Welcome to my world of colour and whimsy

I was born in England to a British mother and Moroccan father. I spent my early childhood in England and Morocco before we moved as a family to Vancouver, Canada. In 2010, I immigrated to Australia, with my then 11-year-old chocolate Labrador.

I have a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Cultural Anthropology and International Development. While completing my undergraduate degree in First Nations Studies and Museology, I worked as a museum assistant at the UBC Museum of Anthropology for 3.5 years. In graduate school my desire was to understand how culture and art can be a vehicle for positive economic and social development. I lived for four months in Western Samoa studying the social construction and sale of Fa’a Samoa (the Samoan Way) to tourists. Throughout my MA I worked in First Nations’ cultural community centres bringing together artists and community members in cultural exchanges. I then took my skills in community development and cross-cultural communication to the resources sector where I spent 18 years in rural and remote regions of the world.

​

In 2017, on my 44th birthday, I landed in Florence. It was here that I birthed my artistic career, and so much more. I spent 18 months alone in Florence. It was a period of deep reflection. I explored myself as a 44 year old woman pivoting away from a busy corporate career and a life that was pretty focused on family to a life-enhancing slower paced way of being. For the first time ever, I got to just Be Me. I healed, I grew, I ate, I walked, I sat still; I made life-long friends, I drew, I painted, I cooked, I toured; I released, I accepted, I celebrated my life- the journey I had been on and the path that I was foraging. 

​

Today, I measure my life using metrics of ease and fulfilment. I dive in to my passion projects and while they are work, they fulfill me in a deep and soulful way. I attribute the life-style shift to my time in Tuscany. You cannot help but be positively influenced by the lifestyle that you witness in those Tuscan hills.

​

I love to learn and I am a self-described self-reflective junkie which eventuated in me training in 2016 as a life-coach with Dr. Martha Beck (THE life coach to Oprah). I have worked as a women’s empowerment coach. I have offered 6 week art-focused coaching sessions for women. I am also a certified kundalini and hatha yoga teacher; and, I have a diploma in holistic nutrition specific to women’s health. Empowering women to live full lives is my jam.

​

I speak multiple languages and have lived on five continents. I have travelled extensively as a solo woman and love outdoor activities. I often curate walking holidays to places I wish to see.

​

I now work full-time as a painter. I draw inspiration from nature. I paint rambling, gestural flowers and expansive landscapes using oil paints and my palette knife. My atelier is located in Samford Valley, Queensland. You can visit me there, Monday - Friday or arrange a weekend viewing. I participate in a few group and solo exhibitions per year, and I sell my art through my private studio and five galleries in Australia. I have listed these here. 

​

My paintings have been featured in British Vogue's Art Gallery Edit - a truly pinch me moment. In addition to painting I have started to facilitate plein air workshops on my property where I welcome women to connect to themselves and enjoy a creative day of play using charcoals and oil paints. You can find dates and join a class here and you can view a video of a workshop I facilitated here.  In September 2024 I will be running my first retreat in Florence, Italy. Learn about that here.  Every two or three weeks, I release a Sunday Musings....a newsletter that covers the things that I am thinking about, the ways we can paint together and the paintings that are currently available for purchase. To stay connected, enter your email below and I will see you in your inbox. 

​

xx Jamila