As a senior in high school, J.C. Björling (Judy) won a National Scholastic Art Awards scholarship and chose to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. But Judy got diverted into a successful business career. Then, in 1989, the owner of an early Björling watercolor located her and told her that this watercolor had been stolen. He wondered what things she was currently working on. She explained that she had gone back to school, gotten an MBA from Kellogg and had a thriving consulting business with many Fortune 500 clients.

He was apparently not impressed and asked, "So, why is it you are not painting?" This question resonated with her feelings at the time, and she soon returned to her artistic interests. Before long, Judy became a full-time artist.

In 1991, Björling took up sculpting in clay, working from models. Since 1993, her watercolors, drawings, sculpture and prints have appeared in several international exhibits. When she lived in Illinois, there were 14 one- person exhibitions of her work in Chicago-area corporate galleries. Judy's artwork is owned by private and corporate collectors, both here and abroad. She has taught painting and sculpture to students both privately and through various organizations. She currently resides in Oro Valley, Arizona.

Björling first began her painting experience in watercolor, but now works in all media, frequently combining them with collage. Critics have said that the elements of color and movement define her abstract painting style.

However, she believes it is texture that has been most important in the last ten years of her work. She usually creates a highly-textured background and then layers subject matter on top of that, working to create a "push-pull" effect between the subject matter and the background. 

Until recently most of her work has been figurative. Her most recent works are in acrylic on canvas and are totally non-objective, i.e., there is no definable subject matter. She uses only three colors: red, yellow, and blue. She may begin a painting by dripping paint on the surface of the canvas or spraying color or water into color and creating an almost-finished work. Then, she may layer many coats of paint over the initial background, scraping off some color with artists' tools-or even kitchen spatulas-and adding heavy deposits of paint in other areas.

"A painting should be interesting," Judy says, "not just the first time you look at it, but every time. You should always find something new to like."

 See www.bjorlingstudios.com