A Tottington man who turned to art after a career-ending injury is now helping people across Bury and Bolton improve their wellbeing through creativity.
When you study Julian Cohen's art, it's difficult to believe he didn't grow up drawing. In fact, for most of his life, art played no part at all. For more than three decades, he worked in horticulture, building a career managing garden centres before eventually running his own gardening business.
But five years ago, everything changed, as he told Lancashire Life magazine.
At 56, a knee injury forced him to step away from gardening. Julian, who was used to being active, suddenly found himself at home in Tottington with time on his hands and not much to fill it.
It was his wife, Jo, who redirected things. ‘She bought me a sketchbook and a pencil,’ he says. ‘It could’ve been anything, chess, ludo… I think she just wanted to keep me occupied.’
With no formal training and no real expectations, Julian started drawing what he knew: flowers, leaves, insects and the details he had spent years noticing while working in other people’s gardens as a way to pass the time. ‘I’d never done art at school. I wasn’t interested in it and didn’t think it was for me,’ he reflects.
What began as a distraction quickly became something more absorbing. Julian found himself returning to the sketchbook again and again, developing a distinctive line style which he describes as ‘organic and instinctive’.
His work, now recognisable for its detailed yet loose nature-inspired forms, all started from those early sketches of bees, butterflies and foliage.
His pieces often begin without sketches or preparation. ‘Sometimes I don’t even use pencil,’ he says. ‘I just pick up the pen and go for it.’
A fellow artist once described his style as ‘naïve’ – a term he initially took the wrong way. ‘I thought she was criticising me,’ he laughs. ‘But she explained naïve art is actually a recognised style.’
One of his best-known works, a delicate drawing of seed heads against a dark background, was created entirely freehand with a white gel pen. ‘People think it’s a linoprint,’ he says. ‘But it’s just a little white gel pen. I didn’t plan it. I started on one side and carried on.’
Julian grew up in Manchester and left home at 18 following a difficult childhood. School hadn’t worked for him, and he left with no qualifications, much of his early life shaped by circumstances beyond his control. ‘I wasn’t very good at school,’ he says. ‘Back then, you didn’t get the support you do now. I just sat at the back of the class worrying about what I was going home to.’
Despite everything, he kept moving forward. ‘I’ve always liked a challenge,’ he says. ‘I just kept going.’
He built a successful career in horticulture, working his way up from the shop floor to management, gaining qualifications through the Royal Horticultural Society. He eventually managed large garden centres before setting up his own gardening business.
That same mindset carried through when he later went self-employed, starting from scratch with little more than a van, tools and determination. The unknown has never particularly frightened him, and Julian embraced art in much the same way he had embraced earlier changes in life.
Encouraged again by his wife, Julian took the next step: showing people his work. ‘She said: “Why don’t you frame some pieces and take them to a shop?” I didn’t think they’d be interested at all.’
He put together a small selection and, feeling completely out of his comfort zone, walked into a local gift shop carrying his work in carrier bags.
‘I’d been gardening all day in the rain,’ he recalls. ‘I turned up soaking wet, covered in mud, with these battered supermarket bags full of framed pictures. I honestly thought she was going to say no before she’d even looked at them.’
Instead, the shop owner was stunned, not just by the work itself, but by the fact Julian had only been drawing for a matter of months. ‘She kept asking me, “How long have you been doing this?” and I said: “About two months.” She couldn’t believe it.’
She agreed to stock his work, and for the first time Julian saw strangers buying pieces he had created at his kitchen table. ‘I was absolutely agog. I still can’t quite get my head round people wanting to buy my work.’
Next, Julian began attending local craft fairs. ‘The first one went brilliant. The next two were complete flops,’ he laughs. ‘But I’ve been through worse things in life, so I just carried on.’ Gradually, sales picked up. People began recognising his work and his following grew both in person and online.
One of Julian’s biggest turning points came unexpectedly at a craft fair when he was approached about running art wellbeing sessions. ‘I said, “You’ve got the wrong person.” I thought, I’m not a teacher.’
But they saw something in the way he connected with people. Years spent managing staff combined with his own life experiences had given him patience, empathy and an ability to put others at ease.
That single session grew into something much bigger. Today, Julian runs multiple weekly art wellbeing groups supporting people dealing with anxiety, depression, loneliness and trauma across Bury and Bolton.
Many arrive convinced they cannot draw. ‘Everyone says that,’ he smiles. ‘But everyone can draw. It’s just about confidence and finding your own way of doing things.
‘It’s not just about drawing. It’s about people feeling better, meeting people and getting their confidence back.’
Rather than focusing on perfection, Julian encourages people to interpret subjects in their own style. ‘I always say: “It doesn’t have to look exactly like our chosen subject, it’s your version of it.”’ This attitude helps students relax and – most importantly – have fun.
Through these sessions, Julian has seen first-hand how creativity can help people reconnect with themselves after periods of isolation or poor mental health. Friendships have formed, confidence has grown and participants who once struggled to leave the house are now meeting socially outside the groups.
But while art was helping others overcome challenges, Julian was facing one of his own. Following major elbow surgery last year, he had to relearn how to draw and adapt the way he works. ‘I can only draw for about 20 minutes at a time now before I have to stop and rest,’ he says. ‘I had to teach myself to draw all over again.’
Even during treatment, his artwork was reaching people in unexpected ways. One of the surgeons recognised him and revealed his daughter regularly copied Julian’s drawings from Instagram after school. On a later visit, another member of the surgical team told him he already owned one of Julian’s pieces. ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he says. ‘I still think of myself as just a humble gardener really.’
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Julian continued teaching throughout much of his recovery, determined not to let his groups down. Today, he balances creating his own artwork with leading workshops and community wellbeing projects, while remaining inspired by the natural world that first sparked his creativity.
He credits his wife, Jo, for much of what has happened since he first picked up that sketchbook. ‘She’s always been the one suggesting the next step,’ he says. ‘Without her, I’d never have walked into that first shop with those carrier bags.’
What began as a way to fill time while recovering from injury has grown into a new chapter of life – one that has helped not only Julian, but many others through art and creativity.
Yet despite the exhibitions, commissions and a growing reputation, he has no intention of resting on his laurels and continues to push himself creatively. ‘I’m still learning,’ he says. ‘I think I always will be.’
@artbyjoules
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