by jennifer hetrick
since 1984, berks county artist julie longacre has kindly brought her well-cherished paintings out into the open at her art show she hosts every other year at the fire company in bally. her latest show joined the community this past december.
longacre is most known for her awe-stirring local landscapes and historical renderings, often asked to do commissions of nature-struck scenes and heritage-rich buildings around the region.
“i found that people felt more comfortable in a room full of paintings with family and friends rather than going to a gallery in a more formal setting,” longacre reflects about why she chose to bring a show to her hometown community, on her own terms, several decades ago. “i wanted a show where everybody felt not just comfortable but at home—i support them, and they support me.”
longacre has had her pieces in galleries and exhibitions and appreciates those opportunities but likes to bring her works directly to her own people who value her artistry and heart so much, as her paintings are highly sought after, and this fact only grows.
in the summer, she celebrated 70 years of time spent mingling the love of painting, family, and appreciating many a moment on this earth, so she shared lots of cake with show-goers also, to tie even more festive angles into the event. longare estimates that 1,200 people attended this latest show, and while it has always had a great turnout, this one appeared to see the most door-swinging seconds before guests perused the aisles of her many years of expression on canvas.
many know that longacre is also an author. at her show, she released a sketch in time, which is a collection of her handwritten journal entries, with paintings whisked into the pages. the hand-bound book is now for sale at yellow house hotel along routes 562 and 662 in douglassville, longacre's dairy bar on route 100 in barto, schwenkfelder library & heritage center on seminary street in pennsburg, and gehman's store on route 100 in bally.
her previously published books are known by the titles of the dirty old ladies' cookbook, plentiful with heartily pennsylvania dutch-swept recipes, and the place i keep, which incorporates not only pictures but poems.
“i could see farms all around through the windows in the house where i grew up in gilbertsville,” longacre notes about what has had a strong draw on her inspirations translated through the paintbrush so often moving in gracious strokes by way of her fingertips. in her lifetime, longacre has felt a powerful sense of gratitude and gravitation to agricultural sweeps and the buildings so integral to farms, like barns.
“friends know the angles of what i like and send me photographs,” longacre says. while it’s hard to describe in easy language, good friends have learned from her paintings what sorts of views catch her vision well, and they’ve helped to support her art through mailing her pictures they’ve snapped here or there in their travels along roads around the region.
“an illustrator can draw anything he sees,” longacre explains of words she penned in her latest book. “a painter can paint anything she feels.” longacre, with a great respect for understanding the distinct role of her experience as a woman and of her fellow women, has given a lot attention to the intellectual shapes that play a part in how she has come to examine lives in the world throughout her years taking in what it is to be a person today.
“painting is soothing. it’s therapy. and in another way, it’s demanding,” she says, knowing she is often driven to paint what catches her artist’s eye, having trouble giving herself any option to say no to the creative ingredients in her that respond to a persistent pull and push to recreate the scenes of compelling beauty around her even in today’s busy, all-too-rushed days.
“my paintings interact with the light in a room,” longacre points out in what is unique to her pieces and how magnetically painting tugs at her heart. “and most people choose a lifestyle or career, but this was a matter of a career choosing me. art always won out. it was almost as if it were challenging me, with no other choice.” and yet she knew to embrace it for all the positives in the opportunity to create through paint, showing living through her eyes.
to glimpse more, visit www.julielongacre.com.
since 1984, berks county artist julie longacre has kindly brought her well-cherished paintings out into the open at her art show she hosts every other year at the fire company in bally. her latest show joined the community this past december.
longacre is most known for her awe-stirring local landscapes and historical renderings, often asked to do commissions of nature-struck scenes and heritage-rich buildings around the region.
“i found that people felt more comfortable in a room full of paintings with family and friends rather than going to a gallery in a more formal setting,” longacre reflects about why she chose to bring a show to her hometown community, on her own terms, several decades ago. “i wanted a show where everybody felt not just comfortable but at home—i support them, and they support me.”
longacre has had her pieces in galleries and exhibitions and appreciates those opportunities but likes to bring her works directly to her own people who value her artistry and heart so much, as her paintings are highly sought after, and this fact only grows.
in the summer, she celebrated 70 years of time spent mingling the love of painting, family, and appreciating many a moment on this earth, so she shared lots of cake with show-goers also, to tie even more festive angles into the event. longare estimates that 1,200 people attended this latest show, and while it has always had a great turnout, this one appeared to see the most door-swinging seconds before guests perused the aisles of her many years of expression on canvas.
after working in color for so long with her paintings, julie longacre
realized she had a large amount of black and white paint leftover
years ago & soon delved into a long stretch of time spent exploring
the possibilities & perspectives in black, grey, & white pigments
in her works; this piece is inspired by trails near her second
home in cape breton, nova scotia, where she spends
about three months out of every year, although
not in one consecutive span of time
many know that longacre is also an author. at her show, she released a sketch in time, which is a collection of her handwritten journal entries, with paintings whisked into the pages. the hand-bound book is now for sale at yellow house hotel along routes 562 and 662 in douglassville, longacre's dairy bar on route 100 in barto, schwenkfelder library & heritage center on seminary street in pennsburg, and gehman's store on route 100 in bally.
her previously published books are known by the titles of the dirty old ladies' cookbook, plentiful with heartily pennsylvania dutch-swept recipes, and the place i keep, which incorporates not only pictures but poems.
“i could see farms all around through the windows in the house where i grew up in gilbertsville,” longacre notes about what has had a strong draw on her inspirations translated through the paintbrush so often moving in gracious strokes by way of her fingertips. in her lifetime, longacre has felt a powerful sense of gratitude and gravitation to agricultural sweeps and the buildings so integral to farms, like barns.
“friends know the angles of what i like and send me photographs,” longacre says. while it’s hard to describe in easy language, good friends have learned from her paintings what sorts of views catch her vision well, and they’ve helped to support her art through mailing her pictures they’ve snapped here or there in their travels along roads around the region.
chase longacre, 7, of hereford township, excitedly helped
to hang his grandmother's paintings for the first time in december
“an illustrator can draw anything he sees,” longacre explains of words she penned in her latest book. “a painter can paint anything she feels.” longacre, with a great respect for understanding the distinct role of her experience as a woman and of her fellow women, has given a lot attention to the intellectual shapes that play a part in how she has come to examine lives in the world throughout her years taking in what it is to be a person today.
“painting is soothing. it’s therapy. and in another way, it’s demanding,” she says, knowing she is often driven to paint what catches her artist’s eye, having trouble giving herself any option to say no to the creative ingredients in her that respond to a persistent pull and push to recreate the scenes of compelling beauty around her even in today’s busy, all-too-rushed days.
“my paintings interact with the light in a room,” longacre points out in what is unique to her pieces and how magnetically painting tugs at her heart. “and most people choose a lifestyle or career, but this was a matter of a career choosing me. art always won out. it was almost as if it were challenging me, with no other choice.” and yet she knew to embrace it for all the positives in the opportunity to create through paint, showing living through her eyes.
to glimpse more, visit www.julielongacre.com.
