“Our experiences with the landscape are as unique as each of us. When I go outside with my plein air gear, I’m looking for subjects that draw an emotional response from me. I try to build a painting that communicates both my reverence for and my expression of that place. The land always has a story to tell, and there is beauty in that. I do my best to understand the story within every subject I paint.” 

Julie Davis was born in Galveston, Texas, and was raised in towns across West Texas from El Paso to Abilene. She grew up drawing and creating and earned degrees from Baylor University in education and law. After she and her husband started a family, Davis worked as a freelance writer and explored black and white photography, photographing the landscape and her daughters, and learning much about composition and light in the process. In 2007, she had the opportunity to study oil painting and quickly learned that it brought all her interests and skills together—her adoration of the outdoors, drawing, photography, writing, even law--all of it had a place in making art. She studied with some of the preeminent landscape painters in the country and continues to challenge herself so that she might elegantly demonstrate her respect for our landscape on canvas. Davis and her husband split time between Austin and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and have three adult daughters.

A Signature Member of OPA, AIS, and AWA, Davis has earned awards in OPA, AIS, and AWA national shows. Her plein air work won Second Place at the 2025 Oil Painters of America Wet Wall Competition in the National Show in Bradenton, Florida, by Judge Todd Casey, Best of Show in the 2023 American Impressionist Society Wet Wall Competition at the Small Works Showcase by Judge Anne Blair Brown, and in the 2019 American Impressionist Society / Southwest Art All-Member Central Park Plein Air Paint Out in New York City by Judge Kevin Macpherson. In 2023, she earned an Award of Excellence at the OPA Masters show from judge Scott Christensen. Davis teaches online and in-person workshops when her schedule allows. Her work can be found at Davis Gallery in Austin, Texas, Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon, Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder, CO, and Turner Fine Art in Jackson Hole, WY. Davis is active on Instagram at @juliedavisstudio.

Honors and Awards - 2019 to Present

2025 Landscape Honorable Mention, Oil Painters of America 34th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Bradenton, FL

2025 Second Place, Wet Wall Competition, Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, Bradenton, FL

2024 Plein Air Salon, December, Honorable Mention, Landscape

2024 Plein Air Salon, October, Best Landscape and Best Building, Judge Ned Meuller

2024 Honorable Mention, American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase, Andersons Fine Art, St. Simon’s Island, GA

2024 Impressionist Honorable Mention, Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, Wichita, Kansas

2023 Award of Excellence, Oil Painters of America Masters Show, Illume Gallery West, Philipsburg, MT
2023 Award of Merit, American Impressionist Society’s 24th Annual National Exhibition, Somerville-Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE
2023 Judge, Driggs Plein Air Festival, Driggs, ID
2023 First Place, Wet Wall Competition, American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase, Judge Anne Blair Brown, Knoxville, TN
2023 Award of Excellence, Oil Painters of America Wet Wall Competition, National Exhibition, Charleston, SC
2022 Juror, American Impressionist Society’s 2022 All-Member Online National Competition
2022 Award of Distinction, American Impressionist Society’s 23rd Annual National Exhibition, Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO
2019 First Place, American Impressionist Society/Southwest Art All Member Central Park Plein Air Paint Out, New York, NY