Being able to spend time interacting with and listening to Julia this morning was an incredible experience. Hearing about the creative process from her view was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the two large murals, each a zoomed in depiction of a larger ad. It was interesting to consider the little idiosyncrasies that exist in advertisements, and for her to draw attention to such minute details, to me, was fascinating. To make such a beautiful piece of art based off of a reflection or a minuscule section of an advertisement is something that at once seems both abstract and representational, and then to hear her motivation behind creating the pieces makes you realize that both are simultaneously correct.

Being able to hear an artist speak about their work and the motivation and struggle involved in creating it was enthralling. Also impressive was the ease with which she was able to field questions and provide in depth answers on the spot. My question, about the possible shift in art in the years to come based on the emergence of digital play and the decline of traditional forms of play, was one that I believed might be too loaded for her to provide a quick and well thought out response so early in the morning, but she provided me with an answer I found to be more than satisfactory.

The experience in it’s entirety was memorizing, and it made me appreciate her work all the more. It made me hope that I will be able to take part in such events again in the future.