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Welcome to the world of Mary Louise Holt, a Row House Gallery original artist. We are extremely pleased to bring this perspective to you and hope that you enjoy the stories and the paintings as much as we do. |
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 It's hard to imagine...
This is what the first European settlers saw as they traveled west through the Appalachian Mountains and beyond. But a little known fact is that this vast wilderness was not a wilderness at all. The Native Americans had been altering their environment since sometime in the first millennium AD. Over the centuries, to create more sources of food, the Native Americans burned vast areas of forest. They replanted fruit and nut-bearing trees, maize, and created extensive prairies. The prairies made game easier to hunt; and these open, sunny areas, became rich in diversity and provided other sources of nutritious food for the Indians as well as the wildlife.
 For centuries, Native Americans lived in harmony with nature. They believed that the land was a treasure in trust, given to them to use wisely and well so that it could be passed down to future generations. When the first Europeans came to this continent, they thought of the Indians as savages. But, in some ways, "I believe they were ahead of their time," says Holt.
See more of Holt's works here. |
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Sacred Fire Ceremony
Sacred Fire Ceremony |
Earlier this year, Holt was commissioned to create this painting called Sacred Fire Ceremony - a work that was presented to the Fort Ancient Museum and is now in the museum's permanent collection. Throughout the centuries, the Sacred Fire has been a crucial component of all ceremonies that were, and still are, practiced by the Native Americans. You can see the original work at Fort Ancient, where limited edition prints are also available for purchase. In addition, there is a framed print on display at Row House (and prints can be purchased through the gallery). Proceeds from the sale of prints support Fort Ancient programs.
To access a full description of background information on the Sacred Fire Ceremony, click here. |
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Mary Louise Holt
Mary Louise Holt specializes in bringing the Eastern American Frontier back to life through her artwork. She has always had a passion for natural history, and today she routinely combines her skills as a wildlife, landscape and figurative painter to create compelling images of the Eastern American frontier as it existed before European settlement. Through her art she brings to life on canvas the Native Americans and the wilderness that sustained them.
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