Julie Cockburn is Calendar's May artist of the month

Our Artist of the Month, as chosen by our Design Director Lisa Rahman, is Julie Cockburn (b. 1966), who is well known for reimagining second-hand objects or forgotten photographs with coloured dots or playful geometric shapes using embroidery and painted embellishments.

In the artwork pictured – titled ‘Ambling’, created in 2020 – the contrasting muted colours of the found image and pop of colour in the embroidered circles creates an entirely new narrative for the piece. What the process itself encourages is new ways of seeing, providing visual optimism on how to react to the ordinary or mundane.