JULIE COPE

Julie Cope was born in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1958 before moving to London in 1977 and eventually relocating to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1980
Julie studied at the Jacob Kramer College (now renamed Leeds College of Art, in the north of England. She began her career as a commercial artist in Leeds, before her move to South Africa and a brief career in the advertising industry in the heart of Johannesburg.
She currently divides her time between Bettys Bay in the Western Cape and Whitby, North Yorkshire in the UK. In both locations, Julie has the sea on her doorstep. The vast Atlantic Ocean in South Africa set against the majestic backdrop of the Kogelberg Mountains. In the UK, the rugged North Sea slowly erodes the North East coastline and is shrouded by the brooding North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

Africa has had a deep and abiding effect on her work and continues to be an exciting and diverse pivot that inspires her daily. Spending time exploring nature in all its guises, in one of only 7 biospheres in the world, is a privilege that Julie never takes for granted.

Conversely, the Yorkshire coastline and surrounding moorland, offers ever-changing opportunities to create evocative compositions that are subtly different from her work in Southern Africa.