Artist Bio – Julie Herwitt

My artistic path has been anything but a straight line. As a young girl I was always drawing and doing crafts. I would save my allowance so I could buy books at the local art store on things like sand art, macrame, and tin can furniture (it was the 60s). As a teenager I taught myself to sew and decided I would become a fashion designer. Somehow, instead, I became a CPA. Then in my late 30’s I went back to art school, obtaining a degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in painting. While I was starting to gain momentum with my night paintings, I started working on my own as a CPA. My CPA firm grew so rapidly that I quickly had little time to paint. In 2018 I bought a home in Brown County, which inspired me to sell my accounting firm and move here full time.

In November 2019, after looking at the work of a local weaver, I was so inspired I was up all-night drawing designs for fun, creative bags that women would love to wear. I bought some fabric and got to work! Another local fiber artist had piles of fabric samples from an upholstery company, so I started upcycling those into one-of-a-kind bags and accessories. I love putting together fabrics and buttons in artistic ways. All my bags are large enough for all our essentials; cellphone, keys, glasses, credit cards. Most bags have two interior pockets and one exterior pocket.

I still paint night scenes, although living in the natural beauty of Brown County is also influencing my paintings. I am especially drawn to dusk, when the sky often turns magical shades of blue providing a contrast for the warmth of the city lights.