Mary Martin Gallery of Fine Art

"Art for a Beautiful Life"

Mary Martin ART

Mary Martin Gallery

Shows & Events

Charleston Art Tours

Artists - Paintings

Artists - Sculptures

Artists - Jewelry

Artists - Ceramics

Artists - Murals

Artists - Furniture

Artists - Photography

Monumental Works

Sculpture Gardens

Custom Giclees - Enhanced

Gallery Photos

About Us

Contact Us

Charleston Place Hotel

The Andell Inn

The Vendue

MMG Art for Hotels

What people are saying

Services

Consulting for Artists

Strategic Planning

Art Leasing

Event Planning

Interviews with Artists

Residential Collections

Art Source for Designers

Art Source for Architects

Large Projects

Julie Houck

 
Julie Houck
"Around the Bend" 36 x 36 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"North Shore Dawn" 12 x 12 Oil on Linen
Julie Houck
"Elusive" 10 x 10 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"Transformation" 40 x 40 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"Reflective Moment" 12 x 12 Oil on Linen
Julie Houck
"Magic" 10 x 10 Oil on Linen
Julie Houck
"The Softness of Light" 8 x 8 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"Winter Sunrise" 8 x 8 Oil on Linen
Julie Houck
"The Suggestion of Spring" 12 x 12 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"Winter's Approach" 12 x 12 Oil on Linen
Julie Houck
"Moody Morning" 12 x 12 Oil on Linen
 
across the marsh Julie Houck
"Across the Marsh" 38 x 38 Oil on Linen
 
Soar Julie Houck
"Soar" 36 x 36 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck
"The Color of Morning" 36 x 40 Oil on Linen
 
Julie Houck

As a contemporary landscape painter working in oils and encaustics, 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. Both of the media I prefer, oils and encaustic, involve applying layers upon layers of paint.  And even though encaustic, painting with hot pigment-colored wax, is known as an especially process-intensive medium, every layer spontaneously changes the piece, so it evolves over time with a life of its own. I find this element of working intriguing.

 Simultaneously, my work in oils 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.

As an artist, I approach each painting believing that it is not enough to paint the literal view. My goal is to also capture the essence of the landscape and hopefully connect you viscerally to that place and time.


 

Studying art in college helped prepare Julie Houck for 17 years of traveling the world as a professional location photographer. Houck’s travels throughout Europe, Asia and across the United States during her career as a photographer reinforced and expanded her knowledge about composition and instilled in her a fascination with the importance of light.

In 1995, Houck decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a painter. “I decided to redirect and pursue what I truly loved.” Now as a contemporary landscape painter working in oils and encaustics, Houck aspires to capture not only the scene but also the moment and mood. In order to do this, Houck has continued her study of the classical principles of directly observing color, light and form in nature.

She has studied with contemporary realist painters at the Atelier of Classical Realism in San Francisco with David Hardy, the Academy of Fine Art in Seattle with Anthony Ryder and most recently, in France, at the L’Ecole Albert Defois with Ted Seth Jacobs. Houck studied en plein air with John Cosby, Kevin MacPherson, Don Demers and Kim English.

Houck’s landscapes reflect the influence of these artists as she hones her classical technique of painting in numerous transparent layers in order to recreate the subtle play of light on the scene. Her desire to capture the essence of the landscape is evolving into compositions dissolving into only the barest, most minimal components—the sky, horizon and land.   

An award winner at the National Paint America Competition, Houck has also been a recipient of the David Warren Memorial Scholarship Grant, a Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and the Arts Acquisition Award as well as many exhibition prizes for painting.

Houck’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Hawaii State Art Museum. She was one of the featured artists at the commemorative Artists of Hawaii exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Art in 2000 and is an invited artist in the World Tour of Contemporary Landscape Artists.

A Signature painter of the American Impressionist Society, Plein Air Painters of Hawaii and International Plein Air Painters, Houck’s works are increasingly being displayed at prominent galleries in Hawaii and on the U.S. Mainland. She has been published in International Artist, Southwest Art, HI Luxury and American Art Collector magazines.

A popular and well-respected instructor, Houck teaches plein air painting on Maui, the mainland and in Europe. In 2015 she is scheduled to teach several workshops including one at the Carmel Art Institute and repeating a painting excursion in southern France.


 
Mary Martin
  
GALLERY   
103 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401     843-723-0303
&
120 Market Street, The Shops at Charleston Place, Charleston Place Hotel Belmond 843-640-3324
Gallery Row on Historic Broad Street   & The Shops at Charleston Place Belmond   
Selected as best gallery in South Carolina 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Selected as one of the top twenty-five galleries in America 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Copyright 2004-2018  All rights reserved for all images displayed on this site by Mary Martin Gallery   The art you see on this web site is subject to prior sale.