A Landscape of Light and Memory…
There’s a quiet resonance in Julie Lawrence’s work that lingers long after the image fades from view. It’s not just the landscapes she paints—it’s the light within them, the way it flickers and slips between trees, casting shadows that feel both intimate and infinite. Based on the Wirral and deeply rooted in her daily walks through Caldy Hill and Stapledon Woods, Lawrence invites us to pause, to notice, and to consider the emotional topography of the places we pass through every day. Her pastel and water-based paintings aren’t mere recordings of scenery—they’re meditations on movement, memory, and the liminal nature of identity in shifting light.
Julie’s path hasn’t followed a straight line. After years in special education, she returned to her practice with quiet determination, bringing with her a clarity of vision that has since earned national recognition—including a prize-winning run at the Pastel Society’s exhibitions at the Mall Galleries. Influenced by the visionary landscape tradition and Romantic painters like Samuel Palmer, her art hums with spiritual undercurrent — half recollection, half revelation.
Julie Lawrence is the June artist in Liverpool Noise’s 2025 creative spotlight. In the following conversation with Steve Kinrade, he delves into Julie’s creative process, the role of intuition, and how the ordinary act of walking becomes a gateway to something profoundly timeless…
With a background in both Art and Theology & Religious Studies, how do you feel your academic background influences the spiritual and emotional dimensions you explore in your art?
JL: I explored theories of the sublime and eco feminist theology during my degree. The merging of opposites such as the conscious and unconscious, material and spiritual, the seen and unseen spilled into Jungian perspectives which I explored later during my MA. I continue to emphasise the role of intuition which is relevant to both the visionary and Jungian philosophy, along with the aim of understanding the relationship between self and the world. Since my degree and MA, I have been exploring liminal art as an additional framework for exploring the depths of the unconscious and the unknown, and the merging of binaries. The concept of the liminal also revisits some of my earlier research in theology which emphasised the reciprocal care between humanity and ecology, and the interdependence between self and place.
You describe your paintings as rooted in the spiritual perspective of the Visionary Landscape Tradition. Could you elaborate on what this tradition means to you and how it informs your artistic vision?
JL: For me, the Visionary Landscape Tradition bypasses cultural norms and emphasises often overlooked areas of our human condition such as soul consciousness, spirituality, compassion and mystical experience. So Visionary Landscape artists can go on an inner journey towards a more holistic mindset and a more expansive way of being and belonging. This mindset informs my artistic vision, which integrates memory and nostalgia with something unknown and sometimes unsettling.
Your daily walks and the observation of your shadow seem central to your process. How does the act of walking and witnessing this transient element translate into the more permanent form of your paintings?
JL: The act of walking is a physical daily endeavour which takes me out in all weathers and grounds me physically to this first-hand experience. My shadow is the transient and ephemeral aspect of my walking experience, and represents something impermanent, fleeting and distancing. These binaries of physical rootedness and transient distancing are committed to memory and merged together when I return to my studio.
“I strive to evoke a sense of uncertainty about the place we inhabit, while also conveying a sense of mystery through the ambiguous figure.”
You mention your work exists in a “liminal territory” between nostalgic association and the unknown. Can you share more about how you aim to evoke this ambiguity for the viewer?
JL: My work conveys a sense of ambiguity firstly through my sense of place and mood, and a feeling of something simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. I strive to evoke a sense of uncertainty about the place we inhabit, while also conveying a sense of mystery through the ambiguous figure.
You’ve noted a growing concern with texture and an emotional use of colour in your work. Could you discuss how these elements contribute to the “ambiguous atmospheric narratives” you aim to create?
JL: I work very intuitively and intensely with the thinness and thickness of wet and dry pastel pigment and light and dark colours. I ‘feel’ rather than ‘think’ about the material and colour as I work, adding and taking material away and creating new colours during this process. When my conscious awareness merges with this unconscious thinking style I reflect on the feeling, atmosphere, ambiguous memory and narratives that have emerged through the layers of texture and colour.
Your process involves both adding and taking away pastel layers. What does this act of scraping back reveal or contribute to the final outcome of your paintings?
JL: Scraping back allows me to unearth something of the history of the piece, and often reveals surprises that have emerged unintentionally. The scraping back contributes to the mood and atmosphere of the paintings. However, I often finish the work quite spontaneously by emphasising and adding the colours revealed to me during this process.
“My quiet psychological territory is an inner journey towards a silent, soulful terrain from where I can encounter a spiritual interconnection.”
You describe your landscape painting practice as a “quest to find a quiet psychological territory amidst a fluctuating sense of place.” Could you expand on what this “quiet psychological territory” represents for you?
JL: The landscape where I walk is constantly being eroded by frequent storms which have destroyed many ancient trees and also hill fires have wiped out large areas of heathland. My physical journeys through place are experiences of this continual change. My quiet psychological territory is an inner journey towards a silent, soulful terrain from where I can encounter a spiritual interconnection which I can express through my work and to the viewer.
I want to now ask you about a specific painting, Eternal Sun Shadow. Could you share a bit about the inspiration behind this painting? Was there a specific scene, feeling, or idea that you were exploring?
JL: This work draws upon my little perceptions and imaginings while walking in my local landscape during a warm autumnal evening. My observations and experiences during this walk sometimes spill into ideas and stories connected to local folklore, but I mainly strive to find a sense of something primal in the relationship between self and place, matter and light. My walk takes me through the ancient woodland of Stapledon Woods and Caldy Hill which has a mixed plantation of tree species including the ancient oak. The oak particularly is said to hold sacred connotations amongst local histories and beliefs.
This picture was painted at the end of last year and responded to my experience of light and warmth as I passed the oak trees lining my pathway at the end of the day. When I make work, I respond intuitively to a glimpse of something held in memory and I seek to harness something hidden in the transitions between light, time and place. When I return to my studio, I work intensely and instinctively until something unexpected and a little mysterious evolves, and I tend to reflect retrospectively on the meaning of these images. The imagery in this work relates to something partially revealed between the fallen leaves, my shadow and the warm, fading sunlight.
The figure in the foreground seems quite solitary. What role does this figure play in the narrative or mood you aimed to create?
JL: The solitary figure allows the viewer to relate individually to the work, and also strives to create a mood which can evoke something primal in the viewer. The sense of ambiguity invites the viewer to fill in the gaps with their own personal narrative, beliefs, memories and feelings.
The colour palette is very evocative, with the muted browns and greys contrasted by the splashes of yellow and orange. Can you discuss your choices in colour and how they contribute to the overall atmosphere of the work?
JL: I was responding to Autumnal colours and the magical way the light fell on the trees, and my moving shadow. The observation of my shadow, merged with the leaves on the ground and the glimmers of dappled sunset light, re-shaped my fleeting image into a different form with vivid colour. The memory of these colours evolved during my working process on return to my studio. I wanted the work to bring an experiential sense of warmth and mystical light to the overall atmosphere.
The textures in the painting appear quite rich and layered. What techniques did you employ to achieve this surface quality, and how does it relate to the subject matter?
JL: I work on gesso primed paper which gives texture and also prevents me breaking through the paper surface. I basically use a combination of wet and dry pastel media, initially to build up layers, and then I work back into the layers, removing parts of the drawing using sandpaper or scourers. The sandpaper and scourers are also drawing tools which make their own marks in the material. Textures and a structure start to emerge after working intensely and responding to the shapes and colours that emerge organically during this process. I then begin to respond to forms that trigger something fleetingly remembered. I feel that the intensity of my process and engagement with materials finds parallels with my physical experiences in all weathers.
Looking at the overall composition, with the vastness of the background and the placement of the figure, what feeling or message do you hope viewers take away from experiencing this piece?
JL: I would like for the viewer to be personally drawn to the solitary figure amidst the warmth and depth of the sunset. I would hope for the viewer to contemplate an inner sense of place and time and encounter a primal view of the trees and the light.
Thank you for giving the Liverpool Noise readership such a fabulous insight into such a beautiful work. Winning the Yoshimoto Prize has clearly had a significant impact. Beyond the increased recognition, has it altered your approach to your work in any fundamental way?
JL: It has certainly given me the confidence to progress my artistic vision, and I feel that it has validated my perspective and objectives for personal development. I have been really encouraged when my work has resonated with the viewer often in unexpected ways. The different perspectives and narratives that have emerged through viewer feedback have inspired me to develop my sense of ambiguity and mood.
“It is important that my work emerges organically from a reciprocal dialogue between self and place.”
Considering your upcoming exhibition Beyond the Prize, how does this new body of work build upon or differ from the pieces that garnered you the Yoshimoto Prize?
JL: This new body of work does build upon the piece Shadow Crossing. I am concerned to develop the mystical, emotional narrative whilst making sure that this isn’t contrived in any way. It is important that my work emerges organically from a reciprocal dialogue between self and place.
What are your aspirations for the rest of 2025?
JL: The ever changing and challenging walking environment provides a continuing and rich source of inspiration. My aspirations are to continue to notice and contain the moments I experience and to draw the viewer into my little visions and ignite thoughts through colour and form for the viewer to translate in their own way.
It is also part of my working process to finalise my walking journey with paintings that represent what is felt and observed at the end of my walk, when I turn away from my shadow and look at the horizon beyond. This in turn acts as a catalyst for commencing the next body of ‘Walking Shadow’ pastels. At the moment I have reached the end of a recent body of pastel work so I am aspiring to complete a body of these ‘end-point’ paintings observed in my stillness.
I am always looking for gallery exhibitions and opportunities which are going to provide me with a relevant focal point and a context for developing my work. However, I always aspire for an opportunity in which both strands of my work can be shown together. In doing this, I strive to take the viewer on a journey that encounters the primal while simultaneously inviting contemplation about our future relationship with place.
Julie Lawrence was in conversation with Steve Kinrade.
Follow Julie Lawrence on @jlawrenceart on Instagram for updates.
