This quiet, unsung artist was born in July 1939 in North Vancouver. After a troubled time in boarding school, he travelled widely through North America, seeking solitude and beauty in wild spaces. Possibly as a way to understand his upbringing, his early art sometimes depicted abstract, bizarre scenes; other times, he recreated panels from obscure comic books. As time went on, he shifted his focus to creating exquisitely detailed oil paintings of salmon and trout in British Columbia rivers and streams.
In his work, Julian aimed to create a unique image of fish paused in time, contrasting with their lives of perpetual motion. His paintings portray fish from all perspectives and angles—through the water, from above, from below, from the side—and almost always in action, catching their curving bodies in the dance against the water.
As a member of the Steelhead Society, an avid sport fly-fisherman, and generous donor to many wildlife and conservation societies, he put his money where he believed it mattered most. Through his art, he captured the importance of preserving natural fish habitats.
Julian lived in the Comox Valley for almost 50 years. He died in February 2023 in Courtenay.
