The first time I saw Julie Alonso’s “heARTwork”I knew it was something special. I happened upon Julie’s sweet “love notes“ back in 2018. Another friend had brought them to my workplace to share them with the rest of us. There was something so, perfectly magical and sincere about them. The attention to even the smallest detail. Simple yet poignant.
When I decided to open a shop full of spiritual talisman and artisan gifts I contacted Julie right away. A few days later, she came by to put a few things in the store. Yet everything was so special, I wanted it all filling our sweet space with her magic. Dried flower wreaths beautifully displayed. Dreamcatchers, carefully and beautifully crafted of yarn, crystals, driftwood, and feathers. Each with a quote that somehow perfectly captured the spirit of the piece. Angel drawings with inspirational words. Beautifully hand drawn quotes from Rumi, Hafiz, Mary Oliver and others who speak to the soul. Julie gave me a basket of stones on which she had painted words or a heart - each different and special. She told me to give these stones away to people that came into the store. People were so delighted when I would offer them to pick a stone from the basket and take it home. Julie is the embodiment of all that is unconditional magic and love.
To speak to her and hear her story, you learn that Julie wasn’t always in the love spreading business. For years, Julie was an executive at Gap. This was a job that she describes with fondness, while marveling at how different that excessively driven version of herself was. Driven to be the best at her job, she was excelling in work but not fulfilled.
Life has a funny way of reminding us what is important. Personal circumstances and life situations put Julie in a position where she saw no option but to change her life and her career focus. A devoted mother, community member, daughter and sister. Julie grew up, like many of us, in a family with its challenges. She has channeled these challenges into her work and transmuted them into the love and light that she is committed to sharing with others.
This passion to spread joy through art also, it seems, comes runs in her genes. Her father was known as the Kite Man of Carpinteria and was famous for flying kites on the beach at Carpinteria, dropping toys and prizes from the kite lines to delighted children gathered around. Julie continues this role of spreading delight and makes it her own, while she continues to spin the magic that she saw in those kites and the mesmerized children. In every way, Julie embodies her mission to spread love and joy. She knows this is her purpose here, her mission in this world.
On any day, neighbors may be walking down the sidewalk and come upon heart shaped flower mandalas along the path. Little bouquets with love notes for every anyone to take. Stones painted with golden hearts. Love poems tied among the leaves of a tree, sweet gifts for any passerby. Her studio space is enchanting, bowls of glitter, dried flowers, crystals, angel figures inspire delight and joy Julie is the embodiment of light and love and we are so deeply grateful that she allowed us into her studio space and spent time sharing her story with us. We are all the more fortunate for the beauty and love she brings to this world. It reverberates and ripples out, spreading the frequency of love and kindness throughout the world.
You can find Julie and her heARTwork Saturday May4 12-4pm at a pop-up at Anthropologie in the Village in Corte Madera and on her Instagram page @byjuliealonso
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