Award-winning artist Julia Bringhurst Blake is known for her bold color palettes, expressive brushwork, and the emotional clarity of her symbolic paintings. Her work spans styles—from abstract to figurative—and often features recurring motifs such as vivid red poppies and stylized trees, which she uses to explore themes of transformation, growth, and continuity.Julia began her career as a professional artist in midlife and quickly found success. Within her first year, her paintings were acquired in more than 20 states and on three continents. She was recognized as a finalist for 40 Women to Watch Over 40, and she has trained privately at both the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work is now held in private collections located across more than twenty states, from Hawaii to Massachusetts.Deeply connected to New England, Julia lived in the region for two decades and credits it as a foundational influence in her development as a painter. Many of her early plein air works were inspired by the Maine landscape, and her distinctive red poppies first emerged from a spring garden in Boston after a long, gray winter. One of her most beloved places remains a little cabin on Peabody Pond in Sebago, Maine, where she continues to find inspiration.A mother of six, Julia balances family life with creative exploration. “I try to paint fearlessly,” she says. “I’m always pushing myself to try something unexpected, to create work that feels both fresh and deeply resonant.”She was also co-founder of The Artist Common, a creative collective housed in a historic New England church that supported artists at all stages of their careers.To hear Julia discuss her creative process and the meaning behind her work, watch her interview on Radio Maine.