Julia Monk has a message for small-town artists going against the grain

Watch Julia compete on Crash Gallery now!

Born in Belle River, Ontario, Vancouver-based artist Julia Monk encountered "a lot of naysayers" on her way to becoming an artist. "There's a lot of people telling you that you can never make a living as an artist."

While Julia says she loves Belle River, she had to go against the social expectations of what a career should be. "The norm is that you have either a factory job or a 9-5. If you want to do anything other than that, people just think you're crazy."

But she pushed through people's doubts — and not only got into art school, but got a scholarship as well. Now she's made art into her career and you can see her compete on this week's episode of Crash Gallery, Sunday at 9:30pm on CBC TV.

Crash Gallery is back for a second season. In each episode, three talented artists of various disciplines go head-to-head against each other in a real-time creative arena, giving the audience a front row seat to the creative process. In the meantime, watch episode one online now.