# Julia Sorrell

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British artist (born 1955)

**Julia Sorrell** (born 4 August 1955, in [Westcliff-on-Sea](/source/Westcliff-on-Sea), [Essex](/source/Essex)) is a [British artist](/source/List_of_British_artists) known for her portraits and imaginative drawings and paintings using figures and natural forms such as wood, shells, rock and plants using a range of media from pencil, charcoal, pen & ink, pastel, watercolour and oil.[1][2][3] She lives in [Oxfordshire](/source/Oxfordshire) and exhibits in London at the [Mall Galleries](/source/Mall_Galleries) as a member of the [Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours](/source/Royal_Institute_of_Painters_in_Water_Colours).

## Early life

Sorrell was born in [Westcliff-on-Sea](/source/Westcliff-on-Sea), [Essex](/source/Essex),[4][5] the daughter of the artist [Alan Sorrell](/source/Alan_Sorrell) (1904–1974)[6][7] and the [watercolourist](/source/Watercolor_painting) [Elizabeth Sorrell](/source/Elizabeth_Sorrell_(painter)) (1916–1991).[8] She grew up in a converted chapel in [Daws Heath](/source/Daws_Heath), southeast Essex, surrounded by trees and woodlands which were to be an inspiration for her later work.[9][10][11]

## Career

She studied textiles and embroidery under [Constance Howard](/source/Constance_Howard_(artist)) MBE at [Goldsmiths' College](/source/Goldsmiths'_College) (1973–6) who purchased her work to use as examples in talks and publications.[12][13] She was taught drawing by [Betty Swanwick](/source/Ada_Swanwick) RA (who was to produce the artwork for albums by rock group [Genesis](/source/Genesis_(band))), and she sold her first work at the [Royal Academy Summer Exhibition](/source/Royal_Academy_Summer_Exhibition) at the age of 19. Following the death of her father, she turned more towards drawing and painting, and gained a place at the [Royal Academy of Arts](/source/Royal_Academy_of_Arts)(1978–81). Whilst a student there her self-portrait gained second prize in the first [National Portrait Gallery](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London) Portrait Award, 1980, now known as the [BP Portrait Award](/source/BP_Portrait_Award).[14] This led to a series of portrait commissions including one from the National Portrait Gallery to paint [Michael Ramsey](/source/Michael_Ramsey), the ex-[Archbishop of Canterbury](/source/Archbishop_of_Canterbury).[15] Her letters describing this experience were borrowed by Michael Ramsey's biographer [Owen Chadwick](/source/Owen_Chadwick)[16] who then passed them on to the library of [Lambeth Palace](/source/Lambeth_Palace).

In the 1990s she exhibited at the Maas Gallery with the dealer [Rupert Maas](/source/Rupert_Maas), and had a series of paintings purchased by the collector Professor [Philip Rieff](/source/Philip_Rieff) which were then exhibited at the [Philadelphia Museum of Art](/source/Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art) in 1996. A decade later she was exhibiting with Waterhouse and Dodd, [Cork Street](/source/Cork_Street).

She was elected a member of the [Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours](/source/Royal_Institute_of_Painters_in_Water_Colours) in 2008, the [Royal Society of British Artists](/source/Royal_Society_of_British_Artists) in 2009, and the [Norwich Twenty Group](/source/Norwich_Twenty_Group) in 2010. In 2015 she was awarded the first TravelArt Award from the ACE Foundation [ACE Cultural Tours](/source/ACE_Cultural_Tours), and asked to go to Orkney to produce an exhibition of work under the title: “Wild and Ancient Orkney”. The work concentrated on the coastal landscape features and archaeology, and was exhibited first at [Abbott and Holder](/source/Abbott_and_Holder), in London (2016),[17] and then at the [McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research](/source/McDonald_Institute_for_Archaeological_Research), Cambridge. For the final exhibition at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge [ACE Cultural Tours](/source/ACE_Cultural_Tours), Julia produced her unique over 2m tall hand-embroidered sculpture “Reverence” using hand spun Orkney wool. Her work is also in the collections of the [Beecroft Art Gallery](/source/Beecroft_Art_Gallery), the [Chelmsford Museum](/source/Chelmsford_Museum), [Reading Museum](/source/Reading_Museum), [New Hall Art Collection](/source/New_Hall_Art_Collection)[18] and [Laporte plc](/source/Laporte_plc).

Her work is in the collections of the [Beecroft Art Gallery](/source/Beecroft_Art_Gallery), the [Chelmsford Museum](/source/Chelmsford_Museum), [Reading Museum](/source/Reading_Museum), [New Hall Art Collection](/source/New_Hall_Art_Collection),[19] [Laporte plc](/source/Laporte_plc), The ACE Foundation at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge [ACE Cultural Tours](/source/ACE_Cultural_Tours), The [McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research](/source/McDonald_Institute_for_Archaeological_Research), Cambridge and [Clare Hall, Cambridge](/source/Clare_Hall%2C_Cambridge).

## Writings

She has written articles frequently about her own work and that of her father [Alan Sorrell](/source/Alan_Sorrell) for [The Artist](/source/The_Artist_(UK_magazine)), British Archaeology Magazine, [Current Archaeology](/source/Current_Archaeology), [Minerva (archaeology magazine)](/source/Minerva_(archaeology_magazine)), and [Antiquity (journal)](/source/Antiquity_(journal)). In 2014 she was commissioned by [Oxbow Books](/source/Oxbow_Books), to write a biography of her father [Alan Sorrell](/source/Alan_Sorrell).[20]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "Wood Wonders" in *Tree News* Issue 11 Spring/Summer 2006: p. 51

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "A Second Look at Natural Forms" by Julia Sorrell, *The Artist* Vol. 122 No. 7 July 2007 916 pp. 37–39

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "A dream of a portrait" by Julia Sorrell, *The Artist* Vol. 126 No. 12 Nov. 2011 pp. 51–53

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Julia Sorrell RI"](http://www.juliasorrell.ukartists.com/index_files/chronology.htm). ukartists.com. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Julia Sorrell (b. 1955)"](https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/julia-sorrell). royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Alan Sorrell](http://www.alansorrell.ukartists.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** "Alan Sorrell: The Man who created Roman Britain" by Julia Sorrell in British Archaeology No.127 Nov/Dec 2012 pp. 26–7

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Elizabeth Sorrell](http://www.elizabethsorrell.ukartists.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** "An Artist's memories of a living wood" by Julia Sorrell Living Woods No 20, Jan/Feb 2012 pp. 20–21,

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Woodland trust – Ancient Tree Forum: Julia Sorrell](http://frontpage.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfgallery/galleryartists/juliasorrell/julia.htm) *Ancient Tree Forum*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120426164512/http://frontpage.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfgallery/galleryartists/juliasorrell/julia.htm) 2012-04-26 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Save Our Woods: An Appreciation of Trees by Julia Sorrell](http://saveourwoods.co.uk/get-involved/love-trees/an-appreciation-of-trees-by-julia-sorrell/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Goldsmiths Textile Collection and Constance Howard Gallery: Julia Sorrell"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032444/http://www.vads.ac.uk/flarge.php?uid=34444&sos=0). Archived from [the original](http://www.vads.ac.uk/flarge.php?uid=34444&sos=0) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Howard, C. (1984), *Twentieth-century Embroidery in Great Britain 1964–77:003*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** The Portrait Award 1980–89: Ten Years of the John Player Portrait Award by William Packer, published by the National Portrait Gallery 1992

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [National Portrait Gallery: Julia Sorrell](http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp07975/julia-sorrell)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Chadwick, O.](/source/Owen_Chadwick) (1990), *Michael Ramsey, A Life*, Oxford: [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) p. 394

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [https://www.abbottandholder-thelist.co.uk/julia-sorrell-orkney/](https://www.abbottandholder-thelist.co.uk/julia-sorrell-orkney/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [New Hall Art Collection: Julia Sorrell](http://www.art.newhall.cam.ac.uk/the-collection/by/artist/id/334/name/Julia+Sorrell)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [New Hall Art Collection: Julia Sorrell](http://www.art.newhall.cam.ac.uk/the-collection/by/artist/id/334/name/Julia+Sorrell)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [\[1\]](https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/blog/2018/01/11/alan-sorrell-man-created-roman-britain/),

## External links

- [Julia Sorrell: official website](http://www.juliasorrell.ukartists.com)

Authority control databases International VIAF National United States Artists ULAN Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Julia Sorrell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Sorrell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Sorrell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.