About Me

Hello, I'm Jules

I paint and I write, usually at the same time, which explains the ink on the kettle.

I'm an artist, a writer (and author), and occasionally rather poetic. I work from Middle England, and my work is botanical art, but not as you know it. In my newest work, Little Wild Things, real plants are printed straight into the first layers of the paper. Then I go over and through them with acrylic, pencil and charcoal until the garden underneath and the painting on top can't quite agree who's in charge. Elsewhere you'll find loose watercolour, line and wash, inks and mixed media: flowers mostly, the sea quite often, and the occasional toad.

I like my flowers slightly wonky. The ones that wander in uninvited, grow at the edge of the path, get mistaken for weeds. They tend to have more to say.

Some paintings come with words. Not all of them, mainly my Little Wild Things plus a smidgen of others. There it might be a single line of prose hidden in the paint, like "Wild guests at the table" or "I wasn't looking for flowers", or a whole little story. I've always written as well as painted (books, short stories and a blog), and I'd rather you found a story in a picture than a picture of nothing in particular.

I only paint what I love, so I don't take commissions. Everything here is something that grew on its own and turned out well enough to let out of the studio.

How it reaches you: originals are packed and posted by me. Prints are made to order by my fine-art printer in London on Hahnemühle archival paper, signed, and sent with a signed certificate, so the colours hold and the provenance does too.

If you want more of the words, I write Whimsy on a Wednesday at julessmith.co.uk. For paintings in progress and the odd disaster, find me on Instagram at @JulesSmithShots.

Thank you for being here. Do have a wander.
Jules