Hello…My name is Jūratė Phillips (pron: You-ra-te) but I am called Yura, mostly because people cannot pronounce my name correctly. I grew up in Soviet occupied Lithuania. I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. After graduating from Šiaulių Universitetas in Lithuania, where I was classically trained in painting and design, I came to the United States in 1997 where I graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design (2002). Now I reside in Columbus, Ohio with my wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter.
After working as an interior designer, freelance artist and teaching art, I returned to my first love, which is painting. I am a full-time artist, designer, wife, gardener, mother and cake maker extraordinaire. My life is chaotic at best, even on calm days. I wish that I had more time in a day. Even so, I must create. Abraham Maslow described it best “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.”So like the poet and musician I must create. I find my peace when the brush is in my hand and color is on the canvas.
All my work is happy and meant to give comfort and satisfaction. I am not dealing with suffering and things that are hard. I want to create a positive energy. I want to get up in the morning, be positive and add some good things to the universe. I don't need to emphasize the bad. I want to show the good in everything. I despise monotony! It's the unexpected that's the spice of life.
What is my painting style? Today our contemporary art world intermixes with different painting styles, techniques and mediums. I think we don’t need to place any labels anymore. There’s no rule to say I must use only one style in a painting. It is entirely up to me. I am the artist, I am the boss, and it is my painting. I just believe that art should reach deep within us to touch our heart and soul. To evoke memories and emotions. To remind us of our hopes and dreams.
I am inspired when something different draws my attention. Not different for difference sake, but different in being creative, fresh in a new way. Today, when I enter a room, I want to feel a painting. I want its color and design to grab me and seduce me, engaging me in its content. I love to get caught up in the inexplicable power of colors and shapes that evoke a range of emotions in me. My emotions dictate what I will paint. One day I will do a landscape, another an abstract, or I might be inspired by a simple flowers bloom. I often paint while listening to music and enjoying a cup of gourmet coffee.
Much like the flowers that inspire my paintings each work is like a seed spouts, grows and eventually blooms to be enjoyed by someone else. I get the most joy out of appreciation shown for each work by others.
I also specialize in commission work for residential homes, offices, corporate and public spaces.
I would like to sincerely thank you for visiting Gourmet Art Studio and I hope you enjoy viewing my work as much as I've enjoyed creating it to satisfy my own vision.
For more about me, my artwork and how to purchase please visit my website www.GourmetArtStudio.com
Warmest and best wishes!
Jūratė
