Jaime Danielle Smith is a Zimbabwean-born abstract expressionist artist now living in Stuttgart, Germany. Due to political disturbances in Zimbabwe, she immigrated to South Africa where she completed her studies with a degree in Film and Social Anthropology.
Following a career in film production, she decided to make a bold transition and spent the next four years working and travelling on super-yachts. She immersed herself in the land and seascapes of the Mediterranean and Caribbean — experiences that continue to inspire and shape her creative perspective.
Jaime brings a unique sensitivity to perception, movement, and narrative into her visual practice. Her years spent immersed in the shifting seascapes continue to echo through her work, where layered textures, intuitive marks, and gestural energy give form to fleeting emotion and memory.
In her paintings, the tension between chaos and calm, control and spontaneity, becomes a powerful metaphor for the complexity of inner landscapes. Rather than offering fixed meaning, her work invites quiet introspection and personal interpretation: abstract, emotional spaces that speak directly to feeling.
How would you describe your art in three words?
Dynamic, bold, emotional.
Why do you create art?
I create art because I love creating and it brings me joy to create something from nothing, especially knowing that it also brings joy and happiness to the people who buy art.
What emotions or ideas do you hope people experience when they engage with your art?
I don’t want my audience to “understand” my work, but rather to feel it; to have a visceral emotional response either as a memory or thought of a place or experience or person.
Tell me about one of your favorite artworks you’ve created.
There is a painting I have in my living room that I have decided to keep for now, entitled “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching” – it has an abstract female figure dancing. I am not a figurative painter at all but I love the form and movement of the shape which all happened very accidentally!
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 150 cm
Can you walk us through your typical creative routine? Do you have any rituals, habits, or specific conditions (such as music, lighting, or a particular mindset) that help you get into the flow?
I think a lot of people underestimate how many hours I am working in my studio. I try to treat it like any other full time job… On average I have a 6-7 hour day punctuated with a dog walk or two. I always feel that there are not enough hours in the day.
The first thing I do is put music on and the last thing no matter what is cleaning my brushes. Getting into the habit of cleaning my brushes when I leave the studio has really helped my flow because when I arrive the next morning I can just start and don’t need too waste time getting started.
A must-read (art) book?
My mum bought me The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron in 2006! And in different stages of my life I have been able to read it and be inspired and take different things from it.
What’s one new thing you’ve learned about art recently?
I have learnt to not underestimate the value of preparation and exploration and to keep all these notes and studies and sketches or drawings. I recently was at a Marina Abramovic retrospective and was amazed by how many notebooks, sketches, planning was on display especially as its predominantly performative art.
What’s the most exciting part of creating art?
I think for me its the freedom of expression – there is no wrong – there’s no one telling me what to do. I have complete control of being out of control 🙂
🎨 GO-TO ART TOOL
A large silicone scraper
🧂 A flavor that best represents her art
Salt and Vinegar
👩🏻 Creatives Who Inspire Right Now
Pauline Jans, Joy Kinna, Bobbie Burgers, Sam Boughton, Daniel Freaker, Kelly Rossetti
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
A wedding photographer.
Name a place, person, or thing that inspires you.
Travelling always inspires me. Whether its a weekend trip or an extended holiday the experience of being in an unknown place, discovering new things always lights my mind up with ideas.
What’s one unusual or unexpected thing about you that most people don’t know?
I worked as a chef on Superyachts for 4 years in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self as an artist, what would it be?
Don’t be scared of making mistakes, in art there are no mistakes. And try not overthink things. Other people do not see what you see or like what you like.
I know this is more than one piece of advice but I would also say: keep learning. Even if you don’t go to art school, learn the rules, learn composition, learn color theory and learn about artists of the past.
Oh, and you always need more white paint than you think you need.
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 150 cm
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 cm
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 120 cm
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
Jaime Danielle Smith, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Connect with the Artist
All images courtesy of the artist.
