Background
Julie Bell was born on October 21, 1958, in Beaumont, Texas, United States. She is a daughter of an architect and an artist.
She has two younger sisters.
Julie Bell in front of her award-winning 'Speak Softly'.
495 N Indian Creek Dr, Clarkston, GA 30021, United States
Georgia Piedmont Technical College where Julie Bell studied painting and color theory.
4400 S M L King Jr Pkwy, Beaumont, TX 77705, United States
The Wayne A. Reaud Building of Lamar University where Julie Bell studied painting under Jerry Newman.
1005 N Abbe Rd, Elyria, OH 44035, United States
The Library of the Lorain County Community College where Julie Bell attended art classes beginning in 1983.
1871 Old Main Dr, Shippensburg, PA 17257, United States
The aerial view of Shippensburg University where Julie Bell attended art classes since 1987.
2018
5150 Game Preserve Rd, Schnecksville, PA 18078, United States
Julie Bell with a framed print of her painting, Sunrise Sentinel, at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, which features two of their Mexican Gray Wolves. The image was used for their Annual benefit Gala on October 13, 2018 at the Lehigh Valley Country Club.
2018
242 N 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States
Julie Bell with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf in front of her painting 'A Wolf Tradition' at Stanek Gallery in Philadelphia.
2018
Julie Bell with Dakota Snow in front of 'Venus Clothed in Flowers'.
Julie Bell in front of her award-winning 'Speak Softly'.
Julie Bell at work.
Julie Bell with a couple of her wolf paintings.
Julie Bell painting.
Julie Bell paints in a company of her dog.
Julie Bell painting.
2018
5150 Game Preserve Rd, Schnecksville, PA 18078, United States
Julie Bell with a framed print of her painting, Sunrise Sentinel, at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, which features two of their Mexican Gray Wolves. The image was used for their Annual benefit Gala on October 13, 2018 at the Lehigh Valley Country Club.
2018
Julie Bell with her husband Boris Vallejo waiting for the new Nicholas Cage movie, 'Mandy' which features her art.
2018
242 N 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States
Julie Bell with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf in front of her painting 'A Wolf Tradition' at Stanek Gallery in Philadelphia.
2018
Julie Bell with Dakota Snow in front of 'Venus Clothed in Flowers'.
Julie Bell
Julie Bell
495 N Indian Creek Dr, Clarkston, GA 30021, United States
Georgia Piedmont Technical College where Julie Bell studied painting and color theory.
4400 S M L King Jr Pkwy, Beaumont, TX 77705, United States
The Wayne A. Reaud Building of Lamar University where Julie Bell studied painting under Jerry Newman.
1005 N Abbe Rd, Elyria, OH 44035, United States
The Library of the Lorain County Community College where Julie Bell attended art classes beginning in 1983.
1871 Old Main Dr, Shippensburg, PA 17257, United States
The aerial view of Shippensburg University where Julie Bell attended art classes since 1987.
‘Gentle Path’ by Bell purchased in 2016 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas for $3,000.
Julie Bell with a dog.
Julie Bell at work.
Julie Bell with a couple of her wolf paintings.
Julie Bell painting.
Julie Bell paints in a company of her dog.
Julie Bell painting.
Julie Bell in a hat made by one of her younger sisters.
Julie Bell in a wolf-style hat.
Boris Vallejo, Bell's husband and colleague.
An artist and illustrator David Palumbo, one of Bell's sons from first marriage.
Jerry Newman taught Julie Bell at Lamar University.
A sculptor Wolf Niessen, one of Julie Bell's mentors.
artist illustrator painter Photographer
Julie Bell was born on October 21, 1958, in Beaumont, Texas, United States. She is a daughter of an architect and an artist.
She has two younger sisters.
Having a father architect and an artistic mother, Julie Bell has developed a sense of beauty since her early years in Beaumont, Texas.
In 1970, her parents divorced, and Julie relocated with her mother and sisters to Atlanta. The subsequent years were quite challenging because she had to change five schools always adjusting to new realities. Although, it was this time when she attended drawing classes which helped her to choose the direction of her further career.
After graduation, Bell enrolled at DeKalb Community College (currently Georgia Piedmont Technical College) in Atlanta where she concentrated on studying drawing and discovered the color theory.
Then, she pursued her artistic studies at Lamar University in her native Beaumont. While there, one of her mentors was a wildlife artist and professor of painting, Jerry Newman. In 1978, Julie Bell moved with her first husband, Donald Palumbo, to Marquette, Michigan. The sculptor Wolf Niessen who became her teacher there encouraged Bell as a professional artist though she wasn’t certain about herself.
Five years later, Bell and Palumbo moved to Ohio where Bell continued to develop her art skills attending drawing classes at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, near Cleveland. In 1987, the family settled down in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where Julie enrolled at art classes at Shippensburg University.
Julie Bell made first steps in her long artistic path after the birth of her sons in the early 1980s when she illustrated two local children’s books while living in Michigan.
After she relocated with her family to Ohio in 1983, Bell eventually added to her passion for art the interest to bodybuilding and powerlifting. Soon, she became a competitive female bodybuilder winning lots of awards at national contests. One day, one of the competition promoters proposed her to serve as a model for an artist Boris Vallejo. It was a turning point in Bell’s life, both personal and professional. The modeling sessions brought Bell and Vallejo closer together, and soon they formed a family. Vallejo encouraged his beloved to continue her professional path as an artist. So, the meeting gave rise to Bell’s mature work.
