Julie Bell
Julie Bell was born in Beaumont, Texas. As a former nationally ranked competitive bodybuilder, she applies the same discipline and intensity to her art career. Her knowledge of anatomy has allowed her to imbue her figures of humans and animals with grace and strength. At the heart of her work is a deep curiosity, honor, and respect for the world of emotions.
After having her heart captured by a pack of wolves at Lakota Wolf Preserve in 2001, Julie has also turned her attention to painting wildlife. She is earning her place among the top wildlife and western painters, winning awards and showing her work in exhibits throughout the USA and Europe. In the 2014 Art Renewal Center’s International Salon, she won 7 awards and two purchase awards, including 1st and 3rd in the Animal Category and 1st place in the Imaginative Realism Category. In November of 2015, she was awarded the Mountain Oyster Club’s Denise McCalla Memorial Top Choice Award. She was named a Living Master by the Art Renewal Center and was recently invited to show her equine paintings at the American Academy of Equine Arts Invitational Salon in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby.
Julie’s work in the fantasy and science fiction field has appeared on hundreds of book covers, comic books, trading cards, and various collectibles. Her work can be seen worldwide in major advertising campaigns, album covers, posters, and collectibles of all kinds.
Every year, she and her husband, Boris Vallejo, produce paintings for the highly anticipated Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell Fantasy Calendar published by Workman, now in its 36th year.
Julie’s work is represented by Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, Jackson, and Bozeman locations, Rehs Gallery, New York City, and Saks Gallery, Denver. She is a member of the California Art Club, The Art Renewal Center, and the Society of Animal Artists.
“When I’m painting animals with all their beauty and wild nature, I experience the kind of at-one-with-the-universe feeling described by people who meditate. It’s both soothing and exciting, the way nature itself is. I know without a doubt that this is what I was meant to do.”
