Julie Brooks, MEPSA’s 2019-2020 Featured Artist, is no newcomer to the world of model horses. She’s been collecting “Breyers and other horse shaped objects” since the tender age of five or six. Her customizing work includes re-sculpting and beautiful painting on both plastic and resin models.
Julie is an enthusiastic supporter of MEPSA, participating in the annual Makeover Challenge, and often winning. Drastic customs are her favorite kind, and over the years, she’s had a lot of practice making them.
In fact, the Makeover Challenge is the biggest draw to MEPSA for Julie.
“I had heard others talking about showing with MEPSA and I discovered they had an extreme makeover contest a few years ago. I love doing drastic CM’s so I had to get in on that.”
Julie began customizing around 1997. “Naturally the first were…well, a lot, were pretty horrid” she says. It’s hard to believe that when you see the precision and detail in her work today. Before putting a brush to a model horse, Julie drew.
“I used to draw pages and pages of horses when I was a kid.”
A pivotal moment in her art career came from an issue of JAH. “When I found out people actually painted the Breyer models, I had to give it a try and I was hooked!”
Somehow, Julie has managed to keep her herd to about 50 (that’s a typo, right?) models, including original finish, custom and resin horses, the bulk of them being traditional scale. And somehow, Julie hasn’t been bitten by the photo showing bug yet (we’ll have to work on that).
Julie is an awesome supporter of MEPSA…but since she isn’t showing with us at the moment, it begs the question…why does she do it?
“I love to support any venue or group that promotes the hobby in a positive way. MEPSA is such a great way for people to get into showing their models, learning how to make sure your tack and models are set up correctly, and using their imagination.”
Julie’s approach to art is open-minded and inclusive. “Learning techniques from other artists and supporting each other is important.” She acknowledges that there are many, many incredible artists in the model horse world today. Some of her personal favorites are Sue Kern, Juliane Garstka, D’Arry Jone Frank, Tiffany Purdy, Caroline Boydston, and Laurel Haig.
“That is hard to narrow down” Julie adds, “because I find inspiration in SO many artists. I follow many artists on FB and I draw inspiration from all of them.”
There is a mindset that seems to precede – or perhaps correspond with, the transformation of an artist from a beginner to whatever level of excellence they ultimately achieve. Julie summed up that mindset when I asked her what influenced her work, what she felt was important about the process, and what advice she would offer to new and emerging artists.
“Learning techniques from other artists and supporting each other.” No question that these are invaluable practices. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel and there’s nothing wrong with learning from those who have already mastered a technique of applying materials. And certainly no question that we rise together…by supporting one another, we create the creative environment and insure the success of everyone who participates.
For newcomers, Julie says “Never stop learning and finding ways to improve. Don’t compare your work to someone else who has more experience. It probably isn’t going to happen overnight, so keep practicing and making each piece of yours better than the last. Most of all, have fun! Don’t be afraid to back up or start over!”
Is it always easy? Of course not. We all face challenges, whether short or long term, or both.
“The difficulties I have struggled with are things like keeping my creative ideas going, continuing to press myself to improve and try things I’ve not tried before, and mostly trying not to compare myself to other artists.”
We are so grateful to have Julie Brooks in our company, and we look forward to her up and coming creations. You can follow Julie on Facebook – Julie Frazier Brooks.
Here’s Julie’s donation to MEPSA!
