Julie Smith-Belton Art

I am fascinated by the process of expressing authentic emotion, beauty, passion and experiences through art. I love how this outworking of creativity transcends time and language barriers. It communicates to our hearts and meets us where we are at.

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Hi my name is Julie.

I was born in South Africa in the 80’s. As a child I loved to draw, paint and spend time out in nature and around animals. This has always been my wild, free, happy place.

In 2020 I moved to Roskilde, Denmark with my husband and our four children. Here I am living my dream, illustrating and creating art that focuses on bringing joy, for clients all over the world. I work from my hyggelig home studio loft where I enjoy a view of the Danish countryside and find space to get lost in my art. I get to visit our backyard chickens, who amuse and inspire me with their unceasing curiosity, in my coffee breaks.

Acryla gouache, watercolour and pencils are some of my favourite art supplies. I like to sketch and paint by hand, then scan in my work and add my colours digitally with Procreate on an iPad Pro. I enjoy how the combination of digital and hand-drawn / hand-painted images creates something unexpected and maintains that human touch combined with a clean digital finish in my work. I generally start each piece by thinking of what elements I can combine for the subject matter that I haven’t seen together or thought of combined before.

When I’m not making art, I spend time with my wonderful family, meet up with great friends or explore the world around me.

For commissions, questions or just to say hi feel free to drop me a mail at: hello@juliesmithbelton.com

MY ART JOURNEY

“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be all you were meant to be in the first place.”

– Paul Coelho

I feel like this quote sums up my art journey. It’s a journey of constantly shrugging off all the things that try to confine me and keep me feeling small and feeling like I don’t have what it takes or that I can’t reach for the stars. It’s pushing on and creating against all odds and with every piece I paint I shrug off the lies I’ve believed and relax more into just being who I was meant to be.

As a mom of 4, I am constantly inspired by my children and their wild imaginations. They remind me of who I am inside and reignite places in my heart of childhood and fun. They are naturally wild and free and they keep me young at heart. I love the way they boldly create and bravely try new things without fear of failure.

I always want to live like that!

I love art that’s a bit edgy but light hearted and I always aim for excellence in my craft. My art is a process of daydreaming around ideas and then playing until I love what comes out.

I have worked with a number of small to large companies and NGOs. I have also illustrated children’s books that have been published by Penguin Kids SA as well as Book Dash. People normally contact me when they’re looking for something fresh and different.

I am inspired by colours, light, faces and beautiful design in all its forms, from nature to art, to children’s books, vintage photography, fashion and music.

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”

– Neil Gaiman

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

– Pablo Picasso

I Love that, as an artist, I get to take all that I go through in life, to process it, feel the weight or joy of it – the good and the bad. And then to play with it, find the light in it and turn it all into something new and beautiful.