Here’s what my clients have said…

“Julie did an amazing job sorting out our daughter’s art portfolio and helping get her into the Illustration Degree at the University of Brighton that she wanted.

Julie is professional, friendly and very helpful, and I have no hesitation in recommending her.”

“I’m actually delighted that having gone through a very intensive process over a relatively short period of time that Ellie is now sitting with 5 offers from institutions that do provide very good fashion design courses.

I suppose in our heart of hearts we always had a view that perhaps Glasgow or Edinburgh were our preferred but didn’t ever really let ourselves believe that it was going to be possible.

I must confess I shed a tear, the first time in many, many years and I was absolutely delighted for Ellie and so proud of what she’d done.

The services of Portfolio Oomph definitely offer value for money, largely around the flexibility and the 1:2:1 nature. Ultimately we were successful, I would certainly recommend to anyone else going through a similar process”

“As a teenager, it can be quite stressful not knowing what lies ahead in the future.

I thank Portfolio Oomph with all my heart for just being there and completely understanding the pressures a student goes through before even applying to Art Colleges.

Honestly, I didn’t even know that I needed something called a Portfolio. It was quite frustrating, not knowing without any support.

I had a short amount of time, Julie made me realise what I was doing wrong and gave me a framework to work from. She gave me space to work on what I was interested in and kept me in the right direction if I was diverting from the topic.

She provides full attention to the student as well as give them space to explore the materials.”

“Before Portfolio Oomph came into our lives Emily was happy drawing, painting but she was not creating. She clearly had the skills but was copying from photos, paintings etc.

She wasn’t expressing herself and her personality was not coming through in her work.

Julie guided her through this difficult process. Without telling her what to do, Julie helped Emily to explore possibilities – both techniques and ideas. Gradually Emily found a strong theme to work with and so much poured out of her onto the paper. Some things worked, some things didn’t but she was experimenting and had Julie to help her focus.

Portfolio Oomph is value for money……time is invaluable once every two or three weeks.

I would certainly recommend Portfolio Oomph to anyone wanting to go to art college. It gives that extra oomph that school art departments may not be able to give.”

“My heartfelt gratitude and a BIG thanks to Julie Read of Portfolio Oomph.

Living in Saudi Arabia and our daughter studying in India, we had no idea as to how a portfolio should be prepared to seek admission into any prestigious UK art colleges.

Yashi actually had a very short time of about 20 days to work with Portfolio Oomph as we were returning to Saudi Arabia. Under Julie’s able guidance based on Yashi’s passions, she was able to explore and expand her thinking, be adventurous and create. Her creative juices were flowing uninterrupted and every day was an ‘Aha’ day!!

Julie is a very genuine, patient, dedicated and a wonderful guide.

On our return, Yashi has been admitted to the University of Edinburgh and Glasgow School of Art. She has very happily chosen University of Edinburgh, which is her first love.

Her careful nurturing, great guidance and mentoring helped my daughter to realize her dream of studying art at the University of Edinburgh (ECA).

The services of Portfolio Oomph are of topmost quality and deserving of every penny. Portfolio Oomph delivers all that it promises.”

“Portfolio Oomph not only helped with the application process and understanding what universities wanted, but it also took me through how to approach a project in an interesting way.

The course has already helped me so much with my portfolio and I would highly recommend it to anyone considering an art course!

It cleared up what development should include as well for a project, alongside opening up lots of new and interesting techniques to try.”

“From the beginning Julie gave Claudia warmth and support. Julie gently worked with Claudia so that she was able to use her sketchbooks to work in and not worry about whether something worked or not.

That was when Claudia began to flourish. The next break through was when Claudia, who had hundreds of ideas, worked with Julie to find a single theme for her folio. Julie gave her confidence, reassurance, practical guidance and I believe we would have been lost without that help.

It feels like after a difficult time Claudia is going to be where she wants to be. It is very exciting.”

“I contacted Julie to help me write my application for entering into a Masters of Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Although a practicing Artist, it had been a while since I had to articulate my practice at an academic level.

Julie was fantastic in every way. She helped me to identify and acknowledge my experience and the unique strengths this bought to my practice.

I have great pleasure in following Julie’s Portfolio Omph updates and developments and recommend her service to anyone interested in entering into a career in the visual arts.”

“We are convinced that Julie’s expert guidance and critical eye made all the difference and helped our daughter reach this exciting stage in her academic career.” (parent)

“With Portfolio Oomph I learnt how to present my designs and the development of my ideas into a meaningful portfolio.

I have four unconditional offers for all the courses I applied for, which I’m very happy about!”

Glasgow School of Art – Interior Design also Architecture
Dundee University – Architecture also Interior and Environmental Design

“When we discovered Portfolio Oomph by chance, it was just what we needed – access to advice from someone independent in the art world. It was also a flexible service which I think was a great strength.

Many thanks for supporting Lachlan in developing his ideas skills and abilities – for going the extra mile at each point when it was needed and giving him the confidence to believe in what he wanted to achieve. I am absolutely delighted and excited for him getting into GSA and to the particular course that he so wanted to get on, Sculpture and Environmental Art.

If we had not discovered Portfolio Oomph I think it would have taken Lachlan at least another year to get to the point of where he is at now.”

“Julie is an expert portfolio judge with a wide and comprehensive understanding of Art College Entrance Requirements, with this goes an understanding of curriculum requirements in Higher Education.

Julie combines her academic expertise with the talent and deep knowledge of a successful practicing professional Fine Artist across the full spectrum of Fine Arts, traditional and contemporay media and techniques.”

“As a keen follower of your page and having downloaded the eBooks we have been very aware of the difficulty in gaining a place to any course……

Taking on board all the advice you shared Rosanna has been in a extremely fortunate position and has had an offer to study textiles from Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) in Dundee.

We really could not be more happy and grateful for the eye opener from those years ago. I would like to say you have played a large part in Rosanna’s success. Thankyou for all your advice and input.”

“Extensive knowledge of art and design tertiary education across the UK and specifically Scotland.

High level of professionalism working alongside School of Art and Design at Edinburgh College.

Highly successful mentor for Art College applicants and portfolio building.”

“I happy to say I am now studying at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Last year I was unsuccessful.

As I lived outside the UK in Hungary, Portfolio Oomph seemed to be the only source of help, this turned out to be also the best solution as I worked through the learning materials.

Julie invites all clients to a private Facebook group and she regularly enquires about every individual’s progress, regarding both enrolment and artistic progress.”