Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Valerie Jaimes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Valerie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As an artist, I seek to tell stories of life through my art. I have had the privilege of traveling and living in many different places, and in the last few years, I have created various ‘collections’ wherein I’ve sought to depict, through various drawings and paintings, the essence of each place I have been in. I have created collections of places such as Spain, the UK, Italy, Texas, and Alaska. I have then gone on to sell both originals and prints of these works to people all over the world to whom these places are also special and I feel that it is very meaningful to be able to share my love for the world with others in this way. The most meaningful, however, was a collection of 7 paintings that I did of a small village in Spain that I got to live in and experience for a time. I was not only interested in capturing the beauty of the place, but also in telling the story of its people and its unique culture that is unbeknownst to most people in other places in the world. I am also a sociologist, and I was then able to use my artwork in my master’s thesis to aid in my study of this unique and wonderful place. It was meaningful because it was powerful for me to be able to combine my love and my curiosity about different cultures, my passion for studying, and my love for art, all in one project.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I always tell people that art was something I started doing as a toddler and really just never stopped. I took classes from primary school through high school and then even through university. I have primarily always worked with oils, acrylics, pencils, pens, and charcoal. I began selling my art in high school by selling dog portraits on commission (which I still do to this day!). I have always primarily sold through social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, where I created the brand @gallery-by-valerie.

As I’ve grown, traveled, and lived in various places, my art has progressed with me. Since graduating from high school in Katy, Texas, I have lived in Washington, D.C., Madrid, London, and Anchorage, and I have traveled to many other places in between. Through all these experiences is how I started to develop a love for depicting all the different places I got to see through my art because it essentially became my way of telling the stories of my life and showing other places and cultures as they were shown to me and as I saw them. At my core, I am a person who is passionate about life and about all that the world has to offer, and I think that passion always comes through in my artwork.

I’ve depicted landscapes, architecture, people, and even animals of the places I’ve been in, in my effort to round out what makes each place unique. With all that being said, I love helping other people tell the stories of their lives through paint, which is why I often do work on commission of other people’s favorite places, animals, or people, typically based on reference photos that they themselves send to me. Additionally, I also sell prints of my original art pieces of all the places I’ve depicted. All these places I’ve been in have offered me so much joy and growth and I know others have had the same experiences as well, and they are able to remember them fondly when they buy a piece from any number of my collections, such as the Spain Collection or the Alaska Collection. I would want my potential clients to know that if they have a passion for a place, person, animal or thing and they want me to paint it for them on commission, I always put my whole heart into my work as if it were for myself because I know what a powerful, joyful reminder a piece of art can serve as.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The main goal of my creative journey is simply to be able to tell my stories through my artwork. I don’t just seek to depict places, animals, and people simply because they are beautiful, but because they have meant something in my life and carry a particular meaning and emotion. I hope to always be able to reflect on my life experiences and the things that I see in this way and to be able to share all the joys, all the lows, and all the moments in between that come with living.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to connect with others through my creative expression. It is my passion for the world and all that is in it that drives me, which is why I find myself often depicting places that to me are beautiful and meaningful. In painting them, I seek to give them both inherent importance and a sense of monumentality. I have found that it is very meaningful to others as well when I paint their favorite places because it allows us to share in a sense of appreciation for that place, no matter of whatever different specific meaning it could have to us individually. It is so rewarding to know that my artwork can make people feel something, whether it be joy, nostalgia, or anything of the sort, but it is always rewarding to be told that my art can strike any sort of emotional chord with people, and I just always hope it keeps them as curious about the world as I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: valeriejaimesart.weebly.com
• Instagram: @gallery-by-valerie
• Facebook: Valerie Jaimes Art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-jaimes-0a382211b
• Other: TikTok: @valeriejaimes4