Julie Olson has been making art since she could first hold a pencil. Winning the local town's Centennial logo contest at 16 propelled her into her own business doing murals, paintings, and graphic design at a young age.

She graduated with a BFA from Arizona State University, and moved to Washington, DC to become a graphic designer. After a stint at a small firm, she became a senior designer, then art director, for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

She switched gears briefly, starting a business in landscape design while getting her graduate degree in landscape design and sustainable landscaping from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

She moved back to the family farm in North Dakota to care for her elderly mother. Rekindling her love for painting through an oil painting class, she cleaned out her dad's old workshop, and set up her own art studio. Julie eventually applied for and received a grant from the state of North Dakota for a start-up art business, and opened The Middle of Nowhere Studio in 2016.

Julie's creative skills encompass alcohol inks, drawing, pen and ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and oil painting, mixed media, along with handmade cards, printed art, and design.