Julian Raven

Julian Raven was born in Richmond-Upon-Thames in London, England. He was raised on the Mediterranean, in Marbella, Southern Spain.

At a young age he exhibited a natural inclination toward the visual arts. Winning school art shows demonstrated his talent as a child artist. Raven studied art in Spain and in London at the Chelsea School of Art.

He has used his artistic 2D and 3D skills in his custom woodworking and cabinetmaking business he had for many years. But the goal was to return to the canvas, when economically possible, which he did in the summer of 2013. This was a natural transition since his work was always his art even though for a season it was more craft-like in the creation of fine furniture.

Julian Raven lives in Elmira, New York in is warehouse/art studio/gallery. He is married and has three children.

Artist.

Thinking spatially, 3 dimensionally and in color comes naturally to Raven. Images rapidly fill the inner spaces in the studio in his head, that his eyes perceive in the world. Most of his work is done 'upstairs' in his inner studio. For years he has developed his skills in inner vision development and design, enabling him to create simultaneously whilst doing other things, even mundane cho...

Raven studied in Spain under the British Schooling system. Art O and A levels under US Artist David Bodlak. Raven then attended the prestigious Chelsea School of Art and Design in 1988.

This 'art' school experience did not last long. After a season of figure drawing Raven embarked on the Bachelor of Fine Arts. The Art school was an incredible facility with everything an artist could desire to experiment with. Raven spent all of his time, including his lunch breaks in some new studio gaining as wide and varied experience as possible. The courses focused on drawing, painting and sculpture. He added printing, especially etchings, black and white photography and developing. It was a playground for his inquisitive mind.

But it was not to last, coming from the bright and vibrant Spanish culture and under the encouraging and positive instruction of David Bodlak, the British system was just depressing. Many of the instructors were very negative and hyper critical stealing the joy. Already struggling with un-answered existential questions, Raven eventually left the school finding no rest or peace there for his spiritual angst. Depression weighed heavily upon his heart and the negative environment did not help...

The Schoo...