Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Paige.
Hi Julia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in New York in 1970 to Italian-American parents who valued education, hard work, and the pursuit of a sensible career. From an early age, however, I was a curious, imaginative, strong-willed child who had my own way of doing things. I was a voracious reader, fascinated by everything from history and science to literature and the mysteries of human nature. I wanted to question the rules, rearrange the pieces, and make sense of the world through my own eyes. My father once described me as “torrential,” a fitting word for a child who felt deeply, questioned everything and struggled to find her place in the world. Although art was appreciated in my family, it was not encouraged as a practical career path. Instead, I followed a winding road through creativity, education, design, and entrepreneurship, often feeling like an outsider while navigating personal insecurities and social anxiety. I can see that the very qualities that made growing up challenging also became the foundation of my artistic voice: my curiosity, empathy, independence, and desire to understand the world beyond its surface.
My journey into adulthood was equally colorful, challenging, and creative. I graduated from SUNY Buffalo College in New York with a Bachelor of Science in Language Arts Education and a strong concentration in Fine Arts, all while raising my two young sons. In the early 1990s, we moved to Miami, where I spent many years teaching, pursued graduate studies in Montessori education and worked with students across diverse educational settings, including at-risk youth and gifted learners. Miami opened up an extraordinary world of cultures, music, art, and people, deepening my appreciation for our shared humanity. Alongside teaching and raising my family, I organized cultural and creative events, supported musicians and artists, wrote for other creatives, tutored, mentored and developed entrepreneurial ventures. I eventually became a mother of four, raising my children as a single mother, while working to provide for our family. After moving my family to Oregon, we began a new chapter, I continued to teach and eventually developed Tuff Love Design, an eco-fashion, up cycled clothing business, featuring my artwork.
The turning point in my artistic evolution came in 2013, when a serious illness and three spinal surgeries dramatically changed my life. During a difficult recovery that limited my mobility, painting became both a refuge and a necessity. With my world temporarily made smaller by physical limitations, I turned inward and began translating my thoughts, emotions, memories, and observations into visual form. What had once been one creative pursuit among many became something much more profound. Painting offered me a freedom I had struggled to find elsewhere: the freedom to express the complexities of my inner world without needing to explain or justify them. In the process, I discovered that art could hold contradictions, vulnerability, strength, and uncertainty all at once. It became a way to reclaim my voice, reconnect with myself, and transform difficult experiences into something meaningful. Although creativity had always been part of my identity, this period marked the beginning of a more dedicated and deeply personal relationship with painting.
By my late forties, I began fully embracing my identity as a fine artist. Although, I am still an ‘emerging fine artist’, launching, Juju Rootz Art in 2022, marked a milestone, a transition from a lifelong creative and designer to a multidisciplinary painter committed to developing my own distinct artistic voice. Today, my work encompasses abstract, expressionist, portrait, and figurative painting, bringing together years of observation, emotional depth, experimentation, and lived experience.
My artistic journey has been an inner one as well as a technical one: learning and practicing new techniques, to trust my instincts, become vulnerable through my work, and to release the insecurities that once kept me from fully claiming my place as an artist. I now see every chapter of my life—motherhood, teaching, entrepreneurship, struggle, recovery, and self-discovery—as part of the creative foundation from which I paint. Art is both my passion and my medicine, allowing me to explore the complexity of being human and create work that invites emotional connection, reflection, and a deeper appreciation for our shared humanity. Today, I am building my legacy through painting, exhibiting, publishing, and sharing my work, committed to a lifelong practice of artistic growth, authentic expression, and discovery.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In many ways, it has been a very challenging road, navigating being a single mother of four, teaching full time and handling the financial responsibilities of my family. As well as going through such a serious illness and three spinal surgeries that dramatically changed my life. During a difficult recovery that limited my mobility, I had a mantra, “further, farther, faster’, I would tell myself this everyday, as I began to practice walking again. It taught me self determination, both in my healing recovery, and also my burgeoning devotion to becoming an artist. Painting became both a refuge and a necessity. With my world temporarily made smaller by my physical limitations, I turned inward and began translating my thoughts, emotions, memories, and observations into painting. Also, painting offered me a freedom I had struggled to find elsewhere: the freedom to express the complexities of my inner world without needing to explain or justify them. I found my silver linings in all that we went through, and gained some profound insights as well as being so very grateful for surviving my illness and being able to walk and continue to care for my family which is my greatest accomplishment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My artistic evolution has traveled through many transformations, from portraits, figurative and abstract expressionism. Employing many mediums, from working with batik, acrylic, oil, cold wax and oil to collage. I am attentive to design elements, color and line, shape and form. Much of my work contains influences from nature, memories, observations, hidden strengths and messages of resilience. Experimenting across disciplines and media to best express my unique voice that could hold both the abstract and the figurative. Along the way I embraced the role of expressionist, letting intuition shape composition while finding ways to give those feelings form.
