While pursuing a career in graphic design, drawing and painting has been an integral part of Jules’ life.
Since his early school days, Jules found he had a natural ability to draw. This encouraged him to study commercial art at the Michaelis School of Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later at the age of 22 he migrated to the U.S.A.
Soon after his arrival, Jules was drafted into the US Army based at Ford Ord, California. Because of his graphic design experience he assigned as a training aids artist. In his off duty hours he sketched around Carmel and Monterey and frequented the many art galleries there and in San Francisco. After his two year tour of duty he did a degree course in advertising design at the Art Centre School of Advertising and Industrial Design, Los Angeles. Evenings were devoted to school projects, parking cars and bartending to supplement his college tuition.
Jules established a graphic design business in San Francisco, keeping up with life drawing and painting in his spare time. He filled sketch books of people in city parks, public transport and in nightclubs around colourful North Beach. He made paintings from his sketches. Friends and family sat for portraits in pastels and drawings in charcoal and graphite. After seeing a retrospective show of Vincent Van Gogh at the De Young Museum and the legacy he left behind, Jules decided to make that journey for himself.
After a successful career as a graphic designer, Jules decided to move his young family to Sydney where he established a graphic design and advertising business employing over 20 people. He concentrated on his love of portraiture and painting of the human figure. He attended courses for a number of years at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre at Roseville, Waverley Art Centre, Bondi and Brandling Art Society, Erskinville.
Jules is well known for incorporating in his portraits both the serious and sometimes whimsical aspects of the sitter. He likes to capture not just their external appearance but also the spirit that drives them, telling their story.
Jules is a committee member of Portrait Artists Australia. He exhibits regularly with them at exhibition venues such as Parliament House, Sydney, Parliament House, Canberra and the ArtHouse Hotel, Sydney. He has submitted paintings for the Mosman Art Prize, the Archibald Portrait Prize and the Doug Moran Prize as well as numerous group shows around Sydney. His work can be found in collections in the USA and Australia.