Exploring the Feminine Goddess through Mixed Media
BIOGRAPHY
I have been drawn to the creative arts since childhood, watching my older brothers complete their art projects and wishing I could draw as well as they did. By high school, I was sketching realistic portraits of my classmates with ease. Art has always been my superpower.
I went on to study Interior Design at Florida State University, working as a cartoonist for the college newspaper and developing a strong foundation in composition, perspective, and visual storytelling. As the industry shifted toward AutoCAD, I found myself at the intersection of hand-drawn skill and emerging technology—an early glimpse of the tension between human creativity and machine-generated work.
But life took a different path. Marriage, motherhood, and years spent living abroad led me to put my creative career on hold. Eventually, I stepped into an entirely new world, becoming a nurse practitioner.
Everything changed.
Working with cancer patients reshaped how I see time, purpose, and what truly matters. It forced me to confront how much of my own creative voice had been set aside—how much had been quieted by expectation, responsibility, and a system that often asks women to shrink.
Now, after decades of living for others, I am creating again—this time on my own terms.
My work is rooted in feminine empowerment, myth, and the reclamation of what has been buried or softened over time. I question the narratives I was taught, and I explore the deeper connections between women, nature, and one another.
This is not just art.
It is a return.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I’m Julie Marks, a mixed-media artist. My work reflects the feminine experience, seeking to reclaim the ancient goddesses and stories buried by history. Through my art, I explore our connection to nature, the earth, and to one another, honoring the strength and wisdom of women across time.
Each piece is a meditation on womanhood, weaving myth, legend, and personal narrative into a space for reflection, connection, and quiet magic.
I work in acrylics, acrylic inks, ephemera, and found texts, drawing inspiration from fantasy, historical fiction, and fairy tales. I have always been drawn to story—both told and untold—and to the hidden threads that connect us to the past. Growing up in the ancient Appalachian Mountains, I developed a deep connection to place, ancestry, and the roots of the women who came before me.
As an oncology nurse practitioner, I have walked alongside many at the end of life. There is something deeply spiritual and honorable in witnessing this passage, and it continues to shape how I see the world. My work is still evolving, but I know it is rooted in the cycles of birth, death, and the lived experience of being a woman.
We are all here for only a little while. My intention is to honor that time—through art that invites reflection, connection, and a deeper appreciation for the beauty of being alive.
