About Juliana Brandon
Juliana is probably best known in the Seattle area as an alternative classical singer (Operadisiac, Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra, Paper Puppet Opera, Human Theremin.) The daughter of an actor and a poet, Juliana has actually been an artist of many disciplines from birth. She was on track to become a children’s book illustrator when she discovered opera at age 14. Art school left a bad taste in her mouth leading her to focus completely on music. In 2004 Juliana met Melissa Young at Shoreline Community College, and together they started the operatic burlesque vaudeville troupe, Operotica. A couple years later Marchette DuBois joined them as an accordion player, singer, and comedic genius, and the name changed to Operadisiac.
In 2015 Juliana expanded her operatic vision to include Paper Puppet Opera, a shadow puppet opera company where she makes the puppets herself. Paper Puppet Opera is best known for their acclaimed production of Schubert’s song cycle, Winterreise, which will hopefully be performed again soon, but otherwise these large scale puppet operas are somewhat rare. Mostly, Juliana has been focusing on solo puppet shows where she sings and performs at the same time with a small shadow theater. Winterreise also led Juliana to write a strange and unique book of meditations with Franz Schubert that’s part poetry, part screenplay, but mostly a humorous and sensual spiritual manifesto. Juliana envisions this book as the beginning of a series and is currently writing one based on Die Schöne Müllerin as a metaphor for the artistic process.
Slowly, Juliana has been rekindling her original love of drawing and painting. In 2015 she painted a giant astronaut statue for Museum of Flight’s Astronauts on the Town fundraiser. Since then most of her drawing skills have been used in service of making shadow puppets, but the act of cutting paper has also expanded her imagination. Recently Juliana discovered the joy of collage, but with a twist: she only uses patterned papers, like a quilter, and then draws over the top of them in her quasi-folk style. 2021 saw the unveiling of her art series entitled BirdCore which featured drawings of birds and apples over collages made from patterns bought on Etsy. Juliana felt she had finally hit on something big, but she wanted to take it further by learning how to make her own patterns. In early 2022 she took an immersive class on the techniques and business of surface pattern design and is today making collages using her own patterns!
As a multipotentialite, Juliana aspires to bring the many art forms she practices together into a cohesive whole. Once a year she presents something she calls The Trifecta: a puppet show, art series, and book created around one theme.
Juliana hopes to use this website to bring her original art works, art prints, books, and even puppet shows into the homes of anyone who considers themselves to be a divine child at heart yearning for a deeper connection to spirit through layers of meaningful beauty.