Julie
@juliefinapainter / CDN artist / model / Toronto
Julie Fina was born in Toronto, Canada, and raised in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Toronto will always be her home and have a special place in her heart. If you’ve ever been to Toronto or grew up there you know it is that type of city. A diverse and multicultural city with so many unique pockets and people. She’s especially drawn to the city’s west end; specifically, Little Italy and Little Portugal…which is a real mix of neighbourhood and family, culture and city altogether.
“Back in the 90’s and under the influence from my fashionista older sister I started a short-lived modeling career. Even walked the catwalk in NYC! However, being an artist and natural recluse...well it didn’t last long. Time was slow for me when it came to being comfortable in my skin. Although I’ve mastered those insecurities now in my middle age, I will forever be that observer in the shadows. Gathering information and inspiration. It’s a place that I’m better suited for.”
“I left home at an early age, and pretty quickly skate culture was my go-to. When it’s dissected...a group of misfits, creatives with a common outlet. It was a part of my backbone for many years. Still today they are the people I am most comfortable around...there’s no falsehoods, it is what it is. And always welcoming. Doesn’t matter where you find yourself in the world, skaters are down with you.”
Julie’s favourite, most memorable, and inspiring places in the world are San Francisco and Rome, Italy. “Hands down, anywhere in Italy!” She also said “These places spoke volumes to me. European vibes and city life charms. San Francisco had great outdoor artists everywhere, and I love that!”
Julie is a practicing analog film photographer and painter/artist for 30 years now. She stated “The two disciplines go hand in hand as many of my paintings are inspired by the photographs I've taken. Work that is influenced by the people that I know and meet. Influenced by social and religious ideals. Influenced by the human condition.”
Growing up in Toronto, in the punk, hardcore, and skate community, has helped shape her on many roads artistically too to which she is grateful for those days.
“Honestly, most of my work centre’s around themes of belief...however you want to interpret that. In artsy terms: there’s a gulp, a feeling in the center of my chest which is in awe, pain, beauty, and truth (sometimes ugly) which needs to be expressed! Hopefully, it’s what is connective and what resonates with others. After all, that’s what art is, in all of its forms. A dialog, language, and communication.”
Find me often painting in overalls and my go-to kicks, STAN SMITHS.....which I also wear with dresses cuz why not!? They are timeless and understated...and now that I think about it, that's a good way, to sum up my style.
I'm most comfortable mixing a taste of vintage flair and enjoy my femininity. ...whether it's dressed up with heels or with sneakers.
Seems like I'm going backward the older that I become. I long for the rhythmic tunes from the ‘80s, the beats and messages from ‘90s hip hop. Currently, I'm drawn to one singer/songwriter which whom I'm completely smitten with. Canadian folk singer from St. Catherine's, Ontario named Cat Clyde.
She's really something! She's fuckin’ great!