Julie Rothe, Evergreen local, Colorado native, and full-time admirer of the Rocky Mountains, lives and breathes the endless scenery that surrounds her. On a chilly Friday afternoon, already dusky by 4:30, I pulled into her driveway where she welcomed me with a sunny smile despite the cloud-heavy skies. She led me to a detached woodworking shed behind her house, the sanctuary where she retreats during her free time. We settled into a couple rickety chairs outside, watching deer pick through brittle grass while we chatted about her artistic and spiritual journey, her growing body of work, and where she hopes to go next.
Inside that workshop, Julie collects reclaimed wood from a few contractors she knows, and transforms the material into rustic, mountain-inspired creations that blend raw texture with meticulous detail. The same scrap wood is also used to heat the shed during the cold season. Nothing goes to waste, and Julie takes pride in that.
Julie discovered her calling when she was 25. She explained, “As a kid, I always wanted to be artistic, but I didn’t consider myself very creative.” She’s always had an appreciation for texture, shadow and shape, but the deeper, spiritual power of creating didn’t emerge until life pushed her into stillness. In her early 20s, Julie was diagnosed with a long-term, chronic condition that severely affected her physical health. “I lived in a lot of pain and didn’t feel like there was an end in sight,” she admitted. The continual frustration of her condition drove her to search for a creative outlet to take her mind off things. She started learning power tools with her dad and began experimenting with reclaimed wood. What began as distraction quickly became a lifeline. Creating has become essential to how Julie works through hardship; at times, she has found her art to be the only thing she cares about. This desperation for creative expression is compounded by ambition. “When I’m passionate about something, I strive for excellence,” she noted. And it shows.
Her very first piece still sits in the shed. A simple, layered scene of raw and painted wood mimics snowcapped mountains. Dark painted pine trees spray across the bottom. The final effect is a mixed one. Rustic, yet striking and precise, this first piece represents the beginning of a very profound journey. Julie also showed me one of her most recent pieces: a 6-foot-tall diamond-shaped landscape featuring intricate wood-cut mountains, bright acrylics, and shining layers of epoxy. Over the years, Julie has grown into a style that flourishes with depth, detailed technicality, and large-scale imagination, but she remains grounded in her wooden rustic-meets-modern roots. The contrast between her first and most recent projects displays a dedication to craft that is fundamentally joyful, curious and ambitious.
But Julie’s motivation isn’t only found in hardship or pain. From the way she describes her process, from cutting peaked silhouettes with a jigsaw, experimenting with 3D illusions through multiple layers of epoxy and acrylic paints, to drafting ideas with pencil and paper, I get the sense that Julie is delighted by making. This is unmistakable in her finished pieces.
“When I’m passionate about something, I strive for excellence.”
Julie’s faith plays a central role in her art, too. She considers her creativity to be a gift from God, and she makes a point to honor that with her processes. Much of her inspiration draws from her faith, and she is earnest about sharing this with others. “I always like to share my faith journey,” she told me. For example, many of her pieces feature reflective pools of water. This is symbolic to her of “reflecting God’s goodness and sharing that with people in my own way.” Night skies appear often in her projects, too, and she enjoys building dark, star-splashed backgrounds against slices of vast landscapes. “Even the darkest places can be beautiful,” she mused, “and God uses that.” Inspired by awe and grandeur, Julie creates work that offers small, intentional slices of these feelings. Her landscapes often feel like moments seen through windows or between trees, as though each piece is a quiet doorway into something more vast just beyond view.
As for what’s next, Julie wants to challenge herself by making more functional art. A few of her ideas include charcuterie boards, coat hooks, and stovetop covers. At shows, people often claim that they “just don’t have the wall space,” and while Julie laughs at the familiar excuse, she hopes to offer more pieces that can become a part of someone’s daily life. Functional art is interacted with regularly playing an active role in someone’s life. Julie likes the idea of giving someone a piece that they can make truly their own, to love and enjoy consistently.
Recently, Julie picked up a job to take some of the financial pressure off of her art. Surprisingly, she’s sold more this year than she ever has. To her, the message is clear: now that she’s creating for herself, with intention, the heart of her work shows. There’s more soul in her pieces than ever, and “people can tell.”
To see Julie’s art in person, visit the Evergreen Gallery in downtown Evergreen, explore her Instagram at @modstik_designs, or check out her website, modstikdesigns.com.
