Julie Vander Meulen , Collages and Cards
Iowa City, Iowa
Julie’s collages and greeting cards are all originals — never any two the same. They are made from paper, fiber, and other mixed media. She uses 95% recycled materials for all her work, including the canvases, paper backing, etc. She loves to recycle bits that would otherwise be in the trash but for a stain or a tear.
All proceeds from her cards go to support nonprofits: the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center, The Bird House hospice or a mission that supports rural nurses and health care in Eswatini carried on by her friend Anita Nicholson, a professor in the nursing college at the University of Iowa.
“I don’t have a particular style, I refer to it as ‘folk art.’ I like to let the media talk to me. Some are nature related, others influenced by Asian or African art, some abstract. I usually do a grouping of similar styles, then move on to something else when I feel that is complete.
It’s all about color, thoughtful and provocative. I make art for the joy it brings to me and the joy I see in others. I want people to think when they see and feel my work. I want them to wonder about what they feel and what they see. I want them to touch my art.”
