Julie Houck

As a contemporary landscape painter working in oils and wax I aspire to convey not only the scene but also the moment and mood. The moment is fleeting but the painting allows us to live in that moment a bit longer, to linger, to reflect, to contemplate, to enjoy.

I am inspired by the interplay of light on the landscape, which is ever elusive and always changing. Painting softly allows me the opportunity to recreate that one particular special moment when the land, light and atmosphere seamlessly fuse.

Reflecting a serendipitous moment in time can be, however, a deceivingly slow and deliberate process. My work in oils, involves applying layers upon layers of paint,
and is highly influenced by my early classical training-- particularly the study of light on form. Each landscape is painted in transparent layers with sometimes up to 40 layers of paint in order to recreate the subtle play of light on the landscape as well as to control the incremental changes in tonality.
Conversely, my abstract works veer sharply from the physical word, and find their delve into the realm of painting what can only be felt, experienced or thought. This departure from the landscape is merely a change of focus from looking outward, to looking inw...

2001 Ecole Albert Defois, with Ted Seth Jacobs, Argenton-Chateau, France Study with Kevin MacPherson, Don Demers, John Cosby and Kim English
2000 The Ryder Studio with Anthony Ryder, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Atelier of Classical Realism, Oakland, CA
1995 Honorary Degree, New England School of Photography, Boston, MA
MFA Program, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 1975 BS Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Solo Shows (Selected)

2017 Points of Departure, Portland Art Gallery, Portland, Maine
2016 Through My Eyes, The Art of Painting Softly- Gallery at the Grand, Kennebunk, ME 2013
2015 Chabot Fine Art Gallery - Providence, RI
2005 Beach Studies, Maui Hands - Paia, HI
2003 Visions of Grace, Volcano Art Center - Volcano, HI
1997 Island Rhythms, Hui No’eau - Maui, HI

Invitational Shows (Selected)
2019 Maine the Painted State, Greenhut Gallery – Portland, ME Three Artists, Maine Art Hll, Kennebunkport, ME
2013 Far and Near Horizons, New Century Artists - New York, NY
2011 Icons of the West, Dana Gallery - Missoula, MT 2010 Northwest Plein Air - Columbia Gorge, OR
2009 Transitions in Color, Chabot Gallery - Providence, RI
2008 Link Gallery - Door County, WI
2008Terrace Gallery - Orlando, FL
2007 St Augustine Gallery - St. Augustine, FL
2000 Maui Artists, Honolulu Advertiser Gallery - Honolulu, HI 1999 Bridging Expressions, Schaeffer Gallery - Maui, HI

Juried Shows (Selected)
2020 ArtMaui, Schaeffer Gallery- Maui, HI -
2018 6 x 6 Squared Exhibition, Randy Higbee Gallery - Costa Mesa, CA
2017 The Color of Light, Edgewater Gallery - Middlebury, VT
2015 Nature as Muse, encaustic exhibition, Steamboat Springs Art Cen...