At the end of the 1980s, Julie Bell began to take photos of her own models to create her paintings. The use of shiny chrome textures on one of such images impressed the British publisher Hubert Schaafsma of Paper Tiger Books. As a result, the picture covered an issue of Heavy Metal in 1990, and Bell produced a portfolio consisting of twenty fantasy paintings with “metal flesh” as a subject.
From 1990 to 1996, the artist worked on the illustrations for Marvel Comics and DC Comics. She illustrated covers for many video games and famous trading cards of the time, such as the Silver Surfer, Iron Man, and Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe video game by the Sega Game Gear. Along with her husband, Boris Vallejo, she also collaborated with The Franklin Mint. The couple created an annual image of Destiny sculpture series, Mistress of the Dragon's Realm dagger series, and the Temptation Rides sculpture series.
Since the end of the decade, Bell and Vallejo have worked on projects for major advertising campaigns of such giants as Ford Motor Company, Nike, Coca-Cola, Toyota and Proctor & Gamble’s Old Spice line. Besides, Julie Bell provided the images for four albums of an American singer Meat Loaf, including ‘Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose’, ‘Hang Cool Teddy Bear’, ‘Crossroads’, and ‘Braver Than We Are’. The poster for the 2007 animation movie ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ was also designed by Bell.
The millennium furnished the artist with new ideas and directions. Working on a series of book covers for Tor Books of New York and author Jane Lindskold, Bell discovered the world of wildlife. After the publication of one of the books, ‘Through Wolf’s Eye’, she visited the Lakota Wolf Preserve in New Jersey to take photos of the animals. The emotions and interactions between animals she observed nourished her artistic mind. Since then, the artist has created lots of paintings trying to express the tiny nuances of emotions emerged from the non-verbal communications between human beings and animals. Wildlife and western art has occupied an important place in Bell’s art.
In 2015, Julie Bell was appointed a juror for the Art Renewal Center International Salon. A year later, her artworks were featured at the Imaginative Realism exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum, alongside the art of such Victorian painters as Edward Burne-Jones and John William Waterhouse, and American Golden Age illustrators Howard Pyle and N. C. Wyeth.
Nowadays, Julie Bell lives and works with her husband Boris Vallejo in Pennsylvania. Each year, Workman Publishing issues Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell Fantasy Calendar consisting of 13 paintings. Bell regularly exhibits throughout the United States. One of her recent solo shows is 2019 'Julie Bell: Lush' at Rehs Gallery in New York City.
The art of Julie Bell is represented by Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, Jackson, and Bozeman locations, Rehs Gallery, New York City, and Saks Gallery, Denver.
Julie Bell is considered as one of the principle figures in imaginative realism whose wildlife paintings and fantasy illustrations are widely recognized in the United States and Europe.
An accomplished and prolific artist and illustrator, Bell has created the cover illustrations for more than 100 fantasy and science fiction books and magazines during over three decades of her career. Her fantastic images have been also used all over the world by lots of major comic books, trading cards, album covers, and various collectibles.
Julie Bell is a many-times recipient of the prizes and Honorable Mentions from the Art Renewal Center’s International Salon and the Portrait Society of America in various categories. She has also obtained such awards as Chesley Award (twice), American Artists Professional League’s Jack Richeson Award, Society of Animal Artists Southwest Art Editor’s Choice Award, Denise Mcalla Award for People’s Choice, and others. In 2013, the Art Renewal Center gave her a title of a Living Master.
In 2016, ‘Gentle Path’ by Bell was purchased at Heritage Auctions in Dallas for $3,000.
A Dream About a Dragon and a Tree
Flamingos
Paradise Green
Little Sister
Blue Note
Bridge
Aldebaran
Behind the Veil
Nyads
In Circe's World
Wild Dog and Spirit Lion
Bride of Night
Well of Shades
Makini
A Wolf Tradition
Twins at Heart
Champion
Emerald Eyes
Sheltered
Debi's Candy
Backstage Jitters
Madison River Morning
Jackson Overlook
Answer the Wind
Speak Softly
Me and My Baby
Wave
Red Fox
Protected
Secrets
Tenderly
Juno Aquarius
Big Oscar
They Never Forget
Quotations:
"The very fact that a large part of our brain is all about emotion and communication is proof that connection with others is a vital part of our survival."
"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."
"I had just started my career as an illustrator and I told them that "I want to be a Heavy Metal-ballerina-cowgirl". I think the spirit of these different parts of myself has always been at the core of my work. I just love that combination of gracefulness and badass, completely in tune with nature. So I don't see myself moving away from fantasy because the fantasy world is so open and allows for experiment."
Julie Bell is a member of the California Art Club, the Art Renewal Center, and the Society of Animal Artists.
Julie Bell married her first husband, a scientist and writer Donald E. Palumbo whom she met while studying at Lamar University, in 1978. The family produced two sons named Anthony and David. Both of them succeed later as artists. Julie and Donald divorced in 1987.
Seven years later, Bell formed a family with an artist Boris Vallejo. Serving as a model for Boris’s paintings, Julie first appreciated the artist’s approach to color and painting techniques and asked his opinion about her own works. Vallejo advised her to abandon modeling and concentrate on art.