I painted a series of expressive representational acrylic portraits, the collection, entitled, In Her Temple which focuses on the strengths and resiliences and beautiful diversity of women. I think it was born out of the struggles I had personally been through, but also my need to honor and express the beauty I see in all women. Another, series consists of 100 dynamic mixed media portraits reflecting observations of human emotion, conditions, and connection. Currently, working on a series of large scale abstract paintings, and just finished a series called Navigating Visions a series of 22 abstract paintings.
I think I am known through all of my work, from designing clothing, teaching, to my expressionist portraits and now my abstract paintings. I love that I have been able to share my work in group exhibitions at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum and around the world, through digital display and online galleries, in person exhibitions and publishing. I have fortunately, had several collectors through each of these stages of work that love and treasure my work. I am grateful and lucky to have begun to develop some amazing supporters of my work. Some of the greatest compliments, I have had are from return clients, one person stated, “..your art touches my soul.”
I am proud of all the work I have done so far as an artist. I keep growing and I love that. Recently, I just graduated from a year long Masters Art Program called Art and Success and the feeling of completion was monumental for me and I learned and practiced so many new skills and has opened up a new floodgate of inspiration. I think I am most proud of my determination to be the best artist I can be. My practice is both a reflection of the life I have lived and an invitation to discover what remains possible. I am most proud of facing the challenges of my life, albeit messy at times with determination, dedication and rugged grace. I learned about myself as a person, a mother and an artist that I could believe in myself and accomplish my artistic goals and I taught this to everyone around me. I think what sets me apart is the wisdom, empathy and deep understanding of the world that I have gained over my lifetime. I think I arrived to where I am today, through bravery, overcoming obstacles, truly discovering and embracing the authentic artist in me and believing in myself. And lots of hard work. I think all of these lessons has shaped my work and me as an artist and human being.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
In 2022, I launched Juju Rootz Art, a woman owned, creative entrepreneurial business, featuring my artwork as both a gallery and an online shop. It reflects my commitment to producing beautiful, thought-provoking original paintings and fine art prints, alongside quality handmade items and gifts. Over these last few years, I have been learning to balance my art studio time with learning about managing and building my business. It has not been always easy, but I have had some remarkable breakthroughs as well. I wanted my paintings to reach people in different ways, so I expanded into fine art prints and quality handmade items. I also, have expanded my connections with the art world, I have exhibited my work in person, in on-line galleries, digitally my art has been around the world and also been published in several art magazines.
As I look forward into the next 5 -10 years, I am excited and thrilled I get to follow my passions as an artist and to continue to build and expand my business. I see my work gaining recognition and being a vital contribution to the art world. I see myself expanding my collections of painting and creating the best work I can as an artist. As a multi-disciplinary artist, I have dreams of curating installations of my work which combine my various genres, meanings and materials. I hope to be successful in showing my work and professionally exhibiting. I have a three month, solo exhibition coming up soon and busy in the studio preparing for that. I continue to study with other artists, practicing and sharing new skills. Also, I am hoping to attend some art residencies in the near future. Additionally, I hope someday to open my own art space, including gallery and shop as well an artist workspace where I can teach all that I have learned. .
Pricing:
- I price by quality, skill, size, and materials.
- My original portraits are available to committed collectors, prices in my shop.
- Small to Medium abstract paintings, range from $50 to $750
- Larger Abstract paintings, range from $1,200 to up
- Limited Edition Fine Art prints and artisan gifts and artist designed clothing available, listed on my shop/website. Direct Connection available via email and appointments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jujurootz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jujurootz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jujurootz
