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Julia Rogers
Julia Rogers |
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| You can almost feel the heat, the
sand and the beauty of the landscape. In her new work, “A Vantage Point,” the
mother cheetah seems to stand protectively at attention, sensing your very presence.
Painting African wildlife is a dream come true, says Rogers, who has been painting and
drawing since she was a child. “I always dreamed of going to Africa, and each time I go, as soon as I start home, I think about when I can go back.” Rogers and her fiancée, fellow wildlife artist Matthew Hillier, have traveled to Africa four times in the past six years, researching subject matter. In addition to the animals and the landscape, Rogers enjoys interaction with the native people of Africa. “The people, like the landscape, are beautiful,” she says. Rogers mother was an artist, and her father an avid outdoor sportsman. She grew up in Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay. During her childhood, visits to a nine-acre home on one of Maryland’s famous rivers gave her the opportunity to develop her own love of the outdoors. “I spent a lot of time outside swimming in the river and collecting turtles, frogs and rabbits,” says Rogers. Her exposure to larger animals came when she accompanied her father on hunting trips for deer and elk. In the future, Rogers says, she hopes to have more exposure to North American wildlife. “I like to paint big game, and I paint mostly African animals, but that is only because I’ve been there many times and have been exposed to those animals. I don’t yet have the experience to paint the North American big game.” Rogers is a member of the Society of Animal Artists, and has exhibited in its juried annual exhibitions. She also has been a regular participant in the Southeastern Wildlife Expo, and has exhibited at the Waterfowl Festival of Easton, Md., for six years. Her work also has been exhibited at Oklahoma’s Gilcrease Museum, and the Hiram Blauvelt Museum in New Jersey, and is a part of many private collections around the world. |
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