As a child, Julie Wulf was sure that fairies were real.

During winter ski outings she would lose herself in the forest, take off her skis and build fairy castles in the snow, much to her parents’ dismay.

“I tried to lure fairies into our backyard by creating a mossy mountain grotto under our lilac hedge,” Wulf recalled.

Those childhood fantasies eventually gave way to a more realistic view of the world, but Wulf, 64, still has a whimsy about her that’s evident in her brilliantly colored silk paintings and watercolors.

“The spirit responds to color,” she mused. “It’s good for your soul.”

Wulf is a partner in the ARTrageous art studio in downtown Lakeside, where her work is among other local artists’ work that is displayed and sold.

She has made a living as an artist for the past 25 years and draws inspiration from the view of her home studio looking north above Conrad Point on Flathead Lake. The outdoors are a constant source of stimulation for her work.

“The magic of wild places has inspired me to draw and paint ever since I was a small child growing up in Great Falls,” she said.

Wulf is a regular at the C.M. Russell Auction and Art Show staged annually in her hometown. Her work is widely exhibited in galleries throughout Montana, Florida and Oregon. In addition to ARTrageous, her artwork can be found locally at Sassafras in Kalispell and Art Fusion in Bigfork.

She teaches silk painting and watercolor classes, and come September she once will again be part of the Hockaday Museum of Art’s local studio tour.

Wulf was drawn to art early in life.

“I was the art star of grade school,” she said with a smile. “I got to draw the murals.”

Her mother, an active member of the Junior League women’s organization when Wulf was growing up, encouraged her penchant for art to a degree, even though her mother never would have imagined her daughter would grow up to be an acclaimed artist.

“Mom paid a dollar a lesson for my art lessons after school,” Wulf recalled. “She wanted me to be more social and athletic, but she put up with the art thing.”

Thankfully, Wulf added, she has an older sister “who did the things mom wanted to do ... Later, when I started selling art professionally, my mom would be embarrassed that I’d ask for money.”

Wulf’s free spirit made her a bit of a “black sheep” in the family, she said, but it didn’t faze her.

“I wandered around and did hippie stuff,” she recalled. To this day, she proudly calls herself a dedicated “tree hugger.”

After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona, Wulf mowed through a string of “horrible day jobs” while striving to become a full-time artist. She worked as a chamber maid, waitress and book-store clerk, among other odd jobs.

“I was timid about my artwork,” she admitted about those early days in her career. “You get tougher. You get used to rejection and bad comments, but you feed on people who love your work.”

Wulf got a teaching certificate in art and put her skills to use as a substitute teacher. “I hated that,” she declared.

She initially focused on watercolor painting, then added batik — paintings made with wax and dye — to her repertoire. Wulf dropped the batik when she developed an allergy to wax.

She believes that allergy may have contributed to an auto-immune deficiency. Wulf has rheumatoid arthritis but controls it through a healthy diet and daily swimming.

Wulf really found her stride when she crossed over to painting on silk.

“I love color, and I have to do what excites me,” she said. “I was always delighted by color, whether it was the orange and purple streaks of rust on an old truck or in the sky at sunset.”

For years Wulf longed to live in Western Montana, but followed her husband, Frank Dinenna — “a restless soul” — to all kinds of places. They spent a decade in Florida, where he worked in the golf business. His work has drawn him to China, Jamaica and Egypt, among other places.

“He’s in Thailand right now,” she said, adding that she joins him occasionally as her schedule allows.

Wulf got her wish 15 years ago when she and her husband relocated to the Flathead Valley as their home base.

Family is important to Wulf. She has a son who works in energy technology. She spends one week every month in Great Falls with her mother, who’s now 96.

Though she’s been a professional artist and a businesswoman for decades, those proverbial fairies still call to her, especially in Glacier National Park.

“The peaks have an enchanting presence,” she said. “When I get out of my car along Going-to-the-Sun Road or hike the trails around Logan Pass or at Two Medicine, the freshness and brilliance of the very air exhilarates me as if I am under a spell.”

Learn more about Wulf’s work at www.juliewulf.com.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com