ARTISTJaime Danielle Smith
For me, abstract painting was always the first choice. You instinctively feel, if the composition is right or wrong, if it is a great painting or just an average one.
Jaime Danielle Smith started out with a simple yet adventurous life in Harare, Zimbabwe. Due to Zimbabwean politics she moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 2000 where she finished her schooling. She attended the University of Cape Town for 3 years studying Film and Social Anthropology.
After this she lived in London for two years where personal creative endeavours took a bit of a standstill, but developed as a person: a young girl from Africa in a very new fast exciting world. New thoughts, new friends and new insights of life.
Back in Cape Town she worked in Film Production which as exciting as it was did not allow for any time for creativity. At the age of 26 she sold her belongings and bought a ticket to Palma de Mallorca and started a new career working on Super-yachts as a stewardess and chef.
For four years she travelled the Mediterranean and Caribbean loving her life but with a constant feeling that something was missing -the need to paint and be creative.
Having settled previously in one of the most creative cities of Europe, Berlin, she is filling her soul with that which she had yearned for for so long. She currently lives in Stuttgart with her husband and her daughter.
The birth of her daughter Ivy was a catalyst to really be true to herself and find that thing that made her happy, which is painting.
Her travels and life experience are influential in her work as symbols of renewal, starting over and constant change. Her paintings are enriched with multiple layers, similar to the stages and phases in life that are in constant flux. Now that she has grounded herself with her family she has everything she needs in order to live the creative life she has always wanted.