Julie Barnes – Artist statement and summary CV

Julie is an award-winning artist and a visual storyteller whose creativity flows from a deep well of imagination and memory, rooted in the fabric of life. She possesses a unique ability to discover the extraordinary within the ordinary, crafting narratives that provoke powerful emotional responses through the visible and invisible ‘other worlds.’ 

Her work explores the themes of wonderment and hope, presenting imagery that resonates with personal intimacy while also being universally relatable. Each painting invites viewers to pause, offering a moment of stillness and an opportunity to reflect on the intricate threads that connect us all to everything around us. Julie’s strong bond with the natural world reflects her solidarity with all living things. 

Julie’s art is held in private collections and is widely shown, including the prestigious John Ruskin awards, Lynn Painter Stainers Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Exhibition, and each of the four Scottish exhibiting societies. She completed an environmental commission for a permanent Scottish public artwork, had work selected for the inaugural Scottish Landscape Awards and chosen as one of Solene’s ‘Emerging Artist 2025’

Selected recent exhibitions:

2026 – 2025 schedule

Visual Art Scotland ( VAS) – ‘the thread that pulls’ – Royal Scottish Academy, National Galleries Scotland – December 2025- January 2026.

Society Scottish Artists – 127th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, National Galleries Scotland – January 2026

Open studio October 2025

Open studio May 2026

Fidra Fine Art ‘ Made in East Lothian’ – February – March 2025

Gallery 27 – Dunbar May – ongoing

SOLENE – one of ten emerging contemporary artists launched July  2025

Open Eye Gallery ‘ On a small Scale Exhibition’, Edinburgh November 2024 – December 2025

 2024 – 2022

Open Eye Gallery ‘ On a small Scale Exhibition, Edinburgh November – December 2024

Visual Arts Scotland (VAS) Centenary show: Now and then –  Dalkeith Palace –  August 2024

VAS ‘Hope is a thing with feathers ‘ show at Scottish Ornithological Society, East Lothian – August – Sept 2024

VAS – Centenary show: Then and Now – Royal Scottish Academy – February – March 2024

VAS – Borders Art Fair – March 2024

John Ruskin Awards Exhibition, Trinity Buoy Wharf Gallery, London – January – February 2024

Dukes Gallery – spring show, March – June 2024

Scottish Landscape Awards, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh, November 2023 – March 2024

Open eye Gallery, On a small scale Exhibition, November 2023- Jan 2024

Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2023

Permanent large scale public artwork, 8 metre wide, Scotland, 2022

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, September 2002 – touring UK 2023

VAS ‘North’ Exhibition, Inverness Academy, 2022

ANGUSAlive Meffan Art Gallery winter show 2022, November 2022 – January 2023

Open Eye Gallery, On a Small Scale Exhibition, Edinburgh,  December 2022

Society Scottish Artists (SSA) Borders Art Fair  2022

Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour Annual exhibition (RSW), Edinburgh, 2021

Gallery 27, East Lothian 2022

VAS ‘Reverb’ Exhibition, 2022

2021 – 2020

Open Eye Gallery, On a Small Scale Exhibition, Edinburgh 2021/2022

D31 Gallery Summer Exhibition, Doncaster, 2021

Public Artwork – Marine plastics installation ‘Kairos’, Fringe by the Sea, North Berwick, 2021

Paisley Art Institute (PAI) Scottish Drawing Exhibition, 2021

Brown and Turner Auction House, Contemporary Painting Exhibition, Jedburgh, 2021

Open Eye Gallery, On a Small Scale Exhibition, Edinburgh, 2020/2021

‘Flow’, VAS Members selected group show, 2021

SSA 30 x 30 exhibition, 2021

‘Resonant Strangeness’,  Marram Arts online Exhibition, 2021

100 days Scotland Project, 2020

Visual Arts Scotland (VAS) Exhibition, Borders Art Fair show, Kelso, 2020

2019/2018

Lynn Painter Stainers Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2018

Royal Institute painters in Watercolour, (RI), London

Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition, London, 2018

Borders Art Fair, Kelso

‘The world Outside’ curated collection, Saatchi Art online

VAS Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2019

Threads Exhibition, International Women’s Day, Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh

Open Eye Gallery, On a small Scale, Edinburgh

‘Brush with colour’, Whitehouse Gallery, Kirkcudbright

Ross Art Gallery, Ireland, 2019

Royal Scottish Academy, (RSA) Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 2018

Invited to join Singulart Gallery,  Paris/London

2017 – 2015

RSA Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

The Art of Love, curated collection, Saatchi Art online

VAS(T) wall of jewels, VAS Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

Macmillan Art Exhibition, Edinburgh 

‘As the nights draw in’ Whitehouse Gallery, Kirkcudbright

SSA Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 

Lyon Turnbull, Sick Kids Foundation, Edinburgh

Arteries Art Gallery, Glasgow

Meffan Gallery Show, Forfar

3 Harbours Arts Festival, East Lothian

FLY, VAS Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 

Imago Mundi Scottish Collection ‘Myths/ reality’, Imago Mundi Foundation, Italy

‘Converge’, Visual Arts Scotland ( VAS ) exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 

Most recent Awards & Residencies:

Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award

Balavoulin Art Award

Cove Park Artist Residency

Royal Scottish Academy RSA) Keith Prize 

University of London (UCL), Lady Belladonna Bursary

Memberships:

Vice – President of Visual Arts Scotland (VAS) 2023 – April 2025

Visual Arts Scotland –  Elected professional member

Society of Scottish Artists (SSA)

The Artists Information Company (A-N)