I'm Julia Robinson, a landscape painter based in Colorado, primarily working in soft pastels and watercolor. My artwork expresses a longing for places and, particularly, moments spent in nature. All my landscapes stem from real experiences, and in them I wish to capture the spirit of those fleeting times, while also contributing my own story as the reverent observer.

Colorado and the American West play a large role in my work. My process begins with their calling, and that leads me on my search. Sometimes that takes me on a true adventure, where I'll travel far to camp and hike for a location, but many times I don't wander far at all. I walk until I come upon something undeniable. What I love to find are fleeting moments where the light tells a story. Over time, that search has become its own skill: learning to recognize what's special before it disappears, and translating it into a composition that works.

I think of my practice as an ongoing study, with the medium changing when the problem changes. I picked up pastels when I shifted my subject focus from portraiture to landscapes. After seven years of working exclusively in watercolor, I discovered that my long-process watercolor technique, which worked in my portraits, didn't suit the fast-paced nature of outdoor painting. As plein air became a passion of mine, I felt drawn to pastels for their immediacy and painterly effects. Nonetheless, I plan to continue using watercolor as a parallel practice and to return to the occasional portrait when the time is right.

I’m always curious what a landscape brings up for you. Memory has its own geography, and viewers complete the work in their own way. I sincerely thank you for being here. I hope you find more places that feel undeniable, whether on canvas or in life.