Julia Norton

American born, Julia grew up in Maryland before embarking on a 20 year fashion career in NYC. After Graduating from University of Delaware and Fashion Institute of Technology with a BA and AA in Fashion Design, she went on to design prints, then swimwear, lingerie and loungewear for Calvin Klein, GapBody, JCrew and Victoria Secret before moving to Sydney, Australia 11 years ago.

Julia has her own home studio allowing this very busy mother of 3 to paint as much as possible. In addition to several commissions, many of her works have been on auction to raise funds for Giant Steps School. Her 16 year son Jack has a significant autism and attends Giant Steps where he flourishes with the individualised attention. When Julia is not painting or looking after Jack and her two vivacious daughters, she volunteers at Giant Steps.

Becoming a painter someday was a very lofty aspiration but when a friend suggested she just try a class 7 years ago... she was surprised at the results. The years in fashion had developed an excellent sense of colour and technical sketching of lingerie gave her landscapes depth and perspective. Julia has been a student of Willoughby Arts Center for several years studying with Yalie Ohana and Gria Shead. She has also completed NAS short courses.