Celtic Ogham symbol symbolising the Oak as a door between worlds.

About

Julie Williams Artist Hill End NSW Studio
Julie Williams Artist Freshwater Sydney Ocean Pool and Paintings

Julie Williams is an artist who inhabits the hyphen; the space between two worlds. As a consequence she is constantly exploring liminal spaces though her artwork, which itself bridges mediums and moves fluidly between genres. 

The visual tension created by the placement of elements - the volcano, mine shaft, gate, chimney, tree, split rock, or waterfall - engender an excitement which is at once unsettling and mystifying. 

Whilst this theme emerged organically in Julie’s student work over 25 years ago, it has unified her entire art practice and taken on more conscious symbolic meaning with the passing of time. New perspectives on the matter/spirit split have revealed themselves through experiencing her mother’s death, traditional ceremonial practices and meditation. Julie’s abstraction now seeks to both allow access to and delineate these two worlds. 

With dedicated artist studios in both Sydney and Hill End, her focus on painting has broken away from both realism and descriptive colour with a trajectory towards the abstract that remains as yet another source of tension in her work.  

Contact Julie by email at juliewilliams100@hotmail.com or via Instagram at Julie Williams Artist

Julie Williams in her artist studio with easel, paintings, and art supplies.
Julie Williams Artist Portland Cement Factory
Julie Williams Artist in Hill End NSW standing next to a large piece of artwork on a wooden board, outdoors by a small building with metal siding and a pitched roof.
Celtic Ogham symbol symbolising the Oak as a door between worlds.

Education

  • 2022 Drawing Marathon NYS, Hill End, Fran O’Neil

  • 2016 Docent, The National Gallery, Singapore

  • 2005 Post Graduate Diploma Education, Visual Art. UTS, NSW

  • 2004 Classical Oil Painting Techniques, Grosvenor Studio, Sydney, Michelle Hiscock

  • 2003 Drawing Marathon NAS, Sydney, David Serisier

  • 2001- 2003 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting Major - Distinction National Art School, Darlinghurst, NSW

  • 2001 New York School Drawing Marathon, David Serisier, NAS

  • 1997 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Fine Arts Diploma

  • 1980 Bachelor of Arts, Ealing Polytechnic, London, UK 

Julie has taught painting at Willoughby Arts Centre, assisted on a National Art School short course program and is currently a Secondary School Teacher at SDEHS Creative and Performing Arts, Sydney.

Julie Williams was born in the UK, spent her early twenties in France, then migrated to Sydney, Australia in 1980. Here she built a career as a professional artist after attending the National Art School. In 2014 Julie moved to Asia, living and practicing in Singapore for five years. She traveled widely through South East Asia, and spent a large amount of time painting and drawing in Jogjakarta on the Island of Java, Indonesia. Julie studied Asian Art at NAS and has always had an interest in cross-cultural influences.

Julie owns a home and studio in Hill End, NSW, where she continues to investigate the history of this gold rush town. Julie’s Hill End studio has been both a connection to artistic community and to the land which deeply informs her practice. A regular touchpoint for dedicated time for contemplation and art-making throughout the years, it has become symbolic of her need for both space and connection.

Her conceptual, contemporary artworks with historical references found a new direction through developing a print practice at The Singapore Tyler Print Institute. Julie also recently completed an artist’s residency in Portland, NSW.

Julie William’s latest artworks, out of her studio collective in Freshwater, Sydney, use reflective light, geometric form and the syncopation of a high key palette to play with abstraction of the landscape and placement of elements to broach the familiar theme of the tension between worlds.

Celtic Ogham symbol symbolising the Oak as a door between worlds.

Hill End and Freshwater Studios

Julie Williams Artist Hill End large oak tree with prayer flags and a wooden fence in the background
Julie Williams Artist Freshwater NSW Art Studio Easel Paintings
Julie Williams' Hill End artist studio, a rustic building with a chimney.
Julie Williams Artist Hill End panoramic view of a rolling mountain landscape and split rock with scattered trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Julie Williams Artist studio Hill End NSW rustic cabin with porch, metal water tank, and metal roof, surrounded by grass and trees.
Julie Williams Artist Hill End NSW oak tree large, leafless tree with multiple branches, set within a fenced area in a yard, against a backdrop of greenery and clear blue sky.
Celtic Ogham symbol symbolising the Oak as a door between worlds.

Timeline of practice

Awards/Residencies

2024 Squatters Cottage, The Foundations, Portland, NSW

2017 Jumaadi-Rumah Lebah Studio, Imogiri, Indonesia

2004 Paddington Art Prize Finalist

2010 Paddington Art Prize Finalist

2011 Paddington Art Prize Finalist

2004 NAS Art Prize, Residency at Lawson Hill Estate, Mudgee, NSW

2003 Landscape painting prize for outstanding work, NAS.

Solo Exhibitions

2026 Solo Exhibition Damien Minton Presents, Sydney, NSW

2026 Solo Exhibition Hill End Art Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2018 Solo Exhibition Sheffer Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2017 Solo Exhibition, White Tiger, Travers Art Space, Singapore

2013 Solo Exhibition, Project Space WPC, Dubbo, NSW

2012 Solo Exhibition Jean Bellette Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2012 Solo Exhibition Jayes Gallery, Molong, NSW

2011 Solo Exhibition Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW

2004 Solo Exhibition, Frameworks, Sydney, NSW

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025 Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Niipaluna/Hobart, Tasmania

2025 From The Studio, Hill End Art Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2024 'Nothing Mini About Mighty 7' Sydney Road Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2023 Art on the Side, Hill End Art Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2023 Drawing Marathon Exhibition, Hill End Art Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2022 Hill End Art Gallery Drawing Exhibition, Hill End, NSW

2022 From the Studio, the Artists of Hill End, Hill End Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2022 Paint 2022 Relationships and Limitations, RANT gallery, Devonport, Tasmania.

2022 Paint 2022 Relationships and Limitations, Poimena Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania

2021 Hill End Survey Show, Hill End Gallery, NSW

2020 ION Gallery Singapore, Postcards from lockdown, Orchard Road, Singapore

2017                'From the Ocean to the Silver City...', Australian High Commission, Singapore  

2017  Misty Mountain Project

2017 Rumah Lebah Studio, Imogiri, Indonesia

2017                 Contemporary Art In a Sacred Site of Imogiri, Parallel ART JOG, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2017                 The Hill End Table, La Paloma Pottery, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW

2017                 Nyonya Identification, Chantal Travers Art Space, Singapore

2017                 The Art Lounge, F1, Singapore

2016                 SceneShang, Singapore

2016                 Contact Sheet Gallery , Sydney

2016 Bathurst Regional Gallery, 'In the Studio' Exhibition, Hill End, NSW

2015 Group Exhibition, Woolfe Works, Singapore

2015 Group Exhibition, Jean Bellette Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2014 'The Art of Landscape' Michael Reid, Murrurundi, NSW

2014 Group Exhibition, Jayes Gallery, Molong, NSW

2014 Group Exhibition, Jean Bellette Gallery, Hill End, NSW

2013 The Long View, Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo Regional Gallery, NSW

2013 Group Exhibition, Jayes, Molong, NSW

2013 Group Exhibition, Jean Bellette Gallery NSW                              

2013 Group Exhibition, Olsen/Irwin at Jayes Gallery, NSW                               

2012 Group Exhibition, Charles Hewitt, Sydney, NSW

2011 Group Exhibition, Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, NSW

2011 Paddington Art Prize, Sydney, NSW

2011 Group Exhibition, Open Studio, Jean Bellette Gallery

2010 Paddington Art Prize, Sydney, NSW

2010 Group Exhibition, Jean Bellette Gallery ,NSW          

2009 Out of Hill End, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney  

2008 Group Exhibition, Jean Bellette Gallery, NSW               

2007 Shelf Life, The Delmar Gallery, Sydney

2006 Inaugural Exhibition, NPWS Jean Bellette Gallery

2005 Sydney Stock Exchange, Exchange Square, Sydney

2005 84 Chains Due South - An Exploration, La Paloma Gallery                               

2004 Paddington Art Prize, Sydney, NSW

2004 Classical Oil Painting, Royal Institute of Architects, Potts Point, Sydney.

2003 Group Exhibition, Parliament House, Sydney

2003 Curated exhibition NAS Cell Block, Sydney

2003 Group exhibition, NAS Stairwell Gallery, Sydney