Julie Hollis Artist

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Julie Hollis Artist

Working from a studio on Scotland's beautiful southern coast, Julie creates artwork inspired by shoreline and woodland walks. Hi!

I'm a nature artist, capturing mostly the flora which surrounds my home in south west Scotland. Having lived in Dumfries and Galloway for the last 30+ years, I enjoy long walks gathering inspiration for work which I complete in my studio. I have a bijoux studio in the former office and shop of McMurray's old petrol station on Mews Lane (look for the Thames sign!) Formally known as the Royal Garage

, you'll see my sign above the door on the right hand side of the building. I work with paint, fibre and pixels, sometimes merging these into collage pieces. As a retired teacher I enjoy offering workshops, although the current size of my studio is playing havoc with my plans! Keep an eye open for online courses and me finding solutions! Oftentimes you'll find me at the studio and, if it's possible, you're welcome to visit. I have a calendar on the Contact page of my website offering availability.

06/09/2026

I’m on duty again today at PA Pop Up - Gatehouse of Fleet and I’ve been busying myself making a wee reel to show all of our lovely work!

05/09/2026

Sometimes I have no idea what to post on here. To be honest, I don’t think it makes any difference whatsoever. I’m pretty sure 1700 of the folk who allegedly follow me couldn’t care less either 😂 But, for the 33 of you that do - here’s a post just for you.

If you’ve visited my studio you’ll know it’s not big. Certainly not as big as the two shops I’ve had, with walls large enough to display massive pieces of work. I have managed to squeeze older works on the wall but, as my current work is smaller and on shelves, I just can’t put these larger pieces up. So they live under my bench. And that’s a huge shame.

During Spring Fling and KBT Art and Crafts Trail I displayed them in the garage, and I’m delighted to say that Orchids found a lovely new home. But the rest, well they’re back under the bench.

They all for sale at ridiculously low prices though, some half price. Half price! I’m working for nothing here.

So take pity on them (and me, the poor impoverished artist 🤣) and buy one please. I have ClearPay as a payment option, so you don’t even have to fork out for them in a oner.

And this reaches one of the 1700 - yay! Go me! 😘

04/09/2026

I’ve got the studio open today between 11 and 4.

I’ll be working in the other room though, so don’t get a shock when you hear a disembodied voice calling hello 🫣 I’ve scared the bejesus out of a few folk doing that 🤣

Next week will be my last Open Studio Friday.

02/09/2026

As you know, I’ve been making these concertina books based on ink sketches I did earlier this year. They are giclée printed and hardbound. Designed to last a lifetime.

During an open studio event I had another artist in who also made these types of books. This artist told me that I should rename them. I had been calling them Artist Books, as this is the genre I understand them to be. Apparently a gallery (not a local one, I hasten to add!) she put her own books into had called them Shelf Art, and said that the new title elevated their worth. And she implored me to do the same and then I could at least double the price.

Really? I’m pretty sure that you’re not that daft that you’d pay double for the same thing because it was called, what someone believed to be, a fancier name! To me this is exactly what I don’t like about some galleries, the ones that seem to want to price art out of the reach of ordinary people.

Well, guys, I’m really not like that. I shall continue to refer to my little concertina books as Artist Books. And I’ll continue to price them at a sensible price for all!

01/09/2026

Hello my lovelies! (Apologies if my over familiarity irks you, I’m just a friendly gal!)

I’m home and surrounded by more washing than an ordinary couple should generate over a few days. It’s a good job I like doing the laundry! So I’ve got time, in between washes, to share these pictures.

The first three are sketches I’ve done over the weekend, two from the back seat of the camper whilst waiting for the lovely exhibition organised by Sea Pyot Arts at Portpatrick to come to an end so that I could collect unsold work.

I was delighted to find that three pieces had sold, which was fantastic! Over the ten days that the exhibition was on over 1000 people had visited, which is amazing for a small venue in a little harbour town. Portpatrick has to be one of my favourite little harbour towns though, and I have to thank the The Harbour House Hotel for keeping me very well fed for the last two weekends! It’s always a challenge to find vegetarian food that is also gluten free, and they do it with me able to have more than one choice! Huge thanks to Jenny and the rest of the Sea Pyot Arts team for a well organised and friendly exhibition that I hope to return to next year.

Today’s art, however, will be the ancient art of laundry folding inspired by generations of laundry folders before me 😂

30/08/2026

I’m currently sitting looking out at Castlebay, Portpatrick on the Rhins of Galloway. Apparently we have some bad weather on its way, but at the moment I’m sitting outside of the camper sketching in a T-shirt in the sun. No doubt I’ll need to head inside soon!

I was speaking to a studio visitor on Friday, a fellow artist who seemed to be following a similar path to me in terms of learning to embrace sketching. We discussed papers, books and pencils and he recommended a particular graphite pencil. Turns out it’s the same one I’d already bought!

My current kit insists of various papers, ranging from old Amazon bags to proper sketchbooks, a Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite 9B pencil and a Y Plus watercolour box. I’m using water filled brushes, rather than carrying water around separately.

And I’m having a nice time! I’m not planning on walking into town because I’ve somehow hurt my knee, so walking anywhere has been a bit of a trial this last couple of weeks!

29/08/2026

This is my view for today!

I’m on duty at PA Pop Up - Gatehouse of Fleet, which will no doubt strike fear into the hearts of my fellow co-op members 😂 I do love a bit of admin 😜

While I’m here I’ll be making up some concertina cards, just to keep me out of trouble!

28/08/2026

I’ve been reusing Amazon bags by tearing them up and using them for sketches.

Torn up even smaller than this, I’ve got a ready source of paper which might ordinarily end up in recycling and is actually pretty good to sketch on!

And, if you’re a Slow Art Club subscriber you might find a little original in your envelope this coming month!

Ooo, and just a reminder that I’ve got the studio open today until 4!

27/08/2026

Today is a Slow Art Club day, when I'm finally ready to post these lovely envelopes to their intended recipients!

It's taken me all week to collate the parcels, adding some original artwork and some possibly unexpected extras too. It's always a joy to put these together, making each one a little bit different!

September's post is also the Autumn one, so expect a bit of Fall!

23/08/2026

Before leaving Portpatrick, I popped back into A Summer Exhibition put on by Sea Pyot Arts. There was a little thing I’d seen on the preview night and I wanted to go back and purchase.

This lovely pot named Owl Flight Path was created by the very lovely Lesley Clayton, and it’s now mine and sitting pride of place at home.

Address

Julie Hollis Art Studio, Royal Garage, 10 Mews Lane
Kirkcudbright
DG64HE

Website

https://www.juliehollis.co.uk/

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