When oil painter Valerie Jaimes first came to Alaska, she didn’t think that she would be here long.
“When I first came here, I didn’t think I would be here for a long time,” she said. “So I was like, ‘Let me get some small things and do a few paintings, and then I’m going to leave and go to other places.’ That didn’t happen.”
Originally from Houston, Texas, Jaimes says she grew up primarily with indoor hobbies, like music or coloring. When she was eight years old, she began going to a neighbor’s house for art lessons. Jaimes says that was the first experience at a young age that gave her the confidence she needed to keep doing art.
“She had lots of different students that she taught individually,” Jaimes said. “She would put on these art shows in her house, which was really cute. All the families would come and all the kids would be there and she had everything hanging up around her house.”
Jaimes went to college for international affairs, but says she kept art very present in her life. Beginning in middle school and through the rest of her academic years, she sold pet portraits. She lived in Washington D.C., where she completed her undergrad.
She has also worked at several art galleries in Alaska and Texas, which she says inspires her art practice, both as an artist and being an artist as a primary source of income.
“I was always at museums, sketching at museums,” she said. “I did an art history course abroad in Paris which was really cool, so I was always keeping it present, even though it wasn’t my main course of study.”
Jaimes came to Alaska three years ago. When she first began painting landscapes, she worked in acrylics. Her first show at Stephan Fine Arts Gallery was solely acrylic pieces, but she says it was out of convenience. Her most recent show, also at Stephan’s, is all oil.
These days, Jaimes says she’s taking a “more measured approach” to her pieces, sketching in pencil or working in watercolor beforehand.
“Since I’ve come [to Alaska] and I’ve done painting here, I feel really secure in saying that I’m an artist, which can be a little bit intimidating at first, until one day it just isn’t,” she said.
Jaimes has pieces available for sale at Stephan Fine Arts Gallery in downtown Anchorage.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
