Bio
Charlotte Houlihan is a figurative painter whose work is defined by a playful exploration of colour and lusciousness of paint. She is a mother to two children in a neurodivergent household where she juggles her roles as artist, tutor and primary carer. Although varied in execution her work is rooted in observation from life. People, the figure and human nature are important themes. Charlotte is represented by Tregony Contemporary and her work has been included in the New English Art Club and ING Discerning Eye exhibitions. She was awarded the first prize NEAC Scholarship for 2024 - 2025.
Artist Statement
Working from life has always been important, there’s a tension you can feel while you’re painting and I enjoy losing myself in the unpredictability of a painting put together in the moment. I am interested in character and personality. Most typically this feels related to people, but sometimes the character of an object or plant captures my attention. I try to paint the things I notice, individuality and imperfections; often in the context of interrelationships - a pose, a space, an arrangement. I love the process of translating three dimensions to two and increasingly relationships between shapes and colours on the surface vie for my attention alongside the subject itself. I want these interests to coexist, hoping to draw the viewer’s gaze to both, perhaps in a specific order - I enjoy the idea of discovery in a painting and try to create a situation where the viewer has to work to find the literal elements. I work from sketches and studies, often made while I teach, later translating them into collages and paintings, where I may fuse ideas, distort or manipulate them. Happily disrupting all of this is the paint itself. I like to let it lead me, working spontaneously and rapidly, often getting lost before finding my way out. Colour is a joyful indulgence and the resulting pieces may be playful, agitated or both.
AWARDS & PRizes
New English Art Club First Prize Scholarship 2024 - 2025
The Val Harris Prize for The Gentlemen’s Art Club at the New English Art Club annual exhibition 2024
SHOWS
2026: Gathering Light, Tregony Contemporary, St Mawes, Cornwall
2026: Reassemble, Tregony Contemporary, St Mawes, Cornwall
2026: For Women by Women VI, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2026: Assemble: 26, Tregony Contemporary, London
2026: Irving Open, Irving Gallery, Oxford
2025: Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studios, Deal, Kent
2025: Works on Paper, Hampstead Art Society, Regents Park Gallery, London
2025: Lucent, Tregony Contemporary, St Mawes, Cornwall
2025: Miniature Masters, Canal Boat Contemporary, London
2025: 5th Anniversary, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2025: Promenade 8, Tregony Contemporary, St Mawes, Cornwall
2025: New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London
2025: Beyond the Prize, Mall Galleries, London
2024: Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studios, Deal, Kent
2024: Selected Artists, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2024: ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2024: Slay Hay Life, The Chair, Hay on Wye
2024: Drawing People Drawing, Solo Show, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2024: New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London
2024: A Room of One’s Own, Irving Gallery, Oxford
2023: Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studios, Deal, Kent
2023: New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London
2023: Small & Mighty, Ladies Drawing Club
2023: Useful Drawings, Eye to Pencil, 26 Exmouth Market, London
2023: Oxford Art Society Members Exhibition, Kendrew Barn Gallery, Oxford
2023: For Women by Women, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2023: Royal Cambrian, Conwy
2022: New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London
2022: Oxfordshire Artweeks Open Studios
2022: Oxford Art Society Members Exhibition, Kendrew Barn Gallery, Oxford
2022: For Women by Women, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford
2021: Oxfordshire Artweeks Open Studios
2020: New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London
2020: Bath Society of Artists, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
2020: Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition
2020: Oxfordshire Artweeks Open Studios
2019: Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition, Cloister Gallery, St John’s Oxford
2019: Oxfordshire Artweeks Open Studios
EDUCATION 1997 - 2000: BA (Hons) Furniture and Related Product Design, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.
Tutor at Sunningwell School of Art, Charleston House and various private classes. Longlisted for the 2022 Jackson’s Painting Prize and the 2023 Women in Art Prize. Member of Oxford Art Society.
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