Joshua Houska's Art

2026

The Leaves She Did Not Plant

It started at the edges, the way all honest things do. A single leaf, small and waxy, tucked behind her ear like a secret she hadn't told yet. She brushed it away. It grew back. Then another, curling at her temple, then a third unfurling along the nape

They told her that stillness was a kind of rest.

They told her that stillness was a kind of rest. She tried to believe them. So she learned to stand without shifting, to let the air move instead of her. The world passed in small gestures. Wind through her hair. Light brushing her cheek. The low hum of something distant

2026

The One Who Learned to Rest

She closed her eyes the way some people close doors. Not to shut anything out, but to finally stop holding them open. The blue behind her was not sky. It was not water. It was the color that comes when a person stops performing stillness and simply becomes still. It

2025

What Is Carried

A quiet figure carries the moon not as a destination, but as a companion; marked by travel, shaped by cycles, and grounded in stillness.

2025

The Space That Answers Back

She stands before a hovering light, close enough to feel seen but not consumed. Gold gathers above her, not a crown, but a question. This piece explores attention, restraint, and the quiet moment before meaning arrives, when listening becomes its own form of authority.

2025

Where the Clouds Learned Her Name

She rests her cheek in her palm as clouds gather low, carrying forgotten memories and softened voices. Marked by small repairs and careful mends, she listens as the sky reminds her she is still here; unfinished, but present. A quiet moment about holding yourself together, even when things drift.

Illustration

The Lantern-Tender

The Lantern-Tender captures a quiet moment of magic; an otherworldly figure drifting through twilight, coaxing fragile blossoms to glow with warmth and life. This piece explores how small acts of care can illuminate even the darkest dusk.

2025

The Girl Who Carried Weather

A young weatherkeeper named Liri Bloom gathers light, wind, and color in small glass jars. When a heavy silence spreads across her town, she opens them to release a quiet glow of hope. Restoring balance to the world around her.

events

Frost and Found

I am excited to be participating in the Frost and Found show at the Valkarie Gallery. Frost and Found brings together a collection of works spanning intimate watercolor portraits, atmospheric landscapes, and surreal ink illustrations.

Watercolor

Wind Fish in Flight

There's something uniquely captivating about the gentle interplay of movement and stillness, captured in the medium of watercolor. This piece, "Wind Fish in Flight," portrays a whimsical wooden fish weather vane suspended in a soft, breezy sky.