Julia Cooper was trained in interior design. She has been a Design Consultant for The National Trust and has worked on the refurbishment of many Trust properties in Cornwall. She has also had a fine art training. Her studio overlooks estuary and sea, and the inspiration for her paintings comes from the union of land and sea, the ever-changing weather and the restlessness of the sea. She paints in various media and moves between abstract and representational imagery. She exhibits mainly in galleries in the West Country.