Julie M. Houck grew up in the small farm town of Payne, Ohio. She was deeply influenced by her mother’s talent and love of art. Under her mother’s guidance, Julie began sketching and painting at an early age. She later majored in Art at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Through the years 1992 to 2002 she painted watercolor paintings. During the winter of 2002 she was deeply inspired at a workshop presented by C.W. Mundy, a well-known oil impressionist painter. That same year she began to paint in oil paints and she found a mentor in the late artist Gene Jones. Gene Jones was a great oil painter in his own right and a tremendous source of encouragement and knowledge to Julie.
Julie M. Houck’s passion for finding the beauty in the world is evident in her warm and inviting landscape paintings. Misty meadows strewn with hay bales, a woodland creek lined with autumn trees, colorful boats along a sunlit Venice Canal...all come to life and reveal their true personality under the brush of oil impressionist Julie M. Houck. Thick impasto oils are deftly applied presenting an amazing array of detail and rich textural quality. This combination enriches her works with the heightened impact of a dreamlike reality.