Although her large canvases sell for thousands of pounds, Julia Burns has adapted a traditional method in an innovative way to create very affordable pieces of original art, as Heather Dixon discovers . . . Most of us can only dream of owning an original work of art by a celebrated painter, but award-winning artist Julia Burns, whose figurative and abstract work hangs in private collections all over the world, has created a novel way of bringing original art into the public domain. And she owes it all to the humble potato . . .

Artist Julia Burns of redhenoriginals.com at work in her studio

Using a technique which is startling in its simplicity, Julia has just launched a new business, www.redhenoriginals.com, based on a sophisticated version of the age-old method of potato printing.

Inspired by the stunning countryside location of her home near Helmsley, she creates individually-crafted and personally-signed paintings, initially featuring a series of the UK’s favourite birds, including hens, pheasants and robins. But don’t be fooled . . . The crudely manufactured stars and squares of primary school memories are a world away from these clever and quirky originals, which are fast becoming affordable collectors’ items.

“Most people, particularly in this current climate, can’t afford to spend hundreds of pounds on a limited edition print, let alone an original for thousands of pounds,” says Julia. “I saw a niche for small, affordable pieces of art, sized to fit a standard modern frame, which would make original art accessible to all.”

Her technique is based on the age-old method of potato printing which involves slicing a potato in half and cutting intricate shapes into the flesh. These shapes can then be used as a stamp, dipped into paint or ink, to print repeat patterns on to surfaces.

“It’s a very old technique using a potato and one that you probably used at school,” explains Julia. “I’m loath to use the word ‘print’ because each one is original. I use the print to get the basic shape of the bird and then they are all tweaked. I paint the feet and the combs afterwards and, for the pheasants, the red detail.

“All the backgrounds are individually painted and are different and I apply different amounts of paint to the shapes, so you won’t get two paintings alike, ever.”

Add to this the limited life of the potato stamp – to which, in any case, Julia will apply different paint colours for different paintings – and it’s easy to see how a traditional printing technique really does create an original piece of artwork. 

The Red Hen theme came about almost by accident, after Julia was one of 248 internationally-renowned artists invited to paint a picture which could be sold in aid of the Tsunami Fund, which was set up following the Boxing Day 2004 disaster.

One of Julia's pieces of work

Struggling to think of a subject, she drew inspiration from a hand-made Christmas card, featuring a potato-print hen, which she’d made one particularly lean year to send to family and friends. The resulting picture was one of the 66 ultimately chosen to be sold at auction by Sothebys. It raised £700.

Years later, her Red Hen Originals now sell for less than £30 each and are a big hit with customers from all over the UK who love their simple concept and timeless appeal. Yet the route to mass appeal has been anything but straightforward.

Julia was born into a creative County Durham family, the second child of four, whose father, Tony Burns, is one of the most innovative northern architects of his generation.

She and her siblings were always encouraged to observe and absorb their surroundings and to visit Europe’s most prestigious art galleries and exhibitions.

“We would head off with the tent for a month or six weeks at a time and explore,” says Julia.

“Art was a natural part of our upbringing. I have always drawn and painted, ever since I was a little girl. It was just there. It wasn’t something I could ignore.”

She was in her teens when she won The Children’s Royal Academy Bronze Medal, the highest prize awarded to an exhibitor from the British Isles and Commonwealth, and a year later earned extraordinary recognition when she took the gold, silver and bronze awards from the Painter Stainers Guild in London.

Few who recognised her talent were surprised when she took a “thrilling” foundation course at York Art College, swiftly followed by a coveted place at The Slade School of Fine Art at University College, London.

“At The Slade you were encouraged to develop in your own way and at your own pace and to ask for tutorials when you wanted them,” said Julia.

“It was very unstructured. Most of my time was spent doing observational drawing and painting. I am convinced that anyone can be taught to draw the basics, such as scale and proportion, drawing what you actually see and not what you think you see.”

A bird potato print

But the figurative work she toiled over for four years was nothing like the abstract paintings she eventually produced for her degree show – paintings which attracted instant attention from some of London’s most prestigious dealers.

“I had gone away with my family and when I returned I was totally relaxed and ready to experiment with paintings which were much freer in style,” says Julia. “I love the freedom of abstract work and I was painting abstract pictures at a time when businesses wanted large, striking canvases to hang in their offices. It took off in a big way.”

Since then her work has been exhibited worldwide, including London, Europe, Japan and America, and her paintings have been snapped up by collectors spanning the full spectrum of the rich and famous.

When Julia moved from London to North Yorkshire more than 20 years ago, her reputation as one of the most exciting abstract artists of her generation was secured.

“Ironically, I came to Helmsley with one canvas and some brown and black oil paints, so I painted a chicken to hang on the wall,” says Julia. “I had no idea that it would one day become the catalyst of a new venture.”

However, changing fashions, recession and family ties altered the course of her work. In 1987, Julia took a six-month trip across Africa, followed by a solo exhibition which opened the day after the stock market crashed on so-called Black Thursday.

“Timing was never my strong point,” says Julia, who supplemented her income with teaching at Queen Margaret’s School in Escrick, near York. Undeterred, Julia decided to turn her attention away from the animals of Africa and concentrate on those closer to home. Her abstract pictures of cows were soon snapped up by the NFU and exhibited locally at the Zillah Bell Contemporary Art Gallery in Thirsk and, later, in London.

But Julia’s prolific output almost ground to a halt after she met and married Simon Kershaw, sales director of Bon Coeur Fine Wines, and they had two children, Harry (10) and Rose (eight).

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to paint – on the contrary – but all my time and energy went into raising a family,” she said. It wasn’t until she was commissioned by Eugene McCoy to paint a series of pictures for his then restaurant – at the top of the Baltic Art Gallery in Newcastle – that Julia rediscovered her passion.

“If I don’t paint I feel as though something is missing,” says Julia. “I have to paint to be fulfilled.”

Red Hen Originals will undoubtedly keep her busy. She works from their hill-top property, a former police house and one-time home of Peter Walker, whose books were made famous in the hit ITV series Heartbeat. They enjoy spectacular views across the Hambleton Hills, but Simon is also a keen ornithologist and encourages wide varieties of birds to feed just outside their window.

It probably won’t be long before they find their way into Julia’s beautiful originals. But it’s that country icon, her trademark little red hen, which is symbolic of another turning point in the prolific career of Julia Burns.

“Most of my large canvases cost thousands of pounds so only serious collectors tend to buy them,” says Julia. “The whole point of Red Hen is to offer original work for minimal cost. It’s about making original art accessible to everyone.”

Red Hen Originals is based at Hill House, Oswaldkirk, York, YO62 5YB. Julia can be contacted on (01439) 788044 or by e-mail: juliaburns@redhenoriginals.co.uk More information about her work can be found on her website: www.redhenoriginals.com