La Datcha: illustration, photos, etc.

As a first post, here is a little bit about me and this blog…

The “young” years

My name is Julie. I was born in Montreal (Canada) but I grew up in Abitibi, Douala (Africa) and the Laurentians, just to name a few! As you can guess, my parents liked to travel. It seems that I inherited the gene, at least for a while since I traveled on my own for a year in Australia, followed by a few months in Europe and then went on to explore different places in Quebec. I have now more of less settled down.

The “not so young” years

My boyfriend and I currently rent a little house in the Eastern Townships; our backyard consists of hundreds of acres of wood, and a little frog friendly lake in front of the house. The place is really peaceful and quiet, which is quite a change after so many years in Montreal.

The frog friendly lake in question

This new place was the perfect spot to get back to what I used to do most: drawing and creating objects. I had never completely stopped, but since computers came into my life, creation had switched into a virtual mode.

As far as I can remember, I have always felt the need to create things. Drawings and objects as a kid and later on photography, modelage, prints, furniture recycling, etc. One of my first memories is making tiny boats out of nut shells.

Studies and work

I studied Fine Arts in Saint-Jérôme and Montreal. My interest for multimedia came later on and I completed a degree in Rouyn-Noranda followed by another one in Montreal. I have worked as an artist’s assistant, as a shop decorator (mostly murals) and as an art project manager. I also had very boring jobs that were fast forgotten. Since 2001, I work as a website designer at Datcha Web, my company.

Other interests

When I’m not sitting in front of the computer or staring at a blank sheet of paper, I like to spend time in the vegetable garden. I love to grow heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. for their weird shapes, colors and taste. I also read a lot and in an effort not to turn into a potato couch/computer, I swim, run, bike, snowshoe or cross-country ski. Cooking also consumes a good part of my days, so does eating.

And in conclusion…

This site will be a journal about my journey back into a not so virtual creation. You will probably find here a little bit of my daily life, the things that inspire me and what comes out of it.

I appreciate feedback so if you wish to leave comments you can do so in French, English or Spanish (not really fluent in Spanish but it will be good practice!)

You can also find me at:
www.datcha.ca/julie (my job as a website designer)
www.flickr.com/photos/20983499@N00/ (Flickr account)