Meeting artist Julie Speed at her Marfa studio

Marfa is an oasis for minimalist art successful West Texas, contempt the town’s tiny size (population 1,750) and remoteness from, well, conscionable astir anywhere. A person and I road-tripped determination 2 weeks ago, and alternatively of pilgrimaging to spot Donald Judd’s minimalist factual boxes (maybe adjacent time), I wanted to conscionable Julie Speed and spot her fascinating, surrealist work successful person.

I reached retired to put a workplace visit, and Julie met america astatine the doorway of her Marfa home/studio, which abuts the Chinati Foundation and overlooks Judd’s boxes. After a fewer lukewarm pleasantries, she invited america to poke astir and turned backmost to a coating she was moving on. I was thrilled to beryllium capable to ticker her work.

Her enigmatic works successful oil, gouache, and collage bent connected easels and walls passim the rambling studio.

I’ve been funny successful Julie’s enactment since archetypal seeing it successful a mag dispersed astir a section singer-songwriter’s Austin home. Julie lived successful Austin for galore years earlier moving to Marfa successful 2006 for a quieter gait of life.

An absorbing broadside note: Julie’s Austin location successful the Tarrytown vicinity was purchased by scenery designer Christy Ten Eyck, who retained a walled courtyard but turned the large beforehand tract into a mostly native-plant garden.

Julie collects insubstantial scraps from falling-apart books for her collages. It’s intriguing to spot however the process of immoderate of her enactment begins.

I walked astir and gazed eye-to-eye with her unsettling subjects.

Her framed works are beautifully and thoughtfully framed.

In the past room, limited-edition signed prints are displayed connected a table. A barroom cart holds a mates bottles of tequila, which Julie invited america to sample.

Starboard is simply a signed and numbered print, 1 of 30 Julie made to payment “Big Bend Conservation Alliance’s Serious Starlight Program, which assists homeowners and municipalities successful the acold West Texas portion who opt-in to night-sky-friendly lighting with fixtures that constituent airy down astatine the crushed alternatively than up into the sky.”

Meeting Julie was a treat. My acknowledgment to her for the workplace tour! If you’re intrigued by Julie’s enactment and privation to spot more, follow her engaging Instagram.

We exited done a courtyard, wherever a nail-studded bust of a classical fig caught my eye.

Also a gorgeous prickly pear successful a hollowed-out boulder

In different courtyard, a wellhead with a hummingbird spigot is constructed of half-bricks proclaiming sin, sin, sin. A pebble mosaic and triangles of chromatic marque it adjacent much of an creator focal point.

Sunflower with chair

More sunflowers scope for the bluish entity against a round-rock wall.

Tithonia blazes distant nether the agleam Marfa sun.

Up next: Author and decorator Michael Eason’s laid-back plot successful Alpine. For a look backmost astatine the healing plot of Susan and Mike Wallens successful Alpine, click here.

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The station Meeting creator Julie Speed astatine her Marfa studio appeared archetypal connected Digging.