Julia C. Tenney was born into publishing and thus graphic design. She even played with T-squares as a child.

A life-long visual artist, it wasn’t until she earned her BA in Art History that she began to regularly encounter blank canvas syndrome. It was easier to create when it didn’t all have to mean something.

She first learned how to make Pysanky, or “Ukrainian Eggs”, from a college professor who had defected from the Soviet Union, but didn’t set up her own pysanky workspace until after she moved to Somerville, in 1999.

She has been volunteering with Somerville Open Studios for decades, became an exhibiting artist in 2020, and became a member of the SOS board in 2024.

She has been a member of Sign of the Dove Gallery since 2022.