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Julie Gebhardt

Graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, I hold a bachelor’s degree in Illustration with a focus on wildlife and minored in Graphic Design too. I’m also a children’s book writer and I’m currently writing a book, Only the Toad Knows Where the Rosemary Grows, about a frog who was pushed out of his habitat and lived in a rosemary pot on a back patio. His accounting of the deforestation of the reserve – he and many other animals inhabited – is a journey, one in which very much parallels what animals in forests and rainforests are dealing with today.
Vegetarian for thirty-four years and vegan for four years. I first became passionate in 1985 after reading a book written by a man who worked for Oscar Meyer. His accounting of working in a slaughterhouse was so gripping and horrific to me, that it inspired me even more to become an activist for these innocent souls without voices.  I’m a member of PETA, ARM (Animal Recovery Mission), and Animal Legal Defense Fund and educate others on the Vegan Lifestyle, and what all of us together can do to truly make a difference in animals’ lives, which in turn effect ours and the planet. I’m also a supporter of a local animal rescue and I’m a rescue ‘mom’ of seven.

Another passion of mine
is cooking and baking.

Being of Italian descent, I learned at an early age how to cook healthy meals and I loved to spend time in the kitchen with my mother and great-grandmother.  

 

Educating children on eating well is essential. This prompted me to write a children’s cookbook, Plants on Plate for Kids, which features twenty-five fun-filled kid’s recipes that they can prepare with their parents, along with fun photos of each plate. Every recipe created is animal food art.

 

For example, ‘Hootmeal’ is a bowl of steel cut oats with coconut cream, with an owl made from nuts and fruit; ‘Bananaranimals’, is made from bananas, vegan M & M’s, marzipan, and vegan chocolate raisins; ‘Flutter Flap Jacks’, are pancakes with butterflies made from strawberries, blackberries, bananas and kiwis. Under the photo of each recipe is a ‘fun fact’ about that creature so kids can get an education while having fun in the kitchen.

 

I’m also working on another cookbook, Plants on a Plate, which will feature recipes such as vegan fried chicken with vegan mac-n-cheese, and vegan scallops made from oyster mushrooms.

 

My passion today goes beyond painting, writing, and cooking because I have a BIG project closely with the Founder of My Vegan World, Heather Hobrock, as creative editor for My Vegan World Magazine.
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