Artworks by Julia Swaby

Julia is an abstract expressionist painter working in oils. Her work is organic and nebular, avoiding sharp edges and angles to provide a sense of calm or motion. Some work is informed by nature, especially sea and skyscapes, influenced by her coastal home town in Hastings and previously, her home in Landes de Gascogne, which continues to exert influence on her ethereal landscapes. Other work is a documentation of her encounters in prayer and meditation, pursuing a channel to the essential self.

Having lectured in philosophy and theology, Julia is interested in the pursuit of the aesthetic, as outlined by Dietrich von Hildebrand. Von Hildebrand claimed that beauty in art is not a luxury, but is 'life-giving'. Julia's paintings are hence a conversation with states of being and with God. Harmony and peace are motifs in composition and palette.