Julia Valtanen: Cover Artist 101 Artbook – Abstract Edition

Julia Valtanen brings her poetic vision of abstraction to life on the cover of The 101 Artbook: Abstract Edition, setting the tone for an immersive journey into emotion, texture, and form. Known for her intuitive approach and deeply personal visual language, Julia’s artwork speaks in soft layers—inviting viewers to slow down, feel, and reflect. Her cover piece doesn’t simply represent abstraction; it embodies it. Through a quiet interplay of organic shapes and subtle color palettes, she creates a visual space where nothing is fixed and everything feels beautifully in motion.

Following the success of its previous four editions, The 101 Artbook returns with its fifth volume, and this time, it dives into the world of abstraction. As part of its global publishing and education platform, the Arts to Hearts Project continues its mission of celebrating creativity, spotlighting voices from around the world, and fostering artistic community. The Abstract Edition carries forward this vision, featuring 101 thoughtfully curated artworks from emerging and established talents across borders, all bound together by their bold exploration of form, emotion, and imagination.

This edition takes a thematic leap by allowing each featured artist’s work to appear in full on the page, allowing readers to experience the artwork without constraints, just as the artist intended. With abstraction at its core, this volume has become a sensorial gallery, where color and composition unfold with each turn. Julia Valtanen’s cover encapsulates this journey perfectly: understated yet powerful, conceptual yet deeply human, her art becomes the visual anchor for a book that dares to see beyond the obvious.

Who is Julia Valtanen?

Julia Valtanen is an Estonian contemporary artist whose work exists at the fluid intersection of painting, collage, storytelling, and myth. Though formally trained in graphic design, her artistic trajectory eventually led her to embrace fine art—and more specifically, the abstract, where she discovered the freedom to explore interconnectedness, both natural and emotional. Based in Tallinn, her work is intuitive, richly layered, and emotionally charged, often navigating themes of transformation, impermanence, and identity

What distinguishes Julia’s work is the poetic depth with which she treats visual form. Her pieces never shout; instead, they whisper secrets, pulling you into slow moments of reflection. Her practice is not rooted in the need to depict but in the desire to feel. And in that space, she carves out stories. She once said,

I am fascinated by how things connect, how an image of a human being might carry the seed of a leaf or a cloud. I’m drawn to the idea that boundaries are not fixed but always in motion

Julia Valtanen’s Beginnings

Julia Valtanen’s creative journey began in the Russian city of Tolyatti, where she pursued her Master’s degree in graphic design from 2005 to 2011. Her early work bore the influence of structure, typography, and design thinking. But something deeper stirred in her, a pull toward visual storytelling that didn’t rely on typefaces or grids. After relocating to Tallinn, Estonia, she began a new chapter that would take her back to the heart of painting.

In 2019, she enrolled in the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she studied painting and gradually let go of the rigid constructs of design. Here, her tactile language began to bloom. Julia’s return to fine art wasn’t a reinvention; it was a return to her roots. Her time at the ARS Art Factory in Tallinn further nurtured her creative spirit, providing her with a workspace and community in which she could fully develop her voice as a painter and visual poet.

Themes and Inspirations

Julia Valtanen’s work often explores the unseen and the in-between. She creates dreamlike compositions where plant-like forms blend into human silhouettes, and natural textures seem to pulse with emotion. Her art is fueled by themes of emergence, memory, and shared consciousness. She draws inspiration from ancient myths, folk symbols, and ecological rhythms, but her execution feels thoroughly modern and deeply personal.

Julia Valtanen’s practice is a fascination with metamorphosis. Her paintings are never about static representation they reflect cycles of change, emotional evolution, and the beauty of interconnected existence. Many of her works explore what she calls “the subtle tension between form and fluidity.” Whether it’s an evolving figure, a dissolving horizon, or a gathering of abstract shapes, her compositions always hold space for multiplicity.

Her use of color is both restrained and evocative; soft earth tones, mineral blues, rusts, and the occasional brilliant accent evoke a world that is quietly alive, never over-saturated, and always balanced. Shapes seem to overlap with intention but without rigidity, creating abstract ecosystems where forms echo one another in silence.

Julia Valtanen’s Creative Process

Julia Valtanen describes her process as intuitive and open-ended. She rarely begins with a finished vision in mind. Instead, she follows the movement of color and gesture, allowing the painting to evolve as she responds to it in real time. Using a mixture of oil paints, acrylics, and paper collage, she plays with texture, transparency, and layering, constructing and deconstructing until the work feels emotionally resolved.

Her process is slow and meditative. She keeps sketchbooks filled with fragments, words, botanical references, cutouts, and visual notes that she later translates into larger compositions. Often, she’ll begin with a single gesture or mark and let it dictate the rhythm of the piece.

I trust the painting to guide me. It’s like walking into a fog, uncertain but exciting. I let myself get lost a little, and that’s where the best things appear.

This search for honest expression through form and feeling is what makes her process not just a method, but a ritual.

Exhibitions

Julia Valtanen’s work has been exhibited in several notable solo and group shows across Estonia and the wider Baltic region. Each exhibition reflects another chapter in her ongoing dialogue with abstraction and interconnectedness.

• 2024 – We Don’t Realise Who We Are Until We’re Reflected, solo show at ARS Showroom, Tallinn
• 2024 – Shimmering Waters, solo exhibition at Põhjala Tehas
• 2023 – Stillpoint, solo show at Telliskivi Creative City
• 2023 – Group show The Secret Garden at Põhjala Tehas
• 2022 – Neonaivism, group exhibition at Kadrioru Gallery
• 2021 – Participated in the Tallinn Annual Exhibition of Painting
• 2020 – Solo exhibit Mis on tärkamas meie vahel (“What Grows Between Us”) at Punctum Gallery
• 2019 – Featured in Joonistused ja Fragmente, a joint studio exhibition with artists from EKA

These shows have drawn attention for their deeply immersive atmospheres and emotional depth, often leading viewers to slow down and feel rather than simply observe. Her solo show “What Grows Between Us” received widespread praise for its lush, layered canvases exploring emotional and natural symbiosis.

Achievements and Recognitions

Julia Valtanen’s unique visual language and emotionally layered compositions have earned her recognition across respected art and design platforms. She has been prominently featured in publications such as Les Nouveaux Riches, Artrovert, Canvas Club, and NOBA.ac, where her evolving voice in contemporary abstraction is thoughtfully explored. Her artworks are also part of curated collections on New and Abstract, Art in Rug, and Crafted Prints. As an Ambassador of Craft by Homo Faber, Julia continues to be celebrated for her innovative, tactile approach and her ability to create quietly powerful narratives through form and color.

What Lies Ahead in Julia’s Creative Path

Julia Valtanen’s path is one of gentle evolution. As she continues to explore abstraction, she dives deeper into questions of what connects us, not just to nature, but to one another. Whether working on large-scale paintings, intimate paper collages, or collaborative exhibitions, she remains deeply committed to creating work that invites introspection and emotional resonance.

In recent interviews, she’s expressed interest in moving beyond canvas into installation and textile work mediums where she can further experiment with texture, layering, and interaction. Her aim remains the same: to create spaces, both visual and emotional, where people can pause, reflect, and reconnect with something quietly essential.

Julia’s world is not flashy or loud; rather, it’s contemplative, sincere, and profoundly moving. In an era that often rushes, her art gently asks us to slow down, feel more, and remember how everything is—somehow—connected.