Meet artist Julie Aida

1. What made you want to start making art?
- Oh, mom says I was just a couple of months old when I first got a pencil in my hand and held it properly with my thumb and index finger as support. Many in my family are creative, both artistically and musically, so drawing has always been something I fled to as a child and it’s where I invented my own world and characters. It is in the blood, you can say.

2. How would you describe your work to someone who doesn't know what you do?
- A messy pop art-Pollock-Dali girl who likes to make things and pet her cats.

3. What is your favourite colour and why?
- Every colour triggers unique emotions and feelings, so it's like picking one favourite mood or one feeling. I'm very obsessed with the effect of colours, so I don't have one in particular, but I tend to use a lot of different gradients of blue at the moment. All I know is that the world's ugliest colour is Pantone 448 C and I like to use that colour in my work to spark some psychological, uncomfortable effect. Yellow is the happiest colour, I even have a bright yellow breadbox.

4. Where does your creativity stem from and how do you nurture it?
- It is inexplicably important for me to share creative ideas with others who have the same goals and passion as me, then I feel like a freshly watered strelitzia, ready to grow new larger leaves. This way I get lots of energy and new creative flow. Being around people who water your soil is important.

5. What is your favourite thing to do outside?
- I like to walk around and observe people. People are so rare, fun and nice. I also play basketball as soon as it gets a little hotter out. I have never walked as much as I did last year and this year. I'm probably also a little too fond of going for walks and listening to crimson pods.