The artist
Julie A Mars is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been a fine arts professional for over 25 years. She has represented her own and other artists’ work as an art consultant for galleries, interior designers, major furnishing retailers, homeowners, collectors, and businesses. She is currently the Director of Communications at the Addison Center for the Arts where she enjoys fostering and promoting the arts in the community.
Throughout her art career, Mars has continued creating her own body of mosaic and woven beaded glassware. She enjoys designing custom pieces that reflect someone's personality, enriches their life, and enhances their space.
Her work evolved out of an interest in upcycling. From early days of embellishing single-serving juice bottles to make a series of colorful bottle tree fruits, she can now be found scouring Goodwill and Salvation Army for large-scale glass vessels to make into something extraordinary. From time-to-time she harvests vintage beads from useless beaded purses and garments.
She loves the media of glass beads for the diverse colors, lusters, translucencies, and other optical effects they offer. She gets a kick out of exploring the playful view between the interior and exterior of a glass vessel. Although she prefers to work on 3D forms, Mars has done a handful of 2D wall pieces. She is currently expanding her creative endeavors to incorporate some assemblage into her body of work again.
Mars takes many of her design inspirations from art history, science, literature, and even the whims of her children.
Feel free to contact Julie Mars by email to discuss her work.
Throughout her art career, Mars has continued creating her own body of mosaic and woven beaded glassware. She enjoys designing custom pieces that reflect someone's personality, enriches their life, and enhances their space.
Her work evolved out of an interest in upcycling. From early days of embellishing single-serving juice bottles to make a series of colorful bottle tree fruits, she can now be found scouring Goodwill and Salvation Army for large-scale glass vessels to make into something extraordinary. From time-to-time she harvests vintage beads from useless beaded purses and garments.
She loves the media of glass beads for the diverse colors, lusters, translucencies, and other optical effects they offer. She gets a kick out of exploring the playful view between the interior and exterior of a glass vessel. Although she prefers to work on 3D forms, Mars has done a handful of 2D wall pieces. She is currently expanding her creative endeavors to incorporate some assemblage into her body of work again.
Mars takes many of her design inspirations from art history, science, literature, and even the whims of her children.
Feel free to contact Julie Mars by email to discuss her work.
Exhibitions
- June 2020 - "Going Dutch Festival 2020" Side Street Studio Arts, juried exhibition
- April 2020 - "Very Well, Thank You" Northern Illinois University Museum, exhibiting artist by invitation
- January 2020 Visual Harmony Juried Group Exhibition at Norris Cultural Arts Center
- September 2019 Elmhurst Artists' Guild Winter Members Show - "Solar Panels" awarded 3rd place
- September 2019 Elmhurst Artists' Guild Fall Member Show - "Graf" awarded an Honorable Mention
- September 2019 Elgin Fringe Festival Exhibiting Artist
- July - August 2019 Julie Mars at the Prairie Center for the Arts, Schaumburg, IL - Solo show
- July 2019 Oddball Art Labs - Saturday Morning Cartoons group show
- June 2019 Elmhurst Artists' Guild Summer Member Show
- 1/2019-9/2019 Peace of Art Gallery
- 1/12/19-2/17/19 "Up Close and Personal" at Norris Cultural Art Center
- 12/2/18-1/4/19 "Winter Members Show at Elmhurst Artist Guild (Honorable Mention for "Hapless Missionaries Arrive at the Ravenous ExoMoon")
- 10/4/2018-10/27/2018 "Cabinet of Curiosities" Union Street Studios
- 7/2018-8/2018 "In and Around" Fine Line Art Center (First Place in Vessels for ("Bijou")
- 7/13/2018-7/21/2018 "Strange Imaginations and Perplexing Wonders" Oddall Art Labs @Elgin Artspace
- 9/14/2018-10/7/2018 "9th Anniversary Exhibition" Waters Street Studios
- 3/2018-4/2018-"Creative Insights" Addison Center for the Arts (Second Place for "Odilon")