We were lucky to catch up with Julie-Mae Sampeur recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julie-Mae, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Growing up in Haiti, art was always a big part of my life. Haitians love art, music, paintings, dancing, you name it! The carnival was something that brought all of these elements together and one of the most anticipated events for the entirety of our nation. Long story short, we revolve around art. So when I started drawing and painting, my parents always encouraged me, but not without letting me know that it could never be my profession. That was the downside of our country’s obsession with art… Because it is something to be enjoyed, most people cannot fathom how it could be a serious job. So most of our artists never fully dedicate themselves to the profession. It’s always the side gig to a doctor, or to a teacher. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I started taking art seriously. I met my best friend, and fellow haitian artist Dimithry Victor and one of the first question he asked me was “Why don’t you sell prints?” No one had ever led me to believe that people would want to buy anything from me before. That was the start of my adventure.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Julie-Mae and I was born and raised in Haiti. As I’ve stated before, Haiti is a country that gives a lot of importance to the arts, it’s a big part of our culture to produce and consume artwork. I’ve never been to a Haitian person’s house where there weren’t paintings hung up or sculptures displayed somewhere. So I believe that me dabbling in drawing was a natural development. It wasn’t until I was thirteen though that I started painting. I was gifted a set of acrylics from a very supportive aunt and I absolutely fell in love with painting. She then gifted me a set of oil paints as well which pushed me even further into the craft. Nowadays I also paint digitally through procreate. Once again the tools were gifted to me by a very kind friend who sent me an iPad and Apple pencil all the way from Florida to Haiti. As a full time artist, I do a lot of portrait commissions and work for album covers. I sell prints and original work and display my work in group shows. I’m really proud of the love I pour into every single one of my pieces, they are all deeply personal and I try to leave just enough space in them for other people to identify with my work. If I’d want people to know anything about my work it’s how unapologetically womanly it is. I value my experience as a woman and don’t shy away from putting that at the forefront of my art. A lot of my commissions feel a lot like collaborations between me and my clients because most of them come to me with an existing love and understanding for my artwork. They want something tailored to themselves but they still want to feel that it’s from me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative has to be the space it gives me to connect with others. As someone who feels sometimes clumsy with words, hearing that people love my work or that it resonated with them creates a euphoric feeling for me. I’ve often felt like I was misunderstood, so in a way, I hope others feel understood when they relate to my work.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think we need to go back to a time where artists and creatives are well respected for their craft. I genuinely believe that in an age of instant gratification, people have started undermining the effort and skill required to produce artwork. I feel like it should be taught more explicitly in schools and even pushed forward on a more global scale, simply for people to understand that the arts and humanities impact the world around us greatly and should be well respected.     

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/juliemaexart?igshid=ZDc4ODBmNjlmNQ==
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/juliemaexartt?t=ydfCxXr1olejHzHunlh-Ig&s=09