventually, Ms. Salazar graduated with a BFA from the Montserrat College of Art in 1989 and made her way to New Mexico, making Santa Fe her home for the past 26 years.

Although Julie discovered early on that she much preferred the style of non-objective and abstract art over realism, she found her first success selling realistic, oil landscape paintings at Trader Jack’s Flea Market, now the Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market. Julie created her first following from a number of local and national shows, becoming a self-sustained artist in 1996.

During her mother’s illness, Julie stopped painting for one year, only able to work on symbolic, dream-like ink drawings. Following her mother’s death in 2010, those simple drawings became Julie’s inspiration for her “Inner Landscape” series (abstracts painted in acrylic and ink), first introduced in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2011. She painted that series for 2 years, healing from her loss through the use of vibrant colors and the transformational symbolism found in spirals, pathways, butterflies, and trees.

Early in 2012, ready to move forward in her life and in her art, a new series was born, “Heaven and Earth”. Her creative process changed dramatically. She had let go of sketch pad and camera, and let the paintings “grow”. These new works became highly textured, mixed media expressions, reflecting her love for nature. For 10 years now, Julie has continued exploring that new creative process.

As an extension of the “Heaven and Earth” series, “Awakening” is a developing series of new mixed media works, now available as part of Julie’s 2022 offerings. In March of this year, Julie began her 18th and final season at the Loretto Chapel, displaying original works from her “Inner Landscape”,”Heaven and Earth”, and “Awakenings” series. You will also find varying works as limited edition and open edition framed prints; and an array of matted prints.