Making connections

Painter and supporter of artists, Barnet’s Julia Elmore is a creative force

- Sandra Smith

Julia Elmore’s hands are an endlessly shifting spectacle, interpreting every enthusiastic observation she makes on art and on life. Whether her early notion of going into fashion design, a love of woodland or adorning the windows of her home with paintings to brighten the gloom of lockdown, each topic is accompanied by her animated hands. And why not? They are not only one of this artist’s tools of the trade but play another important role too.

‘As a child I was always doodling in class. What I came to realise as an adult was that is how I concentrate, when my hands are occupied. Even chopping vegetables is quite meditative, a way of calming myself.’

I can’t imagine Julia anything other than calm. And as well as a knack of taking things in her stride, laughter also comes easily to the 48-year-old. Her career has not taken a traditional route, but enjoyment and positivity have remained a constant factor.

Fondly recalling her BA course in ceramics, we return to a central theme. ‘Ceramics is very tactile and at uni I did hand-building rather than throwing. I loved kneading clay and coiling pots. But within my first term a tutor told me there’s no living to be made out of ceramics, which threw me a bit.