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About Julie Kluh

I have always been an artist, but I am also an adventurer. I love to soak up fresh air, to live outside, with nature in my body and spirit!

I left Ventura California on my sailboat in 2011 at the age of 26 to, as I recall telling my mom, "experience the rapture of being alive!", I quit both jobs and sold everything.

I wanted to feel the wind on my face, the sea under my feet, a visceral connection to life on earth. In search of waves, of dreams, of remote islands and the challenges nature had in store.

The idea of being on a small sailboat in the middle of the night crossing an ocean terrifies most people and it also scared me. Friends and family thought we would last a few months, thought we were crazy, ignorant, or both!

My boyfriend and I planned for over a year, studied, practiced, saved up, sold all of our things, and somehow mustered the guts to sail away. 

We sailed down the coast of Central America to Panama and onto the South Pacific. We spent a decade stopping to surf and live in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and French Polynesia. And when the tourist visa ran out we would leave the boat and fly to Indonesia, South Africa, California or Portugal.

On the boat, I experienced a vast and fascinating world very few humans ever see. I have a vivid memory from off the coast of southern Mexico. I was on watch in the middle of the night, a breeze filled the sails driving the boat south. A full moon lit the decks and stars filled the sky. Far out to sea lightning lit up clouds in purple bursts. Dolphins rode the bow wake and trails of glowing green phosphoresces streaked over them and down the sides of Arcturus our boat. Riding through the sea in awe of everything on earth. It was moments like those that ignited the fire within me, that made me feel alive.

After trying to paint for years, but always being faced with travel weight restrictions, a small moving studio and an outlook that believed it was impossible to be an artist and live this kind of life, I set aside my dream of being a painter. 

But, when I looked deep within me, PAINTING was always the answer.

I realized that my own fear is all that stood in my way. I made a tiny studio on the boat and painted despite the constant movement, limited supplies and space.

Painting satisfies me on a deep level. It's unlike working a job, it's a calling. And not always easy, often not, but it is worth it. To share the beauty I feel near and in the ocean is at the soul of my work.

Focusing at the canvas for hours is a meditation where I enter a flow-state oneness that satisfies a knowing of my purpose. This energy is translated into my art, it is an allowing of creative power.

My mission is to share my gift and to let the creative force flow through me to inspire more to flow throughout all of humanity.

I am following my hearts desire as an artist and I believe following the unique path of our own soul is the purest, highest, most important thing to do in this life. 

I returned back to where I grew up in Olympia Washington and paint from my home studio near the Washington coast.

I have a degree in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from the University of Washington, where I took only 2 painting classes. After college, I worked as a graphic designer and learned how to make websites. My first online endeavor was making seaglass jewelry I sold on Etsy. I then did many more internet-related jobs and e-commerce projects of my own (from the boat!) and now, I'm painting! I love to beachcomb, boat, surf, golf, ski, cook and garden.

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I hope my art inspires you, brings you peace, and makes you feel alive.

Thank you for reading and visiting 💗

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Also one last note, my last name Kluh is pronounced clue as in, "give me a clue how to say that" ;)