Julie enjoyed traveling, as do I, her partner of almost 25 years. We traveled well to-gether. She was quicker to adjust to driving a car the size of a small shoebox on the wrong side of the road; I was better at figuring out road signs in Portuguese and Italian and helping us navigate through unfamiliar lands.

This piece of artwork, “Docking at the Inlet,” was the result of a different type of road trip, one much closer to home. We kenneled the dogs and spent a week just exploring the Delmarva Peninsula, a thousand miles of meandering wherever the roads might take us. On a two-lane blacktop, crossing a small bridge over a tiny creek, this view was actually behind us, and we felt fortunate to have caught a glimpse of it. We stopped immediately for a better look.

We took a lot of photographs as we traveled, some of which led to paintings, and Julie recognized immediately that this scene would become one of them. This particular view stretched in front of us virtually the way you see it — the sunlight dancing on the water, the gentle rise and fall of the waves rocking the old workboats against the dock lined with irregular poles cut from saplings. Gulls called overhead, and the clean sharp scent of the marsh filled the air. Julie was a deeply spiritual person, and finding this scene was a gift from God, perfect as it was without alteration. She took the photo, and hundreds more throughout the week. Back in her studio, the work seemed to just flow out of her brush onto the canvas.

Julie’s portfolio reflects all these travels, her love of these places both near and far, but there’s something more, something that doesn’t show in her paintings. As much as we enjoyed the anticipation of going away, of being somewhere new, Julie enjoyed even more going home. Like a homing pigeon longing for the comfort and safety of her roost, Julie looked forward to returning home — to her studio, to our dogs, to our quiet lives in Prime Hook Beach.

On August 17, 2009, Julie departed this life for her final journey Home.
Mary Ann Benyo