Julie Ahmad
Updated: Jul 19, 2022
I have always been interested in both. My interest in art began first when I became interested in clothing and fashion when I was a child. I loved clothes and thought I wanted to be a clothing designer or make fabric. My mom used to buy and sell vintage clothing from our home, so I believe that is where my interest in clothing came from. I also loved art, My dad owned a restaurant on South Congress in the 70's, and when my sister and I used to go with him to work, we would visit his friends art studio that was above the restaurant. I remember loving going to the studio. He is still an artist in Austin, his name is Helmut Barnett.
I am the oldest of 5 siblings, teaching and being around kids comes natural to me. I am also a very curious and creative person, and love learning about everything so being an artist and a teacher allows that.
Yes! I learn about art from my students every day. I also learn more than just art. I learn how to be a better parent and person, they teach me patience, compassion, and to not take myself too seriously and to laugh at myself sometimes.
I love that when I have a plan for a project and I teach it to them, there is always something I learn from it because they see it different than I do. Whether it is still life, painting, collage, or anything, they have a perspective that we (adults) don't see. I also learn from their questions about artists I teach them about. They force me to think and explore more than I would ever do if I wasn't teaching.
My style of art and making art has changed since I began teaching only art because of my students. I am constantly reminding them that part of making art and creating is making mistakes and to keep going, and that we are all learning every day. I also learn so much about color from my students because they put colors together that I wouldn't see to do, and it looks beautiful. I am always so in love with their work. I love being an art teacher.
When I am working on an abstract painting, I am exploring color. I am trying new color combinations and placement but in a more free way. My mood is more free and playful but I have put in the work and thought process before beginning my abstract pieces. I think with those, I am just conveying that mood through my painting. When I first started out in the art world, I started with screen printing. I had a small screen printing business with a friend and we drew designs for pillowcases, duvet covers, tee shirts, and created handmade wedding invitations. We had to be very precise in our drawing and printing. I also recently took an illustration class,and one of the projects was to research scandinavian folk art (which I LOVE) and create patterns and product like designs from our illustrations. I love the patterns of birds, flowers, leaves, and animals in folk art. I had a sketchbook full of illustrations that I started creating into large paintings. I hope to have a series of those soon.
Frida just represents so many things. Strength, beauty, being brave, nature, animals, sadness, overcoming hardships, the desert, love, ...I have always loved Frida Kahlo. I taught a Frida Kahlo lesson to my art students, and ended up doing one of my own, and the other portraits came from that first one. I look at her work for inspiration.
My artwork changed when I became a mom. I made my business name, Demi and Olive, after my daughter and started to create art that could go in her room or nurseries. I still make a lot of pieces that can go in nurseries, or kids rooms. People sometimes ask me how I have time to paint and make art while being a mom, etc. It's just part of who I am, and it's almost a full time job now. I created my studio so that it's also Demi's studio so that if I am painting, she can paint or create too.The studio is always evolving based on my projects and if she's working on something, and if I am teaching art classes in the studio